A Plain Love Song by Kelly Irvin Read Free Book Online

them. Thoughts and words flitted around in Adah’s head. Say something. Say something.
    Her throat ached.
    Matthew drew a sharp breath. “I guess that’s my answer.”
    “Give me time.”
    “You’ve had time.”
    She’d never heard Matthew speak with such authority. He sounded…like Daed. She had that to which she could look forward. Moving from Daed’s house to her husband’s house.
    “I know, I just don’t see what the hurry is.”
    “If you don’t love me, I understand. It’s not something you can make happen.” He squeezed her hand, his fingers tight around hers, and let go. “You still have time. All summer. But I won’t wait forever.”

Chapter 6
    A dah rummaged in her canvas bag for her new spiral notebook with a black cover and selected a nicely sharpened pencil with a full pink eraser. She loved a new point on her pencils and a good eraser too. She’d found a perfect spot in the library’s reading room. A table for two near the nonfiction section. A feeling as close to contentment as she could find these days rolled over her. She could leave all the upheaval in her heart outside on the sidewalk. Matthew’s declaration, his challenge, his ultimatum . I love you. The words flitting around in her head like butterflies trying to take flight, but caught by an ever-tightening net. The airy, quiet room and the nearby overflowing bookshelves calmed her. She breathed in the smell of old paper and dust, the scents soothing.
    The blank page of her notebook stared up at Adah. She should be reading the Confession of Faith articles for Sunday’s baptism class. Instead, she closed her eyes and waited, letting all the tension and uncertainty of the past few days seep away. Hurting Matthew. Knowing from now on he could simply move on and pass the time with Elizabeth Gringrich. Elizabeth was nice. And she’d had her eye on Matthew at school, even though then they’d been too young to go to the singings or court.
    Why dig up all these old memories? Matthew loved her. He’d said so. And she hadn’t returned the favor. Sighing, she put the mishmash of feelings aside and tried to concentrate. Where were those words that had been knocking around in her head while she scrubbed Mrs.Martin’s kitchen, beat the dirt out of her rugs on the clothesline, and cleaned three toilets in record time so she could come here instead of going straight home to more house cleaning?
    The words hummed and her pencil began to move.
    The tears that wet my face can’t erase these feelings.
    My heart hurts every time I think about the days ahead.
    It’s foolishness I know, but I can’t erase the words you said
    When I told you I had to go. It’s foolishness I know.
    I have one foot in my world, one foot in yours.
    Everyone around me wants to shut the door
    And separate me from you and yours.
    It’s foolishness I know, but I can’t think about the days ahead.
    It’s foolishness I know to think of the words you said.
    Please say them once more. Tell me you won’t let them shut the door.
    We’ll be together again. Tell me it’s no sin.
    Tell me we’ll be together again.
    It’s foolishness to think I can set this aside.
    The door is standing open so wide,
    I can see forever in your eyes.
    I can fall into you and drown in the rushing tide
    Of feelings I couldn’t stop if I tried.
    Rough. Still, having a few words on the page opened up the channels and gave her something to work with. She had the ingredients. Now to stir them until they were smooth and satiny like bread dough kneaded and risen and kneaded again.
    “Studying for baptism class?”
    Startled, Adah looked up as she let her hand slide over the page. She’d been so engrossed in the words she hadn’t heard Molly approach. Curiosity written all over her round face, Molly peered through dark-rimmed glasses over Adah’s shoulder. Adah closed the notebook.
    “Nee. I was jotting down some thoughts. And I want to write a letter to Abigail Gless in Bliss Creek.” She