Be brave, young lovers, and follow your star. ~Oscar Hammerstein II
It was fun sharing a romantic scene from Love Comes Home on Wednesday’s post. Thanks to all of you who read it and took time to comment on the scene and on the types of romances you like to read in books.
The romance threads in When the Meadow Blooms that released last year are a little different. Dirk and Anneliese were neighbors, but due to a feud of sorts over a piece of property, their families did not get along. But you know what is bound to happen when families are feuding, don’t you? Two of the young family members are going to meet and fall in love. So perhaps that is a new romance type – couples whose families forbid them to fall in love. What a challenge, right?
So here’s a slightly edited scene of Anneliese’s and Dirk’s first meeting at the shallow river that separates their farms.
“That’s really why you wanted me to come down here, isn’t it? To splash me.” Dirk wiped the water out of his eyes and stayed at the edge of the river, fearing he might scare her away if he stepped toward her.
But she seemed to have no fear at all as she moved through the water until she could have touched him if she wanted to. “A little splash never hurt anyone. It can wake up a person. Make them pay attention.”
“And what did you want me to pay attention to?” His heart was beating extra fast.
“Me, of course.”
“You already had my full attention.” His breath came faster as he felt as though he was being swallowed by her green eyes. He surprised himself again by saying, “Your eyes are luminous.”
“Luminous?” She lowered her gaze and then gave him a flirtatious look up through her eyelashes. “You must be the Meadows son who has been wasting his time off in that college in Louisville learning words like that. Luminous. Lightning bugs have luminous tails. The moon is luminous.”
“And a beautiful girl’s eyes are luminous,” he said.
She stepped even closer to him then, until the river water pushed her skirt against his legs. She didn’t bother corralling it as she stared up at him. “I bet you tell all the girls they have luminous eyes.”
“Only the ones who do. But the fact is until today, I have never met a girl with luminous eyes.” It was all he could do to keep his hands down in the water instead of reaching up to smooth a lock of her hair away from those luminous eyes.
As if she guessed his thoughts, she hooked the stray strand behind her ear as she kept staring at him. “And I never met a man with curly red hair.”
“So, what do you think?” He lifted his eyebrows at her. “Like it?”
“Like it or not, my mother says to be wary of red-headed men. She claims they have the temper of a mean tomcat.” She paused a moment before she went on. “And my father says he’s never met a Meadows worth exchanging the time of day with.”
“He’s never met me. And I’m more like a friendly old hound dog than a mean tomcat.”
“Pa has two old hound dogs. I’m not particularly fond of either one.” She whirled away from him with a swish of her skirt through the water.
“Poor dogs,” Dirk said. “And I don’t know what time of day it is to exchange with you.”
That made her laugh and turn back toward him. “It’s an hour past too late.”
“I hope not.” He fastened his gaze on her eyes that practically exploded with sparks. “What say you forget I’m a Meadows and we can be friends?”
“Friends?” Her coy look was back. “Wading friends?”
“I’d be glad to wade a few rivers with you.”
“Would you now?” She ran her hands under the water to send a spray up at his face.
Hope you think this scene between Dirk and Anneliese hints at romance on the way.
Thanks so much to all of you who commented on my last post with the excerpt from Love Comes Home. That book has been out for readers for several years. It’s easy to find at online booksellers such as Christianbook.com. And if you like audio books, you might like to listen to Love Comes Home with me doing the narration. You can find it on Audible but also other audio book sites such as audiobooks.com.
Here’s what one Amazon reviewer said about the audio book. “Ann H. Gabhart can tell a story! I laughed, cried, cheered, and held my breath along with the characters in this book set in Rosey Corner, Kentucky. .. This book is the third in the series but I had no trouble jumping into the story and enjoying a wonderful time spent in Rosey Corner. Gabhart’s Southern accent added so much to the audiobook and I recommend checking out the audio version if you can.”
Remember, I’m giving away a copy of Love Comes Home to one of you who comment on these two posts about romance. Not much time to enter. Deadline for entries is midnight EST on Tuesday, February 21, 2023. You need to be 18 or older to enter. I’ll pick a winner by random and notify that person by email and announce the winner on the post Wednesday, February 22.
Do you believe attraction between two people can happen immediately as I hint in this scene from When the Meadow Blooms?
Comments 41
I think instant attraction can happen, but I definitely wouldn’t call it love. 😀
Most definitely. It did with my late husband and me. God truly brought us together.
Author
Some others of you think attraction can happen at 1st sight but that you are taking a wait and see attitude to how long that attraction lasts and whether it has a chance to turn into love.
Deborah, true love is what we all want to have, and what many of us have been blessed to have with our spouses.
Ashley, you are right in thinking that attraction doesn’t always mean a connection can happen. A week or month later the attraction might seep away.
Lisa B, the best kind of love between two people does take longer and can last longer too. You have some of that best kind of love with your fellow.
Lee, you’re sensible in knowing attraction doesn’t always last. But how nice when it does.
Robin, a lasting relationship can start with that attraction but then building blocks of love have to follow.
Author
I’m glad to read that some of you think that initial attraction can turn out to be love at first sight.
Una, I agree that the love at 1st sight might need a while to know for sure that it is love and not only attraction.
Susanne, you’re right there with Una on the wait and see if it’s real.
Joan & bn100, I love an optimist when it comes to love.
Lucy, you are here to tell us you know it can happen because seeing is believing.
Connie Lee, you know because it’s happened to you and years later you have no doubt that it happened just the way it was supposed to between you and your husband.
I enjoyed the playful and flirty banter between the two. It has happened for me, more than once, when I was younger. Nothing forever lasting occurred, but it made me light headed and a bit foolish for a time. Attraction isn’t always sensible!
Author
Being a little flirtatious can be fun when that attraction happens, Sandra, but I suppose as many have said in the comments, the real love has to develop after the initial attraction to last forever. I love your statement that attraction isn’t always sensible. Maybe I need to figure out a way to include that in a story. 🙂
Well, I think in a way it happened for me with my husband. I was a customer at the store he was working in at the time and it was like time stopped and God was telling me that this was the person I was going to marry. I went up to the register and was embarrassed when I couldn’t remember my pin number to pay for the salad I had ordered. Not long after, we went on our first date and we will soon celebrate our 21st wedding anniversary, so things worked out. I don’t know if I felt love at first sight, but I knew he was the one who God had planned for me, and it didn’t take long for that love to grow for either one of us. 🙂
Author
I love your story, Hope. Thanks so much for sharing it. I think when I met my husband I was too young to think about marrying him since I was only 14, but I did think I wanted to see him again. Guess he felt the same way.
Glad your fellow felt the same as you and that the Lord put you together. Congratulations of so many happy years so far. Wishing you many, many more.
It’s possible, but for it to grow into something real and lasting, there has to be more of a foundation than initial intrigue and the lure of the forbidden fruit.
(I live in Canada – does that matter? Also, is it a paper copy? If not, please disregard my entry.)
Author
I love my Canadian readers, Laura. So if you are the lucky winner, I’ll get a book to you.
Definitely for Anneliese there was some of that lure of the forbidden fruit. For Dirk, it was siimply attraction for this beautiful girl who was so audaciously flirting with him.