Plain Proposal by Beth Wiseman Read Free Book Online Page B

glimpse of Miriam’s smile and knew he couldn’t stop himself.
    He stepped out of the buggy. “I see we have lots of company.” He forced a smile as he tethered his horse to a nearby tree.
    Jesse smiled. “ Gut thing I stopped by the Raber place to return a platter Miriam’s mudder left this morning. Otherwise I wouldn’t have known that Miriam and her cousin were meeting you here to go fishing.” Jesse chuckled. “Guess you were going to keep these two pretty maeds all to yourself.”
    “He didn’t know I was bringing Shelby,” Miriam said in a shy voice.
    Good. Now Jesse knows this was supposed to have been a date . At least they could pair up—Saul and Miriam and Jesse and Shelby.
    “Well, I’m glad you did.” Jesse smiled, and Saul thought again about how Miriam would probably end up with Jesse, but for today, maybe Miriam’s Englisch cousin could keep him occupied. She was a pretty girl, even if she was a bit thin.
    Saul figured most women thought Jesse was handsome. He was tall and broad like Saul, but his face was perfect. Perfect smile. Perfect teeth. And Jesse had never been in any kind of trouble.
    Saul reached up and touched the scar that ran along his chin, then he ran his tongue along his not-so-straight front teeth. He disliked the fact that he felt inferior around Jesse just because of the man’s looks. Besides, Saul knew he had gotten the scar on his chin in an honorable way, even if fistfights were not allowed. But he’d seen the man nab Mrs. Perkin’s purse. The elderly Englisch woman attended quilting parties with his mother, and she was a nice lady who didn’t deserve to have her bag taken. The thief turned out to be almost more than Saul could handle. He’d gotten in one good punch before Saul stopped him. Then Bishop Ebersol had reprimanded Saul for his actions. Again.
    “I went by my haus and picked up a couple of fishing poles.” Jesse held up two cane poles.
    “I brought three,” Saul said as he reached into the back of his buggy. “I brought an extra one in case something happened to one of the other ones. So we have plenty.”
    Miriam smiled and batted her eyes at Saul, which caused him to once again go weak in the knees. “I brought my own pole,” she said smugly. “It’s my lucky fishing pole, and I catch fish every time I use it.”
    Saul couldn’t take his eyes from hers for a moment. He recalled the way he’d pushed back a strand of her hair the day before. A vision he couldn’t seem to shake, nor did he want to.
    “Miriam, why don’t you and me walk to the other side of the pond? We’ll spread out a little.” Jesse smiled his perfect smile, and Saul felt his temperature rise.
    “Or. . . why don’t we make this a competition, girls against the boys?” Shelby moved closer to Miriam. “Let’s see who can catch the most fish.”
    “We don’t usually compete against each other,” Miriam said to her cousin. “Remember when we played volleyball after church? We didn’t keep score.”
    Shelby looked toward the ground, her cheeks reddening, and Saul felt a little bad for her. “No one has to know,” he said as he raised a brow playfully.
    “Leave it to you, Saul.” Jesse grinned, but Saul knew that his friend was hinting that he was always the one to break the rules. And maybe that was true. Another reason why he didn’t belong here.
    “But I’m in, if the girls are,” Jesse added.
    Miriam smiled. “I say let’s do it.” She latched onto her cousin’s arm, and they started to walk to the other side of the pond.
    Saul let out a heavy sigh. This was not at all how he planned to spend the afternoon.

4
    A N HOUR LATER M IRIAM AND S HELBY GAZED ACROSS the pond at Saul and Jesse. Miriam shook her head.
    “I don’t understand. That’s at least the tenth fish they’ve pulled in.” Miriam twisted another worm on her hook, then dropped her pole in the water.
    “Maybe I’m bad luck.” Shelby set her pole on the ground, then sat down on a grassy