I had a nice surprise, though, riding home. I glanced at the field on my left and saw Jim mowing our alfalfa with the Ritter's tractor! Then I noticed Ursie. Her brown-black hair shone in the sun and bounced on her shoulders as she used our horses to rake the cuttings. I could feel a big grin crawling over my face as I realized that she must have brought their tractor-and I'll bet her dad didn't know about it, either. Ursie was finally taking the bull by the horns, all right.
I tugged at Roho's mane. "C'mon, boy, let's get home. I've just got to find out what this is all about."
I was still grinning as I put Roho in the barn, wiped him down, and walked to the house. Gran was in the kitchen packing sandwiches, cookies and two mason jars of milk into a paper bag. "Oh, there you are, Jan. These are for Jim and Ursie. They deserve a nice lunch. Will you take this to them?"
"Sure." I took the bag. I know where they are."
I walked quietly through the cornfield, meaning to surprise them. When I got close, something about the tone of their voices made me stop to listen. "If we were kin," Ursie said, "Pa would let you borrow our machines whenever you needed them. As it is, I've got to get the tractor back before he gets home. Good thing it didn't break down."
"If it did, I'd fix it," Jim said indignantly.
"He's bound to find out I took it, though. He'll be real mad at me."
Jim blurted out, "Not if we tell him we're engaged."
I could hear the smile in Ursie's voice. "Do you mean that? I don't want to lie to him."
"I really mean it." He moved closer to her and spoke so softly I could hardly hear. "I love you a lot. I always will. The question is do YOU mean it? I don't have much to offer."
"I love you, too. And you have plenty to offer. All you need is a break." After a pause, she asked, "Why didn't you propose on Christmas Eve? That made me so mad!"
"I lost my nerve when I saw you in your million-dollar dress," Jim answered. "You're used to a lot better than I can give you."
"That red dress? The only cost was about three yards of cloth at the general store. And even that was reduced way down after it had been there for months. No one else wanted anything that bright."
"Well, you LOOKED like a million bucks!"
"Ma said it was too gaudy, but I wanted to get your attention." Then she added, "And I guess I did."
I moved a little to peek around tall leafy corn stalks. Ursie and Jim were standing beside the tractor, a few feet apart, facing each other. Ursie's face was rosy and tan. Her overalls fit her like skin. She seemed to be poured into them.
Jim couldn't take his eyes off her. She smiled at him. He ran toward her. She took a step toward him and then they were hugging tight. I thought Ursie was feeling really cherished. Oh boy, she must have thought this out just right.
My plan was working!
Then they started kissing. Not affectionate little pecks, but fiercely, like they wanted to eat each other up.
I backed away and then made lots of noise coming toward them again. Jim took the lunch bag I held out, but neither of them looked at me. They stood there looking at each other, their faces all pink. Neither of them noticed as I walked away.
When I came into the kitchen, Gran asked, "Did they like the lunch?"
I laughed. When I told her that Jim had finally asked Ursie to marry him, she laughed, too. "In the alfalfa field!"
"Or maybe she asked him, it was hard to tell, but anyway they both said yes."
"Ursie's a fine girl," Gran said. "I believe I'll bake a cake!"
I couldn't get the scene out of my mind. "They didn't know I was there at first," I said, more or less talking to myself. "You should have heard them."
Gran looked at me over the cake-batter bowl. "You mean you eavesdropped?" She frowned at me. "Jan, you shouldn't snoop into other people's private conversations."
"Well, I really didn't mean to," I began.
"Yes, you did," she insisted. "And that isn't nice at all."
I didn't say anything.
After a minute or two, she poured the batter into a large cake pan. She placed the pan into the oven, glanced at me and away. She shut the oven door and asked, "What did they say?"
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