The Wonder of Your Love - By Beth Wiseman Page 0,1

can bundle him up real good and take my car.”

Katie Ann shook her head. “No, no, I don’t mind the buggy ride. It’s crisp outside, but sunny. It would be gut if you could stay with Jonas. Are you sure you don’t mind?”

Katie Ann had been up more than usual during the night with Jonas. He just wouldn’t stop crying, and nothing she did seemed to calm him.

Martha looked up at her and scowled. “Now where else on the planet do you think I’d rather be than with this baby?” She raised one hand out from under Jonas and tucked a piece of brownish-gray hair behind her ear, a strand that had fallen from beneath the butterfly clip on the top of her head.

Katie Ann pushed a loose tendril of her own hair beneath her kapp as she moved toward the rocker. “Just checking.” She leaned down and kissed her precious bundle on the cheek. “See you soon, my darling.”

Martha raised her chin as she spoke in a whisper. “You tell Vera Detweiler that I’m expecting creamed celery tomorrow. Lots of it.”

Katie Ann nodded as she moved toward the door. “You know there’s always lots of celery at weddings.” She pulled her heavy black coat, gloves, and bonnet on. Once she was bundled up, she came back to the bedroom door and glanced in at Martha. “I’ll be back soon. You’ll check on him often, right?”

Martha nodded. “Yes, I will. Now, you go.” She waved a hand at Katie Ann.

Martha hadn’t missed a day since Jonas was born. Sometimes she stayed for hours, and she often spent the night. Katie Ann was grateful to have the older woman in her life. Being a single mother was challenging.

As she closed the door behind her, she thought about Ivan. Despite her husband’s infidelity, she was sorry that he would never see his son. She still mourned Ivan’s untimely death, but with each passing day, her sorrow became less as her anger grew stronger. She was thankful to God for blessing her with Jonas so late in life, but even her relationship with Him had suffered. Maybe it was all the sleepless nights she’d been up with Jonas, too tired even to pray. That’s what she kept telling herself.

She climbed into the buggy and turned on the batteryoperated heater on the seat next to her. The thermometer outside her window showed thirty-three degrees, but as was usually the case here in the San Luis Valley, the sun shone brightly, making it seem much warmer than it was. Clicking her tongue, she set the buggy in motion and breathed in the fresh country air, wondering if it would snow later. She’d read in the newspaper that morning that there might be a flurry, but no hard weather was forecast. She wondered if the Detweilers’ relatives had arrived safely. Vera was doubtless beside herself, busy with preparations for her daughter’s wedding. Katie Ann was disappointed that the weather back in Lancaster County would prevent Ivan’s side of the family from attending. She’d always been close to her in-laws, and she was sure David must be disappointed as well.

Once again, recollections of her own wedding swirled in Katie Ann’s head, and her eyes filled with tears as she thought about the good years she’d had with Ivan. And the bad. But she never could have predicted that Ivan would leave her—for the likes of Lucy Turner—and take up residence with the Englisch woman back in Lancaster County. She still struggled to forgive her dead husband’s choices . . . and Lucy Turner.

ELI DETWEILER THANKED the cabdriver and whistled a tune as he walked across the snow to his cousin’s house. He blocked the sun’s glare with his hand; he’d never seen a more beautiful day. His spirits were high, and he felt like he had his entire life ahead of him—even though he’d already lived at least half of it. But at forty-three he had a new sense of freedom, the kind that comes from being a new emptynester, as the Englisch called it. He’d married off the youngest of his kinner two weeks ago, and with Maureen out of the house, he was on his own. After Sarah died, he’d managed to raise six young children by himself, and he couldn’t recall a moment’s peace.

Five of the six were girls, and he never could have predicted the challenges of raising daughters. Thankfully, he had one ally in Jake, his only son and the oldest of