Elijah And The Widow. Rebecca Kertz

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      Martha caught sight of Eli Lapp surrounded by a laughing group of community girls. Clearly he was a favorite with them. Martha sighed. Had she been that carefree at their age?

      She climbed down from her buggy, retrieved the chocolate cake from the back floor and followed Meg and Charlie to Annie’s side. “Hallo, Annie,” she said after the Stoltzfus sisters had greeted her good friend and moved on. “I’m glad you came.”

      “I’m feeling great today.” Her friend lowered her voice. “EJ has been taking long naps, and I’ve been able to get some rest.” The fact that the boy remained quiet and content within his mother’s arms confirmed it. Annie’s gaze settled on Martha’s plastic cake tote. “Is that chocolate cake?”

      “Ja, with dark fudge frosting.”

      “You better hide it from Noah. He loves anything chocolate.” Annie smiled fondly at the mention of her brother-in-law’s enthusiasm for chocolate. “He’s liable to eat several slices before it’s time to eat.”

      Martha chuckled at the idea of hiding her cake. “Is he that bad?”

      “He doesn’t just enjoy it,” Annie told her. “He’s obsessed with it.”

      Martha laughed outright. “Consider myself warned.”

      Rachel Lapp waved at them as her husband, Noah, drove past and parked in the line of vehicles. Meg and Charlie met the young couple, hoping to hold their baby daughter.

      “Rachel is looking well,” Martha commented as she watched Meg reach for baby Katherine. “Being a mother must agree with her.” She smiled at Annie. “I know it does you.”

      “I’m feeling well and I’m happy. Jacob is excited about being a vadder again.” Her friend’s expression softened. “I’m afraid he expects us to have eight children like his mudder,” she whispered with a laugh. “As if two kinner aren’t enough to handle at the moment. He forgets that I’m not as young as his mam was when she had Jedidiah.”

      Martha eyed her friend warmly. “You want them, too.” How she wished she could have had a family, but it wasn’t meant to be.

      “Ja, I do,” Annie admitted with a chuckle. “We’ll see what the Lord has in store for us.”

      A burst of laughter drew Martha’s gaze once again toward Eli. The girls surrounding him were giggling at something he said, as he was grinning, obviously pleased with his audience.

      “I wonder if Eli will ever settle down,” Annie said.

      Martha studied the young man objectively. “Those girls like him.”

      “And he enjoys their company, but never once has he shown serious interest in any one of them. Jacob says it’s because Eli is determined to open his own business first. He’s been working and saving for it for years.”

      “What kind of business?” Martha asked, more curious than she should be.

      “A carriage shop.”

      “Here in Happiness?”

      Annie shifted her son onto her other hip. “Ja. Says he wants to provide a service to our community.”

      Which said a lot about Eli Lapp, Martha thought as she watched him break from the group and head toward Noah and Jacob, who had stopped to talk near the barn.

      Rachel approached with Meg and Charlie, who was now holding the baby. As they joined them, talk became centered on the infant.

      “She’s the sweetest baby,” Charlie said as she studied the child in her arms, drawing a smile from little Katy’s mother.

      “She’s growing too quickly,” Rachel said.

      “Ja, it can seem that way,” Annie agreed. Her son wiggled within her arms, and she set him on his feet. “Stay here, EJ.” She kept a firm eye on him. “Every time I see him it seems as if he’s grown another half inch.”

      The women laughed. “Do you know how much a half inch is?” Meg Stoltzfus said. She showed the group with the space between her two fingers. “I wonder how you can tell EJ’s size, as active as he is. He barely stays still.”

      “Except when he’s asleep,” Annie pointed out. She reached to grab hold of her son’s hand to keep him close.

      “A mudder can see the changes,” Missy Stoltzfus said, joining the women in time to overhear her daughter and Annie’s conversation. She had returned from inside the house.

      “I’m glad you agree.” She flashed Meg a teasing look.

      Katie exited the house and approached. “What a lovely day! Do you think the boys will want to play ball?” She reached down to run her fingers through her grandson’s baby-fine blond hair.

      “Peter will.” Annie smiled at her mother-in-law. “Ach, and here he comes now with my mudder and vadder.” Horseshoe Joe had pulled his buggy into the yard and parked it next to Noah’s.

      “Your dat has been doing well since his accident,” Martha said.

      Annie beamed. “Ja, ’tis hard to believe that two years ago he was unable to walk after he fell from his ladder.”

      “We’ve had much to be thankful for,” Katie agreed.

      “How are Josiah and Nancy?” Missy asked referring to Annie’s older brother and his wife, Nancy, who was Martha’s niece.

      Josiah Zook had married Amos and Mae King’s daughter Nancy last year.

      “They are doing well.” Annie picked up her son, who squirmed and tried to get away. “EJ, be still.”

      “I’ve never seen Nancy happier,” Rachel said of her cousin.

      Martha knew that Rachel had lived with her King relatives when she’d first arrived in Happiness. The schoolteacher’s cottage had been under construction back then. Once the house was complete, Rachel had moved from her aunt and uncle’s into her new home. Noah had been one of the men who’d worked on the teacher’s house. After Rachel and Noah had wed, they’d lived in the cottage until a new house could be constructed for them elsewhere.

      Peter stood chatting with a group of young Amish men near the buggies. Martha eyed him a moment and turned to study Meg, who seemed annoyed by the young man. Anne’s younger brother broke away from his friends to saunter in their direction. He smiled when he saw EJ in his sister’s arms. “I’ll take him,” he offered as he reached for his nephew, who was clearly happy to see him.

      Annie smiled gratefully as she handed off her son. “He’s a bit of a handful today.”

      “He’s fine,” Peter said with a smile for the child. “He’ll be a gut boy for his onkel Peter, ja?” He casually glanced in Meg’s direction. “Hallo, Meg. You’re looking well.”

      Meg narrowed her gaze. “Peter,” she acknowledged stiffly. When he looked back to EJ and walked away, the young woman appeared miffed that he hadn’t paid her more attention.

      Martha СКАЧАТЬ