To Have and To Hold by Ruth Ann Nordin

have anyone in her life that she
    could turn to.
    She closed her eyes, aware that tears fil ed them even as she was determined she wouldn’t
    cry. Resisting the urge to dig her nails into the palm of her hands, she crossed her arms and
    tried to figure out what happened in her past to spur on the strong negative emotions she was
    now experiencing.
    “There you are,” someone said.
    Startled, she opened her eyes and saw Dave walking toward her. He halted for a moment,
    smiled and then continued coming her way until he reached her. Sitting next to her, he said,
    “For a moment there, I thought I was seeing you for the first time.”
    She furrowed her eyebrows. “You did?”
    He nodded. “We met this way. You were so lovely. You were sitting here on the bench, and I
    came over to talk to you.”
    At his words, an image flashed through her mind. “Was there a newspaper?”
    Looking excited, he nodded. “Do you remember anything else?”
    Surprised by his enthusiasm, she careful y thought over what glimpses she was receiving. A
    newspaper was in his hands. He was smiling at her. The hurt she felt ebbed. “I remember
    you made me feel better about something.”
    His smile faltered for a bit. “Wel , yes, there was a man who was rude to you.”
    “Was there?” That explained the negative emotions she recal ed.
    Taking her hand in his, he said, “This was where I asked you to marry me.”
    She wondered why he didn’t tel her more about the rude man, but by the way he was looking
    at her, she realized his mind was on his proposal. She decided to let the rude man go from
    whatever memory had been tugging at her. “You asked me to marry you the same day we
    met?”
    “I did. You came off the train as a mail-order bride.”
    “But I didn’t come for you?” she asked, surprised. She assumed by the way Sal y talked, she
    came to be with Dave, but by the underlying bitter tone in his voice, she realized that wasn’t the
    case.
    “You were meant to come for me.”
    Her eyebrows furrowed. “I came as a mail-order bride but I didn’t come to marry you?”
    “Wel , no. You came because you answered someone else’s ad for a wife, but that doesn’t
    matter.” His voice took a lighter tone as he continued, “We were meant to be together. I don’t
    believe in coincidences. I happened to be at the mercantile when the man said he was coming
    here to get his mail-order bride, and I was thinking of placing an ad for one myself. I tagged
    along to see what a mail-order bride was like. Then I saw you and knew you would be the right
    one for me.”
    “You knew that just by looking at me?”
    “Alright, there was a little more to it than that. I saw how you were treating other people, too.”
    “And then what?” she asked, wanting to know more about the day that made them husband
    and wife. The more he talked, the more she became aware of the impression she had of him
    that day—that he was a kind man who was able to see past how she appeared to the world
    and see her as she truly was.
    “I came over here, introduced myself and asked you to marry me.”
    “Just like that?”
    “Pretty much.” In a teasing tone, he added, “You didn’t say yes right away. I think you wanted
    to play hard to get.”
    “Oh, surely I don’t play such games.” She couldn’t imagine saying no to him.
    “I wouldn’t say you were playing a game with me. You were merely letting me pursue you.”
    Her face warmed at the thought of flirting with him, but she shrugged and said, “It seems to me
    you ran pretty fast if you caught me.”
    He chuckled. “Even so, it took me ten minutes.”
    “That isn’t long.”
    “It is when I could have had you say yes in five.”
    “You can’t begrudge a woman ten minutes for wanting to be pursued by a suitor.”
    “You’re right. I can’t. I’m just glad you didn’t make me wait fifteen minutes, or worse, go back
    to Maine and make me post an ad and hope you’d answer it.”
    “That’s sil