In the Field of Grace (28 page)

“What do you mean Adin is marrying Dinah? How can that be?” Boaz threw both his hands in the air to emphasize his utter stupefaction.

Abel scratched his beard. “You know they have cared for each other since childhood, my lord. Adin just took his time making up his mind. Why are you bewildered?”

“I thought Adin and Ruth …” Boaz straightened. “If he has hurt her, I will break every bone in his useless body. I care not if he is your brother, Abel!”

“I don’t believe there is any hurt in that quarter, my lord. She was laughing as hard as any of them when he kissed Dinah in front of half the city of Bethlehem. I heard Ruth congratulate him myself.
She sounded as cheerful as a newly crowned queen.”

“She is good at hiding her emotions.”

“But not at dissembling. There is not a woman alive who could pretend that well. I’m telling you, my lord, there was never anything between Adin and Ruth. If you ask me, Ruth was playing matchmaker. That’s why they seemed so friendly.”

“Matchmaker?” Boaz thought of all the hours he had tormented himself with thoughts of Ruth and Adin. He had misjudged the situation. He had never been so wrong about anything.

No man had ever been this happy to discover his error. He shoved a fist in front of his mouth as a silly grin bloomed over his lips. He could not stop himself if lightning came down and struck him. Had she been matchmaking between Adin and Dinah? He remembered her growing friendship with the young woman. It would be like her to try and bring happiness to those she loved. Relief flooded him with potent joy. She didn’t love Adin. He sat down hard on the dry grass.

Calm yourself,
he cautioned.
Just because she does not wish to wed Adin does not mean that she wants you
. Yet for all of his sensible attempts at prudence, his heart rejoiced.

“When is this wedding to take place?” he asked Abel, still needing concrete reassurance that his worst fears had been a delusion.

“After the winnowing of the barley and wheat is over.”

Boaz allowed his grin to show. He decided he would give Adin and Dinah the biggest, most ridiculously extravagant wedding present anyone had ever received in Judah.

“Sit down, daughter. I wish to speak to you.”

“I thought I would wash the dishes.” They had had a simple repast early in the day, and there were not many dishes to speak of. But Ruth would have used any excuse to avoid this particular discourse. She sensed Naomi’s intention to talk about Boaz.

“There will always be dirty dishes needing attention. This is
more important. Sit near me and let me speak my mind. The dishes won’t run away if you make them wait a little.”

Ruth would give up a month of wages, if she had any, to be spared this humiliation. What could it accomplish besides adding to her shame? Then again, if Naomi would feel comforted by talking, she did not have the heart to rob her of the opportunity. Taking a deep breath, she sat down on a mat, pulling her knees up against her chest.

“My daughter, shouldn’t I seek to see you settled in peace? Shouldn’t I want the security of a home of your own for you? I want to see you well provided for.”

“I am happy with you, Mother.”

“Are you?”

Ruth lifted heated eyes. “I belong to you. That’s enough for me.”

“Well, it isn’t enough for me. Boaz—”

Ruth bent her head over her knees, trying to fold into herself. “Boaz doesn’t want me.”

“I think you are wrong. I’ve seen him watch you. That is not the gaze of an indifferent man.”

“I’m only a responsibility to him. The widow of a young cousin, dead before his time. His only feelings for me are pity and duty.”

“You think so? Boaz is a close relative; that’s true enough. And he has been exceptionally kind to allow you to gather grain with his own young women, seeking to protect you from harm since the day you first met him. But there is more to his care of you than the actions of an indifferent relative. If you trust me, Ruth, I will show you I am right.”

“Mother, if he wanted me, would he not have said so?”

Naomi’s brows knotted in thought. “I cannot with certainty tell you what holds him back. You are much younger. Perhaps he feels you could not want him for a husband. He mentioned to me that you deserved a young man of your own generation.”

Ruth snapped upright. “You didn’t tell him about how I feel—?”

“Of course I did not, child. Would I reveal such a thing? We
were merely speaking in generalities.”

“It was his way of telling you to look elsewhere. He is not dim-witted. He must have known your interest. I assure you, he does not want me.”

“And I say he does. So we must settle this matter once and for all.”

Ruth hunched over again. “How?”

“Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. He won’t leave the grain under the watch of servants but will stay with the winnowed barley himself as they did in the old days. You will have your opportunity to speak to him privately, then.”

“
Privately?
”

Naomi ignored her outburst. “Today, I want you to prepare yourself with care. Bathe and perfume yourself. Wear one of the dresses he sent you. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there. First, give him time to eat and drink. Let him be in good humor when you approach him. Allow the feasting to be done, so that you will not be interrupted by others. Take note of where he lies down. When everyone has fallen asleep, go to him.”

Ruth balked. “Go to him? What do you mean,
go to him
?”

“You must be courageous, Ruth. There is a hazard to this plan, I don’t deny it. You must risk exposure, perhaps even rejection. But Boaz is worth it. What was it you told Adin?
Bear the cost of your love.
It is your turn to do that for Boaz, for this part is crucial.”

Slender arms crossed over her chest until her hands could grasp her stiff shoulders like a shield. “What is it you wish of me?”

“Go and uncover his feet and then lie down. He will tell you what to do next. You start. He will finish.”

“Uncover his feet?” Ruth buried her face on her knees. “You mean offer myself to him?”

“It’s the chance you must take. You have come to know him. Do you believe he will take advantage of your offer? Take you, without proper provision? Without marriage?”

Ruth shook her head.

“My thoughts exactly. If he loves you, he will offer you marriage. If he does not, he will reject you, as gently as he can. But he won’t lay an improper hand on you. For his own reasons, he has chosen not to come to you. So you must go to him. I say he is worth such exposure. Worth the price. What do you say?”

Ruth rose to pace around their cramped room. She felt like she stood at the edge of a high precipice and Naomi was asking her to jump.

“What are you afraid of, Ruth? You know he would never willingly expose you to contempt. Is it your pride that means so much to you?”

Put in those terms, Ruth felt her hesitation must seem petty. But to her, the idea of going to Boaz, offering herself to him, asking for his protection, all seemed untenable.

“Trust me, Ruth. I would not expose you to his rejection if I had not a strong inkling that he cares for you. Your future hangs in the balance of your decision. Pray on it for a while. Seek the Lord. Be guided by Him as Deborah was when she went into what appeared an impossible battle. Boaz’s heart cannot be as hard as nine hundred chariots of iron. If it is God’s will that you be his, surely He can overcome every obstacle.”

Ruth flopped against the wall, her legs too weak to keep her upright. Never in her life—not when she had decided to marry Mahlon, not when she had chosen to leave Moab and come to live in Bethlehem, not even when she had faced a ferocious lion and marauding bandits in the wilds of Edom—had she experienced such terror. It was easy for Naomi to contend that she only had her pride to lose. Naomi could not understand that the thought of throwing herself at Boaz and being spurned by him was as bitter as the idea of drinking the waters of the Salt Sea. How would she continue to live in Bethlehem and look him in the eye year after year if he turned her away this evening?

Once, in the early days of her marriage to Mahlon when they had faced a particularly harsh winter and worried about their
future, Mahlon had reminded them of God’s promise to Israel when the people had been running from the threat of Pharaoh’s chariots. Ruth had never forgotten those words.
Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will work for you today.
Those words came to her now, with an incomprehensible reassurance.

If she resisted Naomi’s suggestion, she might miss out on seeing the salvation of the Lord. She drew in a shaking breath. “I will do everything you say.”

Her responsibility would be to resist fear and to stand firm. God’s responsibility would be to deliver her. Provide her with His salvation. Ruth hoped she would not get the two mixed up.

R
uth spent several hours preparing for the approaching evening. While most of Bethlehem celebrated a bountiful harvest and winnowed the barley stored in its barns, she bathed and washed her hair with a sliver of Sheba’s lily soap. She rubbed scented oil into her skin and painted her eyes with kohl, which Naomi had borrowed from one of her friends.

Carefully, she pulled out the blue linen dress that she had never worn, and never even unfolded, from her cracked and dented chest. As she shook out the folds, she heard the metallic clink of something falling to the ground. Curious, she bent down and searched the floor. After a moment, she spied a pair of earrings made of delicate gold, with round, tiny lapis lazuli beads, and a single pearl in the shape of a teardrop dangling in the center. She picked them up, enchanted with their beauty. Even a cursory glance revealed that they were old, and foreign. She guessed Egyptian.

“What do you have there?” Naomi asked as she worked on her spindle.

“These were tucked in the middle of the dress. I think Mahalath must have placed them there by mistake.”

Naomi examined the earrings. “How enchanting.” She gave them back. “It’s not likely that Mahalath would have given those to
you by mistake. They are part of your gift from Boaz. Wear them tonight.”

“I really don’t believe they are for me! Why would Boaz give me jewels?”

Naomi chuckled. “I’ll wear them if you prefer.”

Ruth threaded the gold through her pierced ears. “Thank you. I shall spare you that sacrifice. If I am going to make a fool of myself tonight, I might as well go all the way and wear jewels that don’t belong to me.”

“Come over here and I will comb your hair for you.” Naomi twined Ruth’s long tresses into dainty braids and wrapped them into an elaborate knot at the back of her neck. “Now put on your new tunic and let us see. I thought I saw an embroidered girdle in that bundle he sent. Try it with the dress. And the white veil for your hair.”