His Suitable Amish Wife. Rebecca Kertz

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ worried her. She returned to the kitchen for a peek, and what she saw made her heart pause before it started to pump harder. Reuben leaned against the counter cradling his son as he fed the baby his bottle. She experienced an odd sensation in her chest as she watched man and child together. Suddenly, Reuben looked up as if sensing her presence. They locked gazes, and she lurched back a few steps, eager to escape the odd intimacy of witnessing a tender moment between a father and his son.

      “Ellie!” Sarah bounced down the stairs and stopped abruptly when she saw her brother. “Reuben, you’re home! How was work? Did your crew get the job done? Will you have time to work on the haus tomorrow?”

      Expecting him to scold his sister, Ellie was shocked to see his face soften with indulgence as he smiled at Sarah. Reuben chuckled, and the sound rippled along her back from her nape to her lower spine. “In answer to your questions—ja, I’m home. Gut, work was gut. Ja, we got the job done. And as to your last question, most definitely ja.” He’d held up a finger with each yes, the last of which caused Sarah to squeal with pleasure.

      “You’ve met Ellie,” Sarah said with a smile.

      “We’re acquainted,” Ellie confessed, meeting the girl’s light blue eyes. She transferred her attention to Sarah’s brother. “I didn’t know you’d married. It must have been soon after...” She bit her lip, her voice trailing off before she could mention his breakup with Meg.

      “I met Susanna not long after,” he began. “We married six months later.” He studied his son. “We were happy until...”

      “’Tis oll recht, Reuben,” his sister said softly. “I know how hard this is for you, but I’m here to help for as long as I’m able.”

      His smile for Sarah was soft and filled with affection. “I know you wish to be with our family in Ohio. I appreciate that you’re here for now. I’ll find someone to take care of Ethan so you can go home.”

      “I don’t mind being here, bruder.”

      “I know you don’t.” Sorrow settled on the man’s features, touching something deep inside Ellie. “But you’re too young for this worry.”

      Overwhelmed by conflicting emotions, Ellie turned away. “I’ll finish the gathering room and return tomorrow to do the bedrooms and baths.”

      “Ellie—”

      “Don’t say you don’t need me to clean for you, Reuben, because from the look of this place, you most certainly do.”

      She caught a quick glimpse of anguish on his features as he turned away. Her gaze once again moved about the room. Was he concerned with money? She didn’t know what to say to make him feel better that wouldn’t offend him. She had no intention of being paid for the work. Reuben and his family needed her, and she was always happy to help someone in need. If she told him that, however, she knew he’d glare and order her to leave. Now that she understood the situation, leaving was the last thing she wanted to do.

      She returned to the gathering room to dust the furniture. After a brief visit to the kitchen sink to fill up her bucket, she worked to scrub the walls. As the grime fell away, leaving the room brighter, Ellie smiled. It always felt good when she could see the fruits of her labor, and the new look of the room was a vast improvement.

      “Ellie.” Reuben’s quiet voice startled her. She gasped and spun to face him. She looked behind him, but there was no sign of Sarah.

      “Is something wrong?” she asked. Ellie saw that he’d noted the bright cleanliness of the room. “Do you need something?”

      His lips firmed. “I don’t think you should come back tomorrow.”

      She lifted her chin. “Then don’t think, because I will return, Reuben. You have a baby to consider. He should have a clean place to crawl.” She narrowed her gaze as she took his measure. “Is it because it’s me? You’re angry because I’m Meg’s sister?”

      He looked shocked. “Nay! The fact that you and Meg are related has nothing to do with this.”

      She went soft. “This isn’t paid work for me. I’m here as a favor to Bishop John.”

      “I can pay,” he said sharply.

      “Reuben—” She started to object, but he’d left the room.

      Ellie closed her eyes as she sighed. The man needed help, but clearly accepting it didn’t sit well with him. She thought of young, tired Sarah and felt rising sympathy for the teen. She firmed her resolve. She’d be back whether or not Reuben Miller liked it. She’d do all she could to help Sarah and the baby. Short of his throwing her bodily out, she’d return tomorrow and the next day for as long as she could help in any way.

      A glance at her wristwatch confirmed that it was late afternoon. She’d started the work at one, after having finished housecleaning for the Smith family, English clients. Tomorrow she’d come after she worked at the Broderick house. She made a mental list of what this house—Reuben—needed as she searched through every room on the first floor. She gathered her cleaning tools, then left after calling out to Sarah that she was leaving.

      Ellie was conscious of Reuben’s stare on her through the kitchen window as she climbed into her buggy and left.

      * * *

      Reuben held his sleeping son close as he watched Ellie Stoltzfus leave. He’d never expected her to come here, and it bothered him that she had. The house was a disaster, and he was ashamed with how little he’d been able to get done.

      He’d known the house and land needed work. His uncle had purchased the property from a poverty-stricken English family who’d needed the money desperately. It had always been Uncle Zeke’s intention to clear the land and fix up the house for him and Aunt Mary to live out their remaining years, but then Aunt Mary had passed on, and he’d gone into his own decline. When Zeke died, the house went to his only remaining relative, his brother, who was Reuben’s father, who gave it to Reuben after his wife Susanna’s death.

      When he’d first married Susanna, he’d made plans to build a house for them on a section of his father’s farm. They had lived with his parents for the first months while Reuben had saved nearly every dollar he’d earned from his construction job. They’d been excited when he learned Susanna was pregnant. They decided to remain in his parents’ house during Susanna’s pregnancy and wait until after the baby was born to start construction on their home. But then everything in his life had changed after his wife died within minutes of delivering Ethan. He’d gained himself a son but had lost his life partner, and he’d been devastated. He’d barely been able to think. It had hurt too much to feel, to breathe, yet he was responsible for the tiny newborn he and Susanna had made together.

      Susanna’s medical bills and funeral had taken all of his savings, and he was left with no choice but to stay with his parents until he could finish paying off his late wife’s hospital bill while trying to save whatever money he could to have a place of his own. During those awful first grief-filled months, his mother and sister had stepped in to care for Ethan while he took every opportunity to bury his grief with work. Then Mam and Dat had decided to move to Ohio to be closer to Mam’s parents. Dat had suggested that he and Ethan move with them, but Reuben hadn’t been able to bear the thought of another change in his life. When his father gave him Uncle Zeke’s property, it had been like an answer to Reuben’s prayers. After his parents had sold their СКАЧАТЬ