The Wonder of Your Love - By Beth Wiseman Page 0,58
was more like a girl, maybe sixteen or seventeen. But she wasn’t sure how to start up a conversation without irritating her more.
Just then the door eased open. Martha glanced up, and she was sure her heart was going to beat out of her chest. “Arnold? What in the world are you doing here? Now I’m sure I’m going to die, or you wouldn’t be here.”
The love of her life took off a black felt hat, similar to what the Amish folks wore, although Arnold was as Catholic as could be, and he shuffled toward the bed. “Hello, Martha. You should have told me you were ill.” He leaned down, and to her surprise, he kissed her on the cheek. “I’ve missed you.”
She swallowed back a lump in her throat. “How are things in Georgia?”
“I had my reasons why I needed to stay there after my son passed, but I am wrapping things up.” He smiled. “I’m thinking about moving back here, to Canaan.”
“Well, that’s just peachy, Arnold. You decide to move back here now? When I’m about to kick the bucket?” She rolled her eyes, glanced up, and prayed aloud. “Lord, there is something unfair about this.”
Arnold sat down in the chair by her bed, reached for her hand, and squeezed. “You are going to be just fine, Martha. I know it.”
“Nope. I’m fairly certain that I’m not going to wake up once they knock me out.” She squinted her eyes. “So, Arnold Becker, if there is anything you want to tell me, I suggest you do it right now.” She raised her chin.
Arnold chuckled. “Still my same Martha.”
His eyes twinkled, and Martha wished she could marry him on the spot.
“My, how I’ve missed you.” Then he frowned. “Why wouldn’t you let me come visit you?”
She turned to face the poor girl next to her, who was still facing the window. “I didn’t want to have to say good-bye again.”
She turned back to him. “But here you are, and I guess I’ll have to say it anyway.”
“I needed to be with my daughter-in-law and her family. We were all grieving, and I hated to leave them . . . and . . .” He pulled his eyes away from hers as he took a deep breath. “I didn’t come back to stay because I couldn’t provide for you in a proper manner. But I made some investments, and now—”
“Did the good Lord strip you of your senses?” Martha stiffened as she thought about all the months she’d missed this man. “I have more money than I’ll ever spend in a lifetime. I thought you knew that.”
Arnold stood taller. “But I wanted to be able to take care of you.”
She stared into his kind eyes, never more touched—or frustrated. She pressed her lips firmly together for a moment.
“On the off chance I pull through this, am I gonna have to tell you good-bye again?”
“Yes, we’ll have to part ways once you are better. But I’ll be back in a few weeks. To stay, if that’s all right with you.”
Martha shrugged, elated, but not about to let Arnold know just how much. “It’s a free country.”
Arnold chuckled again. “Yes, it is.”
Martha narrowed her brows. “Who told you I was getting cut on today?” She waved her hand in the air. “Oh, never mind. I know who it was.”
Right then, Katie Ann walked back into the room.
“My goodness, Katie Ann, look who showed up out of the blue!” She lifted one brow at Katie Ann, never more grateful to her friend.
“How about that, Martha. What a coincidence.” Katie Ann smiled. She walked closer to Martha and whispered again. “The girl is staying, but I don’t know why you can’t make up your mind.”
“Because I’m old.”
Katie Ann grinned. “You visit with Arnold. I’m going to go find out when they are coming for you.”
KATIE ANN WALKED to the nurses’ station and asked to speak to Martha’s doctor. She waited in a chair for almost fifteen minutes before a doctor walked up to her.
“Hi. I’m Dr. Lieberson. Were you asking about Martha Dobbs?”
Katie Ann stood and shook the doctor’s hand. “Ya. I was.” She took a deep breath, unsure how to ask the questions on her mind. “I was just—just wondering about . . .”
She recalled David’s kidney transplant and how everything was always presented to them in percentages. Chance the kidney would fail, 33 percent, or chance of infection, 50 percent. Things like that.