by Beth Wiseman
After Eli got the fire going strong, he shed his coat and hat, and Katie Ann quickly took them from him and hung them on the rack by the door. He glanced at the clock and realized he’d better have a look at her leak and see if he could get it repaired before dark, or he’d be walking to his cousins’ house in freezing temperatures.
“Where’s your leak?”
Katie Ann motioned for him to follow, talking as she walked. “You really don’t need to bother with this. I should have declined the offer . . .”
Eli pretended to be listening by giving her an occasional nod, but his eyes roamed around her bedroom. A queen-sized oak bed topped with a yellow and blue quilt took up most of the space in the small room, and there was a fragrance in the air teasing his senses, lavender perhaps. On the nightstand, several books were piled next to a lantern, along with a pair of gold-rimmed reading glasses and a box of tissues. It felt intimate, being in her bedroom.
He crossed the room to where she was standing, her arm stretched and pointing to the ceiling. Maybe it was the dim natural light coming through the window, the floral scent wafting through the room, or the way her mouth moved when she spoke, but Eli closed the space between them until he was standing a few inches from her. He touched her cheek with the back of his fingers, fully expecting her to step back. But she didn’t. And as their eyes locked and held, Eli knew what was coming, and he was helpless to stop himself.
Seven
KATIE ANN WAS PARALYZED BY THE FEEL OF ELI’S touch, and any rational thoughts she had about how inappropriate this was left her when he leaned in and kissed her. As he cupped her cheek, his mouth lingered on hers with more intimacy than she could recall ever having with Ivan, but even as her body reacted to his touch, it was still Ivan’s face that flashed before her, and she reminded herself that this man was not her husband. She eased away.
“I know I’m supposed to say I’m sorry, Katie Ann.” Eli put his hands on his hips and stared at the floor for a moment, then looked back up at her. “But I’m not.”
“I think you’d best leave.” Katie Ann walked out of her bedroom, and Eli followed. She pulled his coat and hat from the rack and handed them to him. “Danki for a lovely time sightseeing, but I think I’ll have Samuel look at the leak on another day.”
Eli didn’t take the items. “No, Katie Ann. Don’t do this. I like you, and I want us to be friends, so let’s talk about what just happened.”
She could feel her cheeks reddening, embarrassed about her own desires and wondering if he noticed how she trembled when his lips were pressed against hers. “I don’t want to talk about it.” She pushed the coat and hat forward until they hit his chest and he was forced to take them.
He locked eyes with her. “I guess I am sorry. If this is going to keep us from being friends, then I regret my actions.”
Katie Ann put a hand to her forehead, not wanting to look at him, but not wanting him to leave either. He gently cupped her chin and raised her face.
“I’m sorry. I really would like to fix your leaky roof.” He smiled. “But maybe you’d better stay in the living room.”
The way he said it caused Katie Ann to smile.
“Okay, gut. A smile. All is not lost.” He hung his hat and coat back on the rack, then pointed a finger at her. “Now you stay here. Don’t even think about coming into the kissing room . . .” He let out an exaggerated gasp. “I mean bedroom.”
He gave his head a quick shake as he walked across the living room and toward her bedroom, and she put a hand over her mouth to stifle a grin. He wasn’t just handsome, caring, and nurturing . . . he was funny too. Strangely enough, she began to feel a bit more at ease.
“I’ll make us some kaffi,” she said as she walked toward the kitchen. She filled the percolator, the kiss playing over and over in her mind. But with each recollection, the image seemed to transform itself from Eli to Ivan, then back again. She should never have let it happen.
Eli walked into the kitchen. “I can see where Samuel repaired the area, but I’m going to need to get up on the roof to figure out why it’s still leaking. When is a gut time for me to come back tomorrow?”
“I appreciate the offer, and if it had been something simple to repair today, I would have been grateful, but I can’t let you come back and start on a project like this.” She raised an eyebrow. “You have sightseeing to do, remember?”
Eli waved a hand. “Plenty of time for that. What if a storm comes?”
“I’ll put a bucket under the leak, as I have done in the past.”
Eli pointed to the living room. “Kaffi by the fire?”
Katie Ann noticed him shivering. He must be finding the Colorado weather awfully cold. “All right.”
She followed him to the living room, thinking how inappropriate this would be if they were not grown adults. Then she found humor in that thought. As a teenager, she never would have kissed a boy in her bedroom, and yet as an adult, she’d let it happen. She sat in the rocking chair, and Eli sat on the couch across from her.
“So how long will you be staying in Colorado?” she asked.
“Until next Tuesday. Another week. I want to be home for Thanksgiving.” He stroked his beard for a moment. “Who will you spend Thanksgiving with?”
“Lillian and Samuel are having Thanksgiving, and Vera, Elam, and all their children will be there, and of course the newlyweds, David and Emily. And Martha.” She took a sip of coffee. “I’ll be making sweet potatoes and bringing the butter bread.”
“Sweet potatoes are my favorite food at Thanksgiving.”
“Really? So will one of your daughters prepare them?”
“Hannah. My oldest dochder. She’s made them every year for as long as I can remember.” Eli paused, took a deep breath. “And I hope that Hannah will be making our family sweet potatoes for many, many more years to come.”
Something about the way he made the comment left Katie Ann unsure what to say, so she waited.
“Hannah had breast cancer last year.” Then he smiled. “But mei girl is a fighter, and she beat it. She’s doing very gut now.”
Eli’s love for his children shone in everything he said.
“I will pray for Hannah,” Katie Ann said. “I’ll include her in my daily devotions and pray for continued gut health.”
Thinking about illness made her think about Martha, and she wondered if her friend would be coming over this evening. Katie Ann hoped so. She didn’t believe Martha had been entirely truthful with her about her doctor appointment.
“Danki, Katie Ann.” Eli stood up, and so did Katie Ann. “I haven’t had a lot of time over the years to have any really close friends. I mean, I’ve always had mei kinner, but now that I have some time, I’d like to have some adult relationships.” He stepped closer to her but kept a safe distance. “Please don’t let one kiss keep us from being friends. I haven’t kissed another woman since my wife. I don’t know what got into me . . .” He lowered his gaze and took a deep breath.
Katie Ann was equally as concerned about what had gotten into her. She’d not only allowed it—she’d kissed him back. She started toward the door, and Eli followed. “I think you’re going to regret taking on this project. Samuel tried twice, and it still leaks.”
Eli stroked his beard. “You’re probably right.”
Katie Ann’s eyes rounded. She hadn’t expected him to agree so easily.
“You should probably cook me supper, no?”
She crossed her arms across her chest. “Hmm . . . I might be able to do that.” She grinned. “Martha might be here. She’s here most nights.”
“Gut. A chaperone.” He winked, then headed out the door.
Katie Ann watched him walk into a light flurry of snow, glad it wasn’t a far walk to Vera and Elam’s house. She closed the door, leaned her back against it, and couldn’t help but smile. She was mourning her husband, and Eli had big plans for the second half of his life. But her new friend was a big distraction from everything else on her plate. An
d she was looking forward to cooking for him tomorrow night.
ELI FOUGHT THE chill in the air on the way back to his cousins’ house. He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his long black coat and gazed to the east at the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, then to the west at the San Juan Mountains. He knew from his research about the area that Sangre de Cristo meant “blood of Christ,” and as the sun eased below the horizon, he could see how the mountain range got its name, as an orange glow could be seen on the opposite horizon. The phenomenon was known as an alpenglow, he had read, and it was an amazing sight.
He replayed the kiss with Katie Ann over in his mind, leaving him feeling both elated and like a heel. A woman like Katie Ann needed a husband and father for Jonas, and Eli knew he was not that man. Kissing her was wrong on several levels, and he would make sure it never happened again. But there was no mistaking the fact that she had kissed him back . . . and that thought was going to keep him up at night.
“Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord.”
The scripture had come into Eli’s mind many times over the past seventeen years, and he often wondered if he was failing God by not remarrying. But it seemed like betrayal—to Sarah. Perhaps it was God he was betraying.
Once again he questioned the path he’d chosen for himself— one filled with travel and less responsibility.
As he rounded the corner to Elam’s house, he knew he was going to face a lot of questions from his cousins about his outing. He could see Vera sweeping snow from the front porch as he grew closer.
“How was your day, Eli?” She sent him an all-knowing grin as she pushed the fluffy powder from the porch with her broom.
“It was a gut day. The sand dunes were a sight to see.” He walked up the freshly swept steps.
Vera stopped sweeping and put her hand on her hip. “And Katie Ann? Did you enjoy her company?”
Eli thought about the kiss. “Ya. Very much.”
Vera’s face lit with a smile. “Wonderful!”
He could see where this was going, and as much as he’d like to please his cousins, it probably wasn’t right not to be honest with them. “I suspect Katie Ann and I will be gut friends.” He eased closer to his cousin’s wife, lowered his gaze, and spoke firmly. “But nothing more.”
Vera scowled. “You never know, Eli.”
“Ya. I do know, Vera. Katie Ann is lovely, but she is a new mudder, and I’ve already done all that. I’m not going back there.” He waited for her to absorb what he was saying. “It might sound selfish, but I have a plan for the rest of my life, things I want to see and do. So I don’t want you to be thinking there will be a romance with me and Katie Ann.”
Guilt pinched at Eli’s heart as he wondered again if he was failing God.
Vera smiled. “Well, you just go ahead and make all the plans you want to. Sometimes God has His own plans in the works.” Then she winked at him and moved into the house.
Eli shook his head. Katie Ann deserved someone committed to the idea of marriage, not a man committed to his own pursuits. Then he thought about fixing Katie Ann’s leak tomorrow afternoon and having supper with her afterward. There was absolutely no reason why he and Katie Ann couldn’t be friends.
MARTHA PARKED HER car in front of Katie Ann’s house, then clopped across the snow, scowling. She was going to have to tell her friend about her surgery that was now scheduled for the week after Thanksgiving—in case she didn’t survive. She tucked the envelope closer to her chest as she moved up the steps.
“I was hoping I’d see you tonight.” Katie Ann was holding Jonas when she opened the door. Martha fought tears as she thought about not being able to see that little bundle grow into a man.
“I don’t like to miss a meal. What are we having?” Martha dropped her coat on the rack, glad to see there was a good fire going.
“Meatloaf.”
Martha sighed. It wasn’t her favorite, but it was food. “I’m not contagious, so let me have my precious baby.”
Katie Ann handed Jonas to her. “I made you some creamed celery. I’ll just go finish up in the kitchen.”
Creamed celery. Thank goodness. The meal has been saved. She sat on the couch with Jonas and leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. “I love you so much, my little man.” She dabbed at one eye, determined not to cry in front of Katie Ann. Her friend was going to take the news hard. “You always take care of your mama, you hear?”
Martha leaned against the back of the couch and pulled Jonas up on her chest. She loved the way the baby smelled, a combination of powder and Katie Ann’s homemade lavender soap. She held him close until Katie Ann walked back into the room.
“Supper’s ready.”
Martha did her best to eat Katie Ann’s meal, but her stomach was a mess. She’d wait until a bit later to talk to her friend. “How was your day with Eli?”
“It was nice. We saw the sand dunes, and they were amazing.”
Katie Ann’s smile told Martha how much she liked this Eli Detweiler. Martha grinned as she swallowed a spoonful of creamed celery.
“Don’t give me that look.”
“What look?”
“The one on your face. There will be no romance between me and Eli.”
“You are the one who is always telling me that God has His own plan, so don’t go planning your future just yet.” She pointed her fork at Katie Ann. “Now you tell me the truth, Katie Ann . . . Did you give Lucy Turner money?”
Katie Ann pulled her eyes from Martha’s and sighed. “It is none of your concern.”
Martha wanted to tell her that it was her business. She’d given Vera a box of money last year and told the woman to find someone who could use it. That was before Martha knew Katie Ann very well. Martha was glad that the money ultimately ended up with Katie Ann, but she sure didn’t want that trampy Lucy to have any of it.
“I knew you’d give her money,” Martha said before taking another bite of celery. “How much?”
“It doesn’t matter. Just enough for her to get by.”
Martha shook her head, then listened as Katie Ann told her a bizarre story about a house that Lucy thought Ivan bought. On another day Martha would have voiced her opinion about all of this much louder, but today her thoughts were on something else. She waited until they were having coffee in the living room.
“What’s wrong, Martha?” Katie Ann held Jonas on her lap, rubbing his tummy the way Eli had shown her. Martha knew that she’d be praying every day she had left that Eli would step up to the plate and take care of Katie Ann and Jonas.
“I’m sick.”
Katie Ann looked up at her with fearful eyes. “What did the doctor say?”
“My cold was just a cold, but when they x-rayed my lungs, they found something else. I’ve got a tumor the size of a grapefruit in my belly.” She rolled her eyes. “And all this time, I just thought I was fat.”
Katie Ann put Jonas in his carrier, then edged closer to Martha with tears in her eyes.
Martha latched onto Katie Ann’s hand. “Now don’t you go falling apart.” Martha swiped at a tear that rolled down her own cheek. “Argh! I was determined not to cry.”
“Tell me what the doctor said.” Katie Ann pinched her trembling lips together.
“Well, apparently, the thing has to come out. I’m a goner for sure if I don’t have the operation. So that dumb doctor over in Alamosa referred me to a surgeon. That’s who I met with yesterday, and I’m having the surgery the week after Thanksgiving.” Now here was the hard part. “I likely won’t survive.”
Katie Ann pulled her hand from Martha’s and slapped it over her mouth.
“It doesn’t look good.” Martha shook her head. “And I’m so sorry to have to tell you this.” She reached for the envelope. “Here’s everything you’ll need to know about my business. I’ve left everything to you.”
“I don’t need that envelope,” Katie Ann said as she blinked back tears. “Because you are going to be just fine.”<
br />
Martha shrugged. “Maybe. But I doubt it.” She dropped the large manila envelope in Katie Ann’s lap. “So you just keep this.” She patted Katie Ann on the leg. “Now, now . . . no tears. You and Arnold introduced me to the Lord, and I’m in pretty good standing with Him, so I know where I’m going.”
“Don’t talk like that.” Katie Ann sniffled. “Have you told Arnold?”
Martha pointed a finger at her friend. “No, I haven’t. And don’t you tell him either. He’d feel obligated to come, and I don’t want that. If the man loved me enough, he would have already moved here to be with me.”
Katie Ann blew her nose, which was as red as Martha’s fingernail polish. “That’s not true. Arnold just said he wanted to get to know his relatives again. He’s invited you there several times and asked if he could come here. You always say no.”
“Because saying good-bye is just too hard.” She raised her chin. “I don’t want to talk about Arnold.” She cut her eyes at Katie Ann. “But you’d better not tell him about my diagnosis or I will be very upset with you.”
“I think he needs to know.”
“Katie Ann, do you hear me?” Martha raised her voice.
“Ya.”
They were quiet for a few moments. Then Katie Ann reached for Martha’s hand and squeezed. “I will be there with you for everything.”
Martha returned the squeeze. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
They were quiet again, and Katie Ann fought tears. She knew she needed to be strong for Martha. In the past, Martha had been a hypochondriac, but Katie Ann always knew that her friend just sought attention and love. But this was different. If she was having surgery, her condition was serious, and the thought of anything happening to Martha terrified her.
“Eli is coming to fix my roof tomorrow night,” she finally said.
Martha smiled as she leaned over and pulled Jonas from his carrier. “Is he now?”
“Don’t presume anything, but I am making supper for him for his efforts.”
