The Wonder of Your Love - By Beth Wiseman Page 0,48
to write her own obituary, to make sure it was done correctly, but that seemed a little over the top. Instead, she’d give her recommendations to Katie Ann and pray her friend could get it right.
“Lord, I’m going to miss Katie Ann and that precious baby.”
She leaned her head back against the chair, resolved she wouldn’t cry. If it hadn’t been for Emily and David—and Arnold—she might not have found her way to God. She’d grown close to Emily and David last year when they were doing some work at her house, and those kids had such a strong faith, she couldn’t help but be curious. Arnold drove it on home. The man’s faith in God was amazing, and when Martha opened her heart to the Lord, nothing had been the same. She knew exactly where she was going when she left this world, but she sure was going to miss everyone here.
IT WAS NEARING dark when Wayne pulled into Katie Ann’s driveway. Jonas was screaming, and had been for most of the drive back from Alamosa. They’d stopped twice during the short drive back—once for Katie Ann to change the baby’s diaper, and the other time for her to rub his tummy, thinking maybe he was having stomach problems again. Nothing worked.
“I’ll get the carrier. You get Jonas in the haus.” Eli held the car door open while Katie Ann got Jonas out of his car seat, then stepped out of the car, thanking Wayne for driving. Eli settled with Wayne and followed her inside.
She paced the floor with the baby while Eli offered to get the percolator going. Jonas was soon fast asleep in Katie Ann’s arms, and she worried that she shouldn’t have had him out all day again. They’d hit several more shops in the area and eaten two meals while they were out. Tiptoeing, she eased down the hall to Jonas’s room and laid him in his crib.
When she returned to the living room, Eli met her with a cup of coffee.
“I feel like a terrible mother. I shouldn’t have had him out and about so much today.”
Eli sat down on the couch, and Katie Ann sat down beside him.
“You’re a gut mudder, Katie Ann. But I imagine the boppli is tuckered out.”
She took a sip of her coffee. “It was probably too long a day for him.”
“I hauled Maureen everywhere with me from the time she was born.” Eli took a sip of his coffee. “Did you have a gut time today?”
“Very much.” She’d brought back all kinds of knickknacks for Lillian, Vera, Emily, and Beth Ann, and of course something extra special for Martha—a quilt for a single bed, with scripture readings all over it. Katie Ann hoped Martha would take it to the hospital with her when she went to have her surgery.
She put her coffee on the table in front of them. “I need to light some lanterns before we’re sitting in the dark.”
Eli touched her arm. “You sit and rest. I’ll light the lanterns.” Then he rubbed her arm in a way that made Katie Ann want to curl up in his arms. It had been so long since she’d felt loved, she wished she could pretend, just for a while.
He knew where the lanterns were, and as she watched him light each one, she allowed herself a few moments to fantasize about what it would be like to have Eli around all the time. But before the vision could come full circle, she imagined him leaving her. They weren’t even a couple, but Katie Ann could see him walking out on her.
Tomorrow he would go home, as planned. And Katie Ann was sure this was a good thing, before she got too attached.
A minute later, Eli sat back down on the couch. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Katie Ann blinked her eyes a couple of times. “Like what?”
She hoped her expression didn’t reveal her thoughts, how she wanted for him to hold her in his arms, even if it wasn’t love.
Even if it wasn’t real.
Eli gazed into her eyes, and Katie Ann felt like she might cry, for reasons that confused and embarrassed her. As a woman, she found herself desiring Eli in a way that wasn’t appropriate. She’d been a married woman for many years, and as such, she knew the comfort of a man’s embrace. The kiss they’d shared began to replay in her mind, and she wondered if Eli was thinking about it too.