The Wonder of Your Love - By Beth Wiseman Page 0,3
all married fine men who took good care of them and the five grandchildren they’d given him, and his son’s wife was expecting number six, the second for the couple. Yes, all was well in Eli’s world. Freedom to do as he pleased. He stroked his beard, feeling giddy as a young man in his rumschpringe. His musings were interrupted by the return of Vera and another woman.
“Eli, this is Katie Ann. She’s soon to be Emily’s aenti.” Vera motioned toward the woman on her right. “She’s David’s aenti on his father’s side.”
Eli uncrossed his ankle from atop his knee, stood up, and extended his hand to the woman. “Nice to meet you.”
She latched onto his hand, nodded, then followed Vera to the kitchen.
Elam waited until the ladies were out of the room before he spoke in a whisper. “Pretty, isn’t she?”
Eli narrowed his brows, wondering why his cousin would make the comment about another man’s wife, and not sure how to respond. “Ya, I suppose so.” He tried to sound casual. “What’s her name again?”
“Katie Ann.” Elam told Betsy to go help in the kitchen, and his young cousin pouted a bit before padding out of the room. “And she is a widow.” He kept his voice low. “But she hasn’t been a widow for long. Her husband was killed only a few months ago in a car accident.” Elam stepped closer and lowered his voice even more. “He’d left her before that, though, for an Englisch woman. He’d moved back to Lancaster County and was living with that woman when he died.”
Eli glanced toward the kitchen for a moment before he looked back at Elam. “That’s terrible.”
“Ya.” Elam shook his head. “A real shame.”
Eli stroked his beard again, and the two men were quiet as the ladies reentered the room.
“It was nice to meet you, Eli.” Katie Ann waved briefly in Eli’s direction as she moved toward the door. “See you all tomorrow.”
Eli returned the gesture, watching her as she crossed the threshold. As the door closed behind her, Eli scratched his chest. Not that it itched. He just wasn’t sure why his heart was beating so fast.
KATIE ANN DROVE home and tethered her buggy, then waved to Lillian as she walked toward her own house. She was blessed to have Ivan’s brother and sister-in-law living right next door on the same property. The two households shared a barn and phone, and Samuel and Lillian were as much her family as they were before Ivan left her.
She slipped quietly into her living room, where Martha was sitting on the couch reading a magazine, bare feet propped up on the coffee table.
“Did Jonas sleep the whole time I was gone?”
“Yep. I kept checking on him, but the little fella is sleeping soundly.” Martha didn’t look up as she flipped a page.
“When did you last check on him?” Without waiting for an answer, Katie Ann hurried to Jonas’s room. She stared down into his crib. As his tiny chest rose and fell, she breathed a sigh of relief.
After a few moments, she walked back into the living room. Martha’s arms were folded across her chest, and Katie Ann quickly pulled her eyes from the older woman’s glare.
“I told you that I have been checking on him. He’s just fine, isn’t he?”
Katie Ann fluffed a throw pillow on the couch beside Martha and slowly sat down. “Ya. He is.” She crossed one leg over the other and nervously kicked her foot into motion. It had taken her a long time to leave Jonas with anyone, and the only ones she trusted with her baby were Martha and Lillian. And that hadn’t come easily.
They were quiet for a few moments, and Martha resumed turning the pages of her magazine.
“I’m doing better,” Katie Ann finally said as she fingered the string on her prayer covering. “You know, about checking on him.”
Martha twisted her mouth to one side and grunted. “How many times did you get up to check on him last night?”
Katie Ann thought about all the nights she’d just watched Jonas sleeping. Martha would be shocked if she knew the real amount of sleep Katie Ann had lost hovering over the baby, fear consuming every inch of her being. “Not that many.”
Martha faced her. “How many, Katie Ann? Once to feed him? Three times? A dozen times?”
The last was probably most accurate, but Katie Ann just shrugged. “I don’t know. But he has been crying during the night, and I don’t know