The Wonder of Your Love - By Beth Wiseman Page 0,78
was necessary. She found it curious how lenient Eli’s bishop was about his travels.
As she laid her head back against the seat, she realized that Eli hadn’t mentioned taking any more trips. She wondered what his home in Middlefield looked like and if she’d ever see it.
And she wondered when she would see him again.
ELI SPENT THE days following his return from Canaan staying busy around his house. He’d made repairs to the fence in the far pasture, put a fresh coat of paint on the woodshed, cleaned the barn, and repaired the passenger door on his buggy.
Busy. He had to stay occupied to keep his mind off Katie Ann. He’d come mighty close to telling her how much he loved her more than once, especially when they parted ways this last time. But Katie Ann had much on her mind, and he knew it would be difficult for her to travel back to Lancaster County to settle her husband’s affairs. So many times he’d wondered what kind of man would leave a woman like Katie Ann. He would spend the rest of his life loving her, given the chance. But he knew his children and grandchildren wouldn’t hear of him leaving, and she had created a new life for herself in Canaan. He wondered if she would consider moving to Ohio.
Even though these thoughts filled Eli’s mind, the plans he’d made for years kept bumping around in his head.
He carried a bucket of feed across the snow toward the barn. It was a dreary day, filled with gray clouds and the threat of more snow. He thought about Canaan and how the sun was always shining there, even after a hard snow, lighting the white peaks as if by rays from heaven. And something about the way the Sangre de Cristo and San Juan Mountains hugged the San Luis Valley in a protective embrace made him see why folks would want to live there. The Amish community in Canaan was small, but Katie Ann had told him that the population had more than doubled in the past year, with more and more folks migrating to the area for cheaper land and more room to spread out.
Eli was walking back to the house when he heard hooves padding up the driveway. He turned to see three buggies pulling in, the first of which he recognized as his oldest daughter’s. Hannah’s horse, Midnight, was a fine animal and easily recognizable with his tall steady gait and coat so black it looked almost midnight blue. Eli pushed back his black jacket and looped his thumbs beneath his suspenders.
Ida Mae was in the buggy with Hannah, and Karen and Frieda were in the next one. Bringing up the rear was his baby girl, Maureen. Whenever all his girls convened like this, something was afoot.
“Wie bischt,” he said, greeting them as they made their way across the yard to the front porch, each one toting a casserole dish or bag. It wasn’t unusual for his daughters to keep him supplied with casseroles and freshly baked goods, but they didn’t make a habit of all arriving at the same time. “Dare I ask what brings all my lovely dochders here today?”
Hannah glanced at Ida Mae and shrugged as they brushed past him and toward the porch steps. “Just wanted to visit our daed.”
Sure you did.
He walked alongside his other daughters toward the house. Was Jake ever invited to these sessions, he wondered, or did his son just have enough gut sense to decline?
“I brought you a chicken and rice casserole,” Maureen said as she placed a dish on Eli’s kitchen table.
Flashbacks of eating the same casserole with Katie Ann on her couch played in his mind.
“And I made you some fresh granola, Daed.” Karen put a Tupperware container next to the casserole.
His other three daughters all unloaded more food— chicken noodle soup that Frieda said could be frozen, two loaves of bread from Ida Mae, and a chocolate shoofly pie from Hannah.
“Danki, danki. I won’t go hungry, no?” He smiled at all his girls, knowing something was coming.
Hannah must have been awarded the job of speaker.
“Daed, Aenti Vera called, and . . .”
Eli shook his head. He loved his cousin’s wife, but that woman could stir things up more than any female he’d ever known, except maybe for his own daughters. “And what did Aenti Vera have to share?” He eased into a kitchen chair, sighing as he waited.