Jed was quiet on the ride, so Gertrude tried to make conversation.

“You know, for all the time I’ve known you, I still haven’t found out your favorite type of book.” Gertrude stared out at the landscape flying by. She found herself wishing the ride were a little longer.

“Oh, I like almost anything. The more adventurous, the better. Robinson Crusoe is one of my favorites.” Jed smiled at her. “What about you?”

“I read almost anything, too. But I have a special place in my heart for books that have a love story in them.” Gertrude felt she was being too presumptuous, but she couldn’t help it. It was undeniable. She had strong feelings for Jed, and she wasn’t sure what to do about them.

“Would you like to go on an adventure, Gertrude?” Jed held the reins for a moment, pausing the wagon mid-journey.

“What do you mean by that?” Gertrude felt nervous.

“What if instead of taking you home tonight, we go out for a ride somewhere? We can go anywhere you want. We could go to Bagley, if you’d like. Heck, we could even go to Austin. We could drive all the way back to New York, if you really wanted!” Jed was on a roll.

Gertrude laughed. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re raving mad?”

“Not as much as you may think,” Jed replied cheekily.

“We can’t go to New York in your book wagon. And I do need to get home. It wouldn’t be appropriate for you to keep me out at this late hour,” Gertrude reasoned.

“It’s so hard to be apart from you. You’re the only thing I can think of night and day,” Jed confessed.

Gertrude sighed. It sounded like Jed felt the same way she did. “You’re all I can think about, too,” Gertrude admitted.

Jed turned to Gertrude and gave her a dazzling smile. “That makes me almost the happiest man alive.”

“Let me guess. The only thing preventing you from being the happiest man alive is me marrying you. Is that right?” Gertrude asked.

“You’ve got me. I love how clever and quick your wit is, Gertrude Sanders. I know I’ve said it before, but I’m fully convinced you’re the one for me.”

Gertrude thought long and hard about what she said next. On one hand was her entire life before this moment—growing up in the orphanage, being adopted by Edna Petunia and Cletus, living with her sisters, running the library, and being the strict, uptight, rule-follower she was. On the other hand, was Jed…mad, curious, adventurous, glorious Jed and his offer of marriage. Her life with Jed would be anything but steady and secure, but she found that the very thought of spending the rest of her life with him was far too exhilarating to pass up.

“Yes,” Gertrude whispered.

Jed threw the reins into the air and leaned over. He gave her a long, searching kiss. “Oh, Gertrude. You’ve truly made me the happiest of all men. I can’t wait until the day I can call you my wife!”

Jed ran his hands along the sides of Gertrude’s body until they came to a rest on her hips. He pressed his lips into hers again and began to explore with his tongue.

Gertrude pushed him back gently. “Jed, remember, we’re not married yet! Oh, no!” Gertrude yelled so suddenly that Jed thought she was ill.

“Are you all right? What’s wrong?” Jed asked, panicked.

“I just realized I promised Edna Petunia that we would be engaged for a year!” Her face grew pale as she considered twelve long months without being able to fully express their love for one another.

“Oh, no.” Jed sighed. “I made the same promise to her! And Cletus!”

“You did?” Gertrude asked, puzzled. “When?”

“The first time I met them. You see, I’ve known from the moment I first laid eyes on you that you were the woman I was meant to be with. It just took you a little while to catch up.” Jed smiled, his eyes dancing with delight.

Gertrude marveled. She couldn’t believe that her parents had known about Jed’s intentions ever since the day they met him and hadn’t said a word to her about it. She also couldn’t believe that Jed had known so early on in their relationship that they were meant to be together.

“What are we going to do? Edna Petunia is going to go crazy planning this wedding, just like she did for Penny and Tom’s,” Gertrude complained. “We are in for an entire year of worrying about church ribbons and candles and top hats and gowns.” Gertrude groaned as she thought about it.

“I’ll admit, no part of that sounds like fun.” Jed flicked the reins again to start moving, but they turned around, moving farther away from the Sanders house.

“Where are you going?” Gertrude asked curiously.

“Just driving around for a little, so we can figure out what we want to do about this long engagement.”

“What if…what if we get married in secret, but didn’t tell people that we’d done it?” Gertrude thought out loud.

“I don’t know about that. If we were secretly married, you’d still have to live with your parents. I wouldn’t want my wife sleeping under the roof in another man’s house. It wouldn’t feel right.” Jed felt strongly about the subject.

“That’s a good point. Oh, Jed, what are we going to do?” Gertrude thought maybe it was a sign that she and Jed weren’t meant to be together after all. Or maybe they simply needed to slow down. Only now that she had found the love of her life, she didn’t want to slow down. She wanted to be with him all the time. But she understood that there was a process, and she and Jed would have to go through the process just like everyone else.

“If only…” Gertrude thought out loud.

“If only, what?” Jed asked.

“Well, Edna Petunia is a religious woman. We all are. If we could convince a man of God that we are truly meant to be, then I think she’d be fine with us getting married whenever we want to.” Gertrude started to get excited as she thought about the idea.

“Didn’t you say one of your sisters is married to a pastor?” Jed remembered.

“Yes, that’s right. Sarah Jane is married to Micah Barton.” Gertrude felt a plan starting to take shape. “In fact, they don’t live too far from here. Maybe…just maybe…”

“What are you saying?” Jed didn’t know exactly what was going on, but he was excited. Gertrude was normally such a by-the-book rule follower. He loved it when she thought of adventurous schemes and ideas.

“Why don’t we go to Micah’s house and ask him to marry us right now?” Gertrude cried. “I don’t know if I can wait another moment!”

It was all Jed could do to not stop the wagon then and there and throw his body onto hers. He loved her so fully and completely, and he loved that the insane idea had come not from him, but from her.

When they got to Micah and Sarah Jane’s house, Gertrude pounded on the door. Micah came to the door, bleary-eyed, wearing his nightclothes.

“What seems to be the trouble?” Micah asked as he opened the door.

“We’re so sorry to bother you,” Gertrude began. “Jed and I have something very important to ask you. We really need your help…as a brother-in-law, but most importantly as a man of God.” She looked at Jed for assistance.

“Micah, we haven’t met before, but I’m very pleased to make your acquaintance. I’m Jedediah Thorn. I recently proposed to Gertrude, and she agreed to marry me. We’re two simple folks who are madly in love with one another, and all we want to do is get married. Can you help us?” Jed gave Micah his most charming grin.

Micah rubbed his eyes. “How do you think I can help you?”

“Marry us. Now.” Gertrude took Micah’s hand. “We wouldn’t ask you if it weren’t really important.”

Now, Micah’s eyes were wide open. “Do you mean you’re in trouble?” he questioned, slightly horrified. At this, Sarah Jane scampered into the room.

“Oh, no, Gertie, how could you?” Sarah Jane glared at Gertrude. Of all the orphans, Sarah Jane was most likely to judge others.

Gertrude and Jed both started laughing. “No! It’s nothing like that. We just love each other and want to get married. You should remember what that felt like.”

“That was different. We had Chrissy to think about.” Sarah Jane reminded her sister. When Sarah Jane and Micah had married, they had adopted a little girl whom Sarah Jane had worked with. They needed to marry so they could offer Chrissy a stable, loving home.

“Will you please help us?” Jed asked plainly.

Micah seemed more alert now. “I’m terribly sorry. Do you know that Edna Petunia is still furious with me for the last wedding I performed without her express knowledge that the wedding was taking place that day? Do you know what it’s like to be on Edna Petunia’s bad side?”

Gertrude smiled despite the situation. “I have some idea.”

“Well, it was wonderful to meet you, but I think we should leave you alone now. Thank you for your consideration, and we’re sorry to disturb you.” Jed was unceasingly polite.

Micah looked a bit startled again, but shook Jed’s hand and waved goodbye.

When they got back to the wagon, Gertrude scowled. “I can’t believe he wouldn’t marry us. He’s married several of my sisters!”

Jed shrugged. “I can understand where he’s coming from.”

“And Sarah Jane! The nerve of her, to think that I was…”

“We shouldn’t worry about them. We should figure out what we’re going to do next,” Jed spoke calmly.

“You’re right. I know it sounds crazy, but I want to be married to you tonight. Do we have any other options?” Gertrude could barely believe the words that were coming out of her mouth.

Jed had a glint in his eye. “I have an idea.”

They drove in silence for a while until they reached Bagley.

“This is where I attend church,” Jed told Gertrude as they passed by a modest, freshly-painted building. “And I happen to know where the pastor lives.”

They drove up to a small brown house, not too far from the Bagley church. Jed helped Gertrude out of the wagon and held her hand as they walked to the door. He knocked on the door and squeezed Gertrude’s hand as they waited.

To Gertrude’s surprise, the man who opened the door seemed wide awake, even though it was the middle of the night. He wore glasses and loose, flowing robes.

“Pastor George. Thank you for coming to your door at this early hour. We are only here because it’s desperately important. This woman is my fiancée, Gertrude Sanders. We’d like to get married. We’re in love and can’t wait another minute. Can you help us?” Jed blurted out in the same breath.

Pastor George smiled. “Please, come in.”

The house didn’t have much room, but it was nicely furnished and tidy. Pastor George offered them tea, and they both accepted.

“Tell me more about ‘right now’. Why must you marry now, in the middle of the night?” the minister asked with a kind and sympathetic expression.

“Sir, I never in my life thought I’d get married. I thought I’d be a single woman for all my days. When I met Jed, I knew that I could never go back to my old way of life. And that’s how I feel now. I can’t keep living apart from him. I need to have him in my life and by my side.” Gertrude spoke passionately. “Please, sir.”

“Pastor, you’ve known me for quite some time now. You know that I do have some impulses and tendencies that I like to follow. But this isn’t an impulse or a tendency. This is true love. And when you’ve found that…well, I don’t want to waste another minute.” Jed held Gertrude’s hand in his.

Pastor George nodded. “I certainly understand that you two have a remarkable connection. I’d be happy to help you. Are you sure you don’t want to wait for daylight? Or in a few weeks or months so your families can be present?”

Gertrude and Jed looked at each other and laughed. “We’re absolutely sure,” Gertrude told the pastor, and Jed nodded.

Pastor George gave Gertrude a potted plant to use as a bouquet. She struggled to hold it upright. Gertrude and Jed giggled at each other nervously as the Pastor prepared to recite the ceremony.

A short time later, Pastor George officially pronounced them man and wife. Jed bent Gertrude over and kissed her deeply. A thrill went through Gertrude’s entire body. She couldn’t believe her luck. She was going to spend the rest of her life with this man.