The Wonder of Your Love (A Land of Canaan Novel) (3 page)

Eli knew from past experience that there was no telling what might come out of Betsy’s mouth. He braced himself.

“
Mamm
doesn’t understand why a handsome man like you doesn’t have a
fraa
.”

“Betsy!” Vera covered her eyes with her hand as a rosy blush filled her cheeks. “Excuse Betsy, Eli.” Then she glared at her daughter, but Eli just grinned.

“Because I just haven’t found anyone as pretty as you,” he said. Then he tickled her, and she squealed until he released her.

When someone knocked at the door, Vera stood up and eased her way across the living room. Cousin Elam moseyed to the fireplace and stoked the dwindling fire until orange sparks shimmied upward, then he gave the logs a few more pokes until the flames stretched high.

Eli leaned back against the couch and crossed one ankle over his knee. He stroked his beard as he thought about how long he might stay in Colorado. This was his first trip, there’d be much to see, and he didn’t have to rush home to tend to one single thing.
A vacation
. His daughters had 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.

K
ATIE
A
NN 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 what’s wrong with him.”

It was true. The past week she’d been up with him even more than usual. And not just to watch him breathe. He would wail, and Katie Ann wasn’t sure what was wrong, which just added to the fear that he would die before he reached his first birthday. The way Annie did.

“You’re a good mother, Katie Ann, and Jonas is a healthy little bundle.” Martha patted Katie Ann on the knee and returned to her reading. “Babies cry sometimes.”

Katie Ann had never told anyone but Ivan about Annie. It happened so long ago . . .

They were quiet again, and after a few moments Katie Ann glanced at Martha and frowned. “I don’t know why you read that garbage. It has nothing to do with us or our community.”

“I’m not Amish. It’s allowed.” Martha didn’t look up this time.

Katie Ann gently elbowed her. “I think you should be baptized and become one of us.” She’d had this conversation with Martha many times, and the answer was always the same. “You attend worship with us every other Sunday, you love the Lord, and you are always doing for folks in our community.”

Katie Ann thought back almost a year, to when she’d become close to Martha. It was an unlikely friendship—a pregnant Amish woman whose husband had left her . . . and an older
Englisch
widow who was gruff, outspoken, and set in her ways. But it didn’t take Katie Ann long to realize that beneath Martha’s crotchety temperament was a woman who just wanted to love and be loved—to have a family. And that’s what Katie Ann, Jonas, and Martha had become. Family.

Martha closed the magazine slowly, pressed her lips together, and squinted her eyes as she glared at Katie Ann. “I’ll tell ya
again
. . . I’m not wearing those clothes of yours, and especially not those prayer coverings. Anything on my head makes my scalp itch. And I am not giving up my television.” She tossed her head back, grunted, and went back to her magazine.

Katie Ann took note of Martha’s red-and-white-striped pants outfit, her mismanaged curls beneath the butterfly clip, and her bright red fingernails, and grinned. Converting would indeed require a large makeover for Martha. But Martha often visited the bishop, and Katie Ann wondered what they talked about.

All of a sudden Martha gasped, slammed the magazine closed, and twisted to face Katie Ann. Her eyes were round as saucers. “Did you meet
him
?”

“Who?” She leaned her head back against the couch as she yawned.

“Eli Detweiler, Elam’s cousin.”

Katie Ann uncrossed her legs and shifted her weight. “As a matter of fact, yes. Why do you ask?”

Martha pinched her face together until her wrinkles looked like they were all connected. “Is he as handsome as Vera says?”

“What?” Katie Ann turned her head to face her.

Martha cackled. “Vera’s got good taste. That Elam of hers is quite a looker. If she says Eli is handsome, I bet he’s a hunk.”

Katie Ann shrugged. “I didn’t notice.”

“Did she tell you that he’s a single man? Lost his wife seventeen years ago, and—”

Katie Ann bolted from the couch, slammed her hands to her hips, and glared at her friend. “I am in mourning, Martha. My husband has only been gone for a few months. How could you possibly think—”

“Oh, stop it.” Martha stood up. “That scoundrel cheated on you and left you for another woman. I’d get to know that handsome Eli Detweiler while he’s in town.”

Katie Ann blinked back tears, determined that there would be no more crying where Ivan was concerned. “You are being inappropriate, Martha.”

Martha placed her hands on Katie Ann’s arms. “Katie Ann, I couldn’t love you any more if you were my own daughter. It’s your people’s way to marry soon after a spouse dies, and Vera said that Eli is a fine fellow.”

“If he’s such a fine fellow, then why has he been single for the past seventeen years?” She freed herself of Martha’s hold and walked to the fireplace. She poked the glowing embers several times until a spark eased up between the logs.

“Apparently he’s been raising six kids, and the last one just got married. Maybe he was dedicated to his family? An admirable quality, wouldn’tcha say?”

Katie Ann didn’t look up as she gave the fire another poke. “Maybe.”

Martha chuckled. “Or maybe he’s just been waiting for
you
for the past seventeen years.”

Katie Ann put the fire tool in its holder and faced off with Martha. “
Ya
. I’m sure that’s it.” She rolled her eyes.

Martha clomped across the wooden floor, grabbed her red purse from the couch, and slipped on her black slippers by the door. “I’m heading to my house. I need a nap.”

Katie Ann followed and wondered if she’d have time for a little shut-eye before Jonas woke up. “Martha, why do you wear your slippers when there is snow on the ground?”

Martha raised her foot and flashed the sole of her shoe upward, giving it a pat. “These aren’t regular slippers, dear. I ordered these on the Internet, and they weren’t cheap. They’re water resistant and easy on my corns.” She put her foot down before she lost her balance. Her brows shifted upward. “Another thing I couldn’t give up to join your people. My Internet!” She pulled Katie Ann into a hug. “You get some rest. Gonna be a long day tomorrow.” Then she winked.

Katie Ann stepped onto the porch as Martha eased her way down the porch steps. “Martha?”

Martha looked over her shoulder. “What?”

Katie Ann wagged a finger in her direction, recalling the time Martha tried to fix her up with an Amish fellow at the hardware store barely a month after Ivan died. “No funny business tomorrow. No matchmaking. Do you hear me?”

Martha flashed a broad toothy smile. “Of course, dear.”

Katie Ann closed the door and went to check on her precious baby. She tiptoed into his room, lightly touched his head, and spoke to him in a whisper. “You are all that I need, my little miracle.”

She and Ivan had tried to have a baby for most of their twenty years of marriage. It was bittersweet the way it all turned out, and again she wished Ivan could have held his child. He died three months before Jonas arrived, and never even knew Katie Ann was pregnant. She wondered if she’d done right by Ivan not to tell him, but at the time she hadn’t wanted him returning to her out of obligation, and she wasn’t sure he even deserved to know.

It was quiet in the house. She considered taking a nap, but sure as she laid her head down, her baby boy would wake up. Instead, she let her mind drift to a place she often went during quiet times. As visions of her early years with Ivan danced in her head, she tried to stay focused on those happy memories, but as usual, it wasn’t long before images of Ivan and Lucy bombarded her thoughts. She shook her head and anger wrapped around her heart in the familiar way.

In the beginning she’d blamed herself for not being a better wife. Later she’d faulted Lucy for seducing her husband away from her. Most recently she’d decided that Ivan was a weak, dishonest coward—and he was the one responsible for ruining her life.