Unshaken by Francine Rivers Page B

much a distance, but admire you he does.”
    “You’re mistaken. He thinks no more of me than he does any other gleaner in his fields.”
    “I’ve made it my business to study the man’s manner around you, Ruth. Shouldn’t I look out for your future? His eyes tell the whole story when he sees you returning from the fields.”
    “He greets me in the same manner he does all his maid-servants. ‘God be with you,’ he says.”
    “Do you think a man in his fifties can court a young widow from Moab without tongues wagging? The women would think you a harlot and him an old fool. And the men . . . well, we won’t talk about what they would think. Boaz won’t show himself under any circumstances other than those called upon by our Law.” Leaning forward, Naomi clasped Ruth’s hands and smiled broadly. “But the Law is on our side.”
    Ruth looked confused. “I don’t understand.”
    “Boaz is a close relative of ours, and he’s been very kind by letting you gather grain with his workers. He is a compassionate man and would show mercy to anyone in need. But because he is also our close relative, he can be our family redeemer.”
    “Family redeemer?”
    “God provided a way for widows under His Law. As our family redeemer, Boaz would take you as his wife and give you a son to carry on the name of Mahlon and inherit Elimelech’s portion of the land God promised.”
    Ruth’s face flooded with color. “After all he’s done for us already, should we ask him to give me a son to carry on another man’s name? What of his own inheritance?”
    “Would it change anything to leave the man be? Boaz has no sons, Ruth. Nor any prospects for begetting them.”
    “And you think I should . . .” She stopped, stammered, blushed. “H-he’s one of the elders! Surely he already knows he holds the position of our family redeemer. He hasn’t offered because it isn’t a responsibility he wants.”
    “The man is too humble to offer. What would he say to you, my dear? ‘I want to offer my services . . .’? Never in a million years would he say such a thing, nor God allow it. I know Boaz better than you do. I remember him from years past, and I’ve listened to all that my friends have said about him in the years between. He will never approach you about this matter.”
    “Because I’m not worthy to be the wife of such a man!”
    “No. Because he’s more than thirty years older than you. And because, if I know him at all, he’s waiting for a young man, handsome and with a charmed tongue, to offer you marriage instead.” God forbid. Boaz had stood back and allowed Elimelech to claim her because she’d been swayed by physical appearance and charm. Was Boaz standing back again and waiting until the other relative realized Ruth’s worth? Boaz might even make himself a matchmaker! “Boaz wouldn’t put himself forward if his life depended on it.” Which in Naomi’s eyes it did. “The man would not risk embarrassing you with an unwanted proposition.”
    Ruth looked away, her brow furrowed. When she looked back at Naomi, her discomfiture was clear.
    “Should I help you find a husband, Ruth? Could you be happily married to Boaz?”
    Ruth considered for a long moment. “I don’t know.”
    “Saying you don’t know is better than saying a flat no,” Naomi said, satisfied. “Will you trust me if I tell you that Boaz could make you happy? He would do everything in his power to make sure of it.” She saw moisture build in Ruth’s eyes. Before her daughter-in-law could protest, Naomi began explaining her plan. “I happen to know that tonight he will be winnowing barley at the threshing floor. Now do as I tell you—take a bath and put on perfume and dress in your nicest clothes. Then go to the threshing floor, but don’t let Boaz see you until he has finished his meal. Be sure to notice where he lies down; then go and uncover his feet and lie down there. He will tell you what to do.”
    Ruth’s face was white, her eyes