A home making teacher from Texas, Amanda, accepts that love has passed her by. However, she agrees to enter into communication with a person her friend knows in Wisconsin, not because she believes that there is love waiting for her out there, but because she would like to have children.
After two months of communicating with Jason, he proposes. And she agrees, thinking it is her last chance to marry and ensure she bears children. Love just doesn't enter into the equation. But, after she gets to meet Jason, she is not longer certain about that side of things.
Excerpt:
On a bright Friday morning in June, Amanda scanned the Madison airport looking for her friend, Stephanie. It had been ten years since they'd been face to face, but the constant contact on Facebook and frequent emailing made it feel like they'd been together just yesterday. They even spoke on the phone at least once a week. No, it wasn't like it had been long at all.
After about a minute, Amanda finally spotted Stephanie. Her friend had been her roommate at the small Christian college she had attended in Texas. After graduation, Stephanie had moved here, with her preacher husband, Bob, to plant a church. While Amanda had stayed in Texas working as a home making teacher in the high school she'd graduated from, Stephanie had been here with Bob, building their church and having babies. They now had four children, one boy and three girls.
Stephanie was a good foot shorter than Amanda's 6'2" frame. She was as round as Amanda was slim. Amanda's dirty blond hair and green eyes were a contrast to Stephanie's brown hair and brown eyes. The two of
them had always laughed that they could fulfill almost any man's fantasy by taking parts of each of them and mixing them together to make a new woman.
Stephanie ran to Amanda and gave her a hug, "I've missed you so much! I'm so glad you're going to be living so close."
Amanda returned the hug with a smile. She couldn't believe that she was actually here, and that she'd be married tomorrow. Married to a man she'd never seen and would not see until she was walking down the aisle.
Living in the same small town all her life, Amanda had not had a lot of chances to meet men. The men in her small town were all intimidated by her height. Even men who were taller than her felt uncomfortable around a woman who was over six feet tall. She was now 32 and desperately wanted children. She had considered multiple ways to meet men. She'd even considered a sperm bank.
A year earlier, Stephanie had started talking to her about Jason Daugherty, a new man in her congregation. He was 6'6" tall, and had started going to their church in hopes of finding a wife. He was a farmer who lived in a rural area of Wisconsin. Finally, she'd agreed to let Stephanie arrange her life for her.
She had been texting and emailing Jason since March. He was 36, and wanting to start a family as well. He had been so worried about building up his farm that he hadn't even started looking for a wife until a couple of years ago. After they had been in contact for a little over a month, Jason had asked her if she wanted to get married. She had been unsure at first, because she had never thought of herself as someone who would marry a man she'd never met. After multiple conversations about him with Stephanie, she'd agreed. They would be married a week after school was out in June. That was tomorrow.
She still hadn't met Jason, and they'd decided to wait until the wedding to meet. She would stay with Stephanie's family tonight, getting reacquainted with Bob, and getting to know the kids. Their four year old daughter, Avery, would be the flower girl, and two year old son, Jacob, would be the ring bearer. Stephanie would be the matron of honor, and Jason had said that his friend, Steve, would be the best man.
It was only a little after noon now. She and Stephanie loaded her luggage into her mini-van, and climbed in. "Do you want to stop for lunch here in Madison, or do you just want to eat when we get to my place?"
"How far is the drive?" Amanda asked.
"It's about three hours," Stephanie told her.
"I'd probably rather wait. We'll eat when we get there, or somewhere closer if that's okay. I'm so nervous that the thought of food is almost scary!"
Stephanie laughed. "You're going to love Jason. He's really shy, but he was all excited at church on Sunday. He was grinning from ear to ear as he talked about you being here this week."
"I got an email from him last night. He's got the house all set up. He said that he is going to have Steve do his chores for him for the next few days, and he's going to take me to a nice hotel for a couple of nights for a honeymoon."
Stephanie smirked, "Just remember he's a country boy at heart. A nice hotel may just be one where they change the sheets between customers."
Amanda shook her head. "That would be a good thing! Please tell me he's not going to wear jeans to the wedding!"
"I had Bob take him to a tuxedo rental place. He's all set."
Amanda sighed. "I'm not all that worried about it to be honest with you, but it would be nice to have some nice wedding pictures to show our kids one day."
Stephanie grinned at her. "Your wedding will be beautiful. I chose the florist. I chose the wedding cake. All you and Jason have to do is show up, and it will be great." She paused for a moment. "How are you feeling about it? You sure don't look like an excited bride."
"I'm good. I think I'd feel differently if I were in love with the man, but I'm sure that will come. It hasn't been all that long that women have had any say in whom they marry. If I had been born a couple hundred years ago, I would expect my parents to have arranged something like this for me."
