Plain Proposal

Plain Proposal

Saul crept closer to the edge of the cliff until his toes hung over the smooth rock, a natural diving board that he had jumped from a hundred times. He tucked the thick rope between his legs and cupped his hands around the knot that met him at eye level.

Then he saw her. Miriam Raber. Sitting with her girlfriends on the bank. Her brilliant blue eyes twinkled in the distance as she watched him, and she was chewing the nail on her first finger—like she always did before he jumped. And his legs grew unsteady beneath him—like they always did when Miriam was watching him.

He pulled his eyes from her and gave his head a quick shake. He’d always felt confident about whatever he was doing, except when Miriam was around. She had a strange effect on him, always had—since they were kids. He recalled a time when he and Miriam were chosen as leads in the school Christmas pageant, playing Mary and Joseph. They were in the sixth grade, and Saul was still shocked at the amount of detail he remembered from that day. She’d worn a white sheet over her dress, belted it at the waist, and her long brown hair flowed freely past her shoulders instead of bound beneath her prayer covering. Mostly he remembered the way Miriam looked at him when she spoke her lines. And the way he went completely blank and forgot his.

“Jump, Saul!”

He straightened when he heard his buddy Leroy yelling from the bank. Then he took a deep breath and swung out over the water. As he let go of the rope, he didn’t have more than a second before he plunged into the creek—but it was Miriam that he saw the millisec¬ond before his face submerged. He stayed down there longer than usual, enjoying the refreshing water, and thinking about Miriam.

She was a good girl. The best. Every man of marrying age in Paradise had his eye on Miriam. Everyone except Saul. He’d known for as long as he could remember that one day he would leave Paradise. Leave her. So, despite their mutual attraction over the years, Saul had avoided her as best he could. But the older they got, the harder it was for him to keep his eyes from always drifting her way. And she seemed to have the same problem. She was always watching him.

He swam upward until his head popped above the water, and not surprisingly, his eyes found Miriam’s right away, smiling and clapping from the water’s edge. There were others around. But he only saw her.

Excerpt from PLAIN PROPOSAL by Beth Wiseman. Copyright @2011 by Beth Wiseman.  Published in Nashville, Tennessee by Thomas Nelson. Used with Permission.  All Rights Reserved.