The Wonder of Your Love - By Beth Wiseman Page 0,42
a few weeks, then schedule one of the many short trips he’d planned to take. Maybe he would send her a postcard from his travels, check on her and Jonas occasionally.
Then that kiss flashed in his mind again and he shivered, only partly from the cold.
Nine
KATIE ANN DRESSED IN A NEW GREEN DRESS FOR worship service, one she’d just finished hemming a few days ago. She bundled Jonas in a thick blue jumpsuit, a handmade gift from Lillian. Sometime over the past three days the toolbox had slid off the roof, and she’d repacked all Elam’s tools to take to him today. It was already loaded in her buggy, and she tried to shed the disappointment she felt that she hadn’t heard from Eli since he left Wednesday night. She’d thought he would at least come by to pick up the tools. Or to say hello. Something. Maybe he hadn’t enjoyed their time together as much as she had.
She’d treasured her time with Martha on Thursday and Friday evening. Thursday, Katie Ann cooked what she and her friends called Lazy Wife’s Dinner, a casserole with noodles, cheese, potatoes, carrots, and beef. And she prepared a side dish of creamed celery for Martha. On Friday night Martha brought supper—a pizza she’d picked up in Monte Vista, and that was just fine by Katie Ann. Martha tried to grill her about Eli, but Katie Ann wiggled her way out of saying too much, especially since she hadn’t heard from him since he left.
On Saturday, Martha had stopped by early in the afternoon, saying she wasn’t feeling well and that she wouldn’t be at church service the following day. “Everyone will probably think I croaked,” she’d said.
Katie Ann’s stomach churned.
Once Jonas was buckled in beside her, she clicked her tongue, setting the buggy in motion. Church service was being held at the home of Vera and Elam’s oldest son, Jacob, and his wife, Beth Ann. It was their first time to host worship service since their wedding the year before.
She wondered how much more sightseeing Eli had done over the past three days. The weather had been unusually warm for mid-November, sunshine and mild temperatures. She fought the feeling of disappointment that he hadn’t invited her to tag along.
It was almost eight o’clock when she pulled into Jacob and Beth Ann’s driveway. In their small community, there were never more than about fifty people at worship service—a small crowd compared to the hundred and fifty or so back home in Lancaster County. With only thirty-two families in the Monte Vista area, they were split into two districts with one bishop serving both. Bishop Esh actually held worship service every Sunday, alternating between the two districts.
After she tethered her horse, she carried Jonas in his carrier toward the house. She knew she would be walking in right as the service started, and she quickly found a seat in the back next to Vera. As she got settled, she glanced across the room to where the men were sitting, but she didn’t see Eli.
“I don’t see Eli this morning.” She tried to sound casual as she whispered in Vera’s ear.
“Didn’t you hear? I assumed that somehow word had gotten to you. We had to get a driver to take him to the hospital on Thursday. I was concerned because he had such a bad headache.” Vera leaned closer to whisper since the bishop was entering the room. “He had to have four stitches in his head, and he has a concussion. The doctor told him to rest for a few days.”
Katie Ann gasped as she brought her hand to her mouth. “I knew he should have gone to the hospital after he fell off my roof. I tried to get him to go, Vera. Really I did.”
“Ach, I’m sure you did. It took me forever to convince him to let us call a driver to take us all. None of us can figure out why he offered to fix your roof.”
Katie Ann lowered her chin. “I know. I’m so sorry. It wasn’t his place, and I shouldn’t have let him.”
“No, dear.” Vera grinned. “That’s not what I meant. Eli has been terrified of heights his whole life. Elam said he couldn’t believe that he asked for tools to fix your roof.” Her grin broadened. “He must have really wanted to make an impression.”
“Afraid of heights?” Katie Ann bit her bottom lip and shook her head. “I didn’t know.”