A Courtship Built on Faith.

Chapter 1 The Calendar The first disagreement of Hannah Bennett and Caleb Walker's courtship began with a calendar. They sat at her grandmother's kitchen table, between a plate of biscuits and the box Hannah was filling for her new flat. Caleb had circled a Saturday afternoon on his phone. Hannah had written MOVING DAY across the same date in her notebook. "I thought we were helping your aunt in the morning," she said. "We are. Then we're having lunch with everyone." "I didn't know about lunch." Caleb looked up. "I thought I mentioned it." "You mentioned helping move a wardrobe. I said I could come for an hour before collecting my keys." The refrigerator hummed into the silence. Hannah had been looking forward to arranging her kitchen with him. She had imagined a quiet supper among the unpacked boxes. Caleb, apparently, had imagined something else. "I told my aunt we'd stay," he said. "Before asking me?" He set down the phone. "Yes. I should have checked." The apology was welcome, but it did not settle the practical difficulty. His aunt had already bought food. Hannah's landlord had arranged a time to meet her. "You can stay for lunch," she said. "I'll collect the keys." "Are you saying that because you're comfortable with it, or because you're angry?" She almost answered too quickly. "Both. I can collect my keys alone. But I don't want us to call something our plan when only one of us has agreed to it." Caleb nodded slowly. "I'll tell her I made the mistake. Not that you changed your mind." They adjusted the day. He would help his aunt, then meet Hannah at the flat after lunch. Her brother would carry the heavy boxes in the morning. After Caleb left, Hannah opened her journal. Courtship had sounded like a large and serious undertaking. Apparently some of its work would happen beside a biscuit plate. She wrote a brief prayer asking for honesty without harshness, and patience without pretending. Then she added the corrected arrangements to her calendar