help. It’s our Christian duty to care for her and that precious baby.”
Mustering a stern tone, he said, “You don’t fool me, Mamm. I saw how excited you were to tell me it was a little girl. The way you came running out to the barn, I thought the house must be on fire. You’re just happy to have a new baby in the house. I’ve heard you telling your friends that you’re hoping Mary’s next one is a girl.”
His mother raised one finger toward the ceiling. “Gott has given me five fine grandsons. I’m not complaining. I pray only that my daughters have more healthy children. If one or two should be girls—that is Gotte wille, too, and fine with me. Just as it was Gotte wille that Katie and her baby came to us.”
Her logic was something Elam couldn’t argue with. He turned to the nurse. “She can stay here until her family comes to fetch her if that is what she wants. She can write to Malachi in the morning and tell him that she’s here.”
Amber looked relieved. “Wonderful. That’s settled, then.”
For Malachi’s sake and for Katie’s, Elam prayed that she was prepared to mend her ways and come back to the Amish. If she was sincere about returning, the church members would welcome her back with open arms.
Amber gathered up her bag. “I’ll come by late tomorrow afternoon to check on both of my patients. I’m going to leave some powdered infant formula with you in case the nursing doesn’t go well, but I’m sure you won’t need it. Please don’t hesitate to send for me if you think something is wrong. Mrs. Sutter, I’m sure you know what to look for.”
“Thank you for coming, Miss Bradley.”
“Thank you for calling me.”
Elam hesitated, then said, “About your bill.”
She waved his concern aside. “Katie and I have already discussed it.”
After she left, a calm settled over the house. Nettie tried to hide a yawn, but Elam saw it. The clock on the wall said it was nearly two in the morning. At least it was the off Sunday and they would not have to travel to services in the morning. “Go to bed, Mamm.”
“No, I’m going to sleep here in my chair in case Katie or the baby needs me.”
He knew better than to argue with her. “I’ll get a quilt and a pillow from your room.”
“Thank you, Elam. You are a good son.”
A few minutes later he returned with the bedding and handed it to her. As she settled herself in her favorite brown wingback chair, he moved a footstool in front of it and helped her prop up her feet, then tucked the blanket under them. She sighed heavily and set her glasses on the small, oval reading table beside her.
When he was sure she was comfortable, he quietly walked back into the kitchen. Before heading upstairs to his room, he checked the fire in the stove. It had died down to glowing red coals. The wood box beside it was almost empty. The women must have used most of it keeping the room warm for Katie’s delivery. Glancing toward the bed in the corner, he watched Katie sleeping huddled beneath a blue-and-green patterned quilt.
She looked so small and alone.
Only she wasn’t alone. Her baby slept on a chair beside the bed in one of his baskets. And what of the child’s father? Katie had said he didn’t care about them, but what man would not care that he had such a beautiful daughter? There was a lot Elam didn’t know about his surprise guest, but answers would have to wait until morning.
Quietly slipping into his coat, he eased the door open and went out to fetch more wood. He paused on the front steps to admire the view. A three-quarter moon sent its bright light across the farmyard, making the trees and buildings cast sharp black shadows over the snow. High in the night sky, the stars twinkled as if in competition with the sparkling landscape.
Elam shook his head. He was being fanciful again. It was a habit he tried hard to break. Still, it had to be good for a man to stop and admire the handiwork of God. Why else did he have eyes to see and ears to hear?
Elam’s breath rose in the air in frosty puffs as he loaded his arms with wood and returned to the house. He managed to open the door with one hand, but it banged shut behind him. He froze, hoping he hadn’t disturbed his guests or his mother. When no one moved, he blew out the breath he’d been holding and began unloading his burden as quietly as he could.
After adding a few of his logs to the stove, he stoked up the blaze and closed the firebox door. He had taken a half-dozen steps toward the stairs and the bed that was calling to him when the baby started to fuss. He spun around.
Katie stirred but didn’t open her eyes. He could hear his mother’s not-so-soft snoring in the other room. The baby quieted.
He took a step back and grimaced as the floorboard creaked. Immediately, the baby started her soft fussing again. Elam waited, but neither of the women woke. The baby’s cries weren’t loud. Maybe she was just lonely in a strange new place.
He crossed the room. Squatting beside the basket, he rocked it gently. The moonlight spilling in through the kitchen window showed him a tiny face with bright eyes wide open.
“Shh,” he whispered as he rocked her. Rachel showed no inclination to go back to sleep. Her attempts to catch her tight fists in her mouth amused him. What a cute little pumpkin she was. Another of God’s wonders.
Glancing once more at Katie’s pale face, he picked the baby up. She immediately quieted. He crossed the room and sat down at the table. “Let’s let your mama sleep a bit longer.”
He disapproved of the choices this little one’s mother had made, but none of that disapproval spilled over onto this new life. Settling her into the crook of his arm, he marveled at how tiny she was and yet how complete. The cares and worries of his day slipped away. A softness nestled itself around his heart. What would it be like to hold a child of his own? Would he ever know? Rachel yawned and he smiled at her.
“Ah, I was right. You just wanted someone to cuddle you. I know a thing or two about wee ones. You’re not the first babe I’ve held.”
Babies certainly weren’t new to him. He’d rocked nephews aplenty. He raised her slightly to make her more comfortable.
“My sisters think nothing of plopping a babe in my arms so they’re free to help Mamm with canning or gardening, but I know what they’re up to,” he whispered to the cute baby he held.
“They think if I’m reminded how wonderful children are I’ll start going to the Sunday night singings again and court a wife of my own. They don’t see that I’m not ready for that.”
He wasn’t sure he would ever be ready to trust his heart to someone again. If that time did come, it would only be with a woman he was certain shared his love of God and his Plain faith.
“Once burned, twice shy, as the English say,” he confided to his tiny listener.
He waited for the anger to surface but it didn’t. For the first time in over a year he was able to think about his broken engagement without bitterness. Maybe the sweet-smelling babe in his arms had brought with her a measure of God’s peace for him. To her, life was new and good and shouldn’t be tainted with the sins of the past.
He began to sing a soft lullaby in
