Stoking the coals glowing in a small stove, he soon had a bright fire burning. It wasn’t long before the chill was gone from the air. He took off his coat and hung it on a peg near the frost-covered windows. Using his sleeve, he rubbed one windowpane clear so he could see the house.
Light flooded from the kitchen window. They must have moved more lamps into the room. Knowing he couldn’t help, he pick up his measuring tape and began marking sections of cedar board for a hope chest a client had ordered last week.
He didn’t need to concentrate on the task. His hands knew the wood, knew the tools he held as if they were extensions of his own fingers. His gaze was drawn repeatedly to the window and the drama he knew was being played out inside his home. As he worked, he prayed for Katie Lantz and her unborn child.
Hours later, he glanced out the window and stopped his work abruptly. He saw his mother hurrying toward him. Had something gone wrong?
Chapter Three
“You are so beautiful,” Katie whispered. Tears blurred her vision and she rapidly blinked them away.
Propped up with pillows against the headboard of her borrowed bed, she drew her fingers gently across the face of her daughter where she lay nestled in the crook of her arm. Her little head was covered in dark hair. Her eyelashes lay like tiny curved spikes against her cheeks. She was the most beautiful thing Katie had ever seen.
Amber Bradley, the midwife, moved about the other side of the room, quietly putting her things away. Katie had been a little surprised that the midwife wasn’t Amish. That the women of the district trusted an outsider spoke volumes for Amber. She was both kind and competent, as Katie had discovered.
When Amber came over to the bed at last, she sat gently on the edge and asked, “Shall I take her now? You really do need some rest.”
“Can I hold her just a little longer?” Katie didn’t want to give her baby over to anyone. Not yet. The joy of holding her own child was too new, too wonderful to allow it to end.
Amber smiled and nodded. “All right, but I do need to check her over more completely before I go. We didn’t have a lot of time to discuss your plans. Maybe we can do that now.”
Reality poked its ugly head back into Katie’s mind. Her plans hadn’t changed. They had simply been delayed. “I intend to go to my brother’s house.”
“Does he live close by?”
“No. Mr. Sutter said Malachi has moved to Kansas.”
“I see. That’s a long way to travel with a newborn.”
Especially for someone who had no money. And now she owed the midwife, as well. All Katie could do was be honest with Amber. She glanced up at the nurse. “I’m grateful you came tonight, but I’m sorry I can’t pay you right now. I will, I promise. As soon as I get a job.”
“I’m not worried about that. The Amish always pay their bills. In fact, they’re much more prompt than any insurance company I’ve dealt with.”
Katie looked down at her daughter. “I’m not Amish. Not anymore.”
“Don’t be worrying about my fee. Just enjoy that beautiful baby. I’ll send a bill in a few days and you can pay me when you’re able.”
The outside door opened and Nettie rushed in carrying a large, oval wooden basket. She was followed by Elam. He paused long enough to hang his coat and hat by the door, then he approached the bed. “I heard it’s a fine, healthy girl. Congratulations, Katie Lantz.”
“Thank you.” She proudly pulled back the corner of the receiving blanket, a gift from Amber, to show Elam her little girl.
He moved closer and leaned down, but kept his hands tucked in the front pockets of his pants. “Ach, she’s wundascheen!”
“Thank you. I think she’s beautiful, too.” Katie planted a kiss on her daughter’s head.
Nettie set the basket on the table, folded her arms over her ample chest and grinned. “Jah, she looks like her Mama with all that black hair.”
Reaching out hesitantly, Elam touched the baby’s tiny fist. “Have you given her a name?”
“Rachel Ann. It was my mother’s name.”
Nodding his satisfaction, he straightened and shoved his hand back in his pocket. “It’s a goot name. A plain name.”
Katie blinked back sudden tears as she gazed at her daughter. Even though they would have to live with Malachi for a while, Rachel would not be raised Amish as Katie’s mother had been. Why did that make her feel sad?
Amber rose from her place at the foot of the bed. “I see you’ve got a solution for where this little one is going to sleep, Nettie.”
“My daughter, Mary, is expecting in a few months. She has my old cradle, but a folded quilt will make this a comfortable bed for Rachel. What do you think, Katie?”
“I think it will do fine.” All of the sudden, Katie was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open.
“I will make a bassinet for her,” Elam offered quickly. “It won’t take any time at all.”
Overwhelmed, Katie said, “You’ve been so kind already, Mr. Sutter. How can I ever thank you?”
“Someday, you will do a kindness for someone in need. That will be my thanks,” he replied, soft and low so that only she could hear him.
Katie studied his face in the lamplight. It was the first time she had really looked at him. He was probably twenty-five years old. Most Amish men his age were married with one or two children already. She wondered why he was still single. He was certainly handsome enough to please any young woman. His hair, sable-brown and thick, held a touch of unruly curl where it brushed the back of his collar.
His face, unlike his hair, was all chiseled angles and planes, from his broad forehead to his high cheekbones. That, coupled with a straight, no-nonsense nose, gave him a look of harshness. Until she noticed his eyes. Soft sky-blue eyes that crinkled at the corners when he smiled as he was smiling now at the sight of Rachel’s pink bow mouth opened in a wide yawn.
“Looks like someone is ready to try out her new bed.” He stepped back as Amber came to take Rachel from Katie.
“I know her mother could use some rest,” Amber stated with a stern glance in Katie’s direction.
Katie nodded in agreement, but she didn’t want to sleep. “If I close my eyes for a few minutes, that’s all I need.”
“You’re going to need much more than that,” Nettie declared, placing the quilt-lined basket on a kitchen chair beside Katie’s bed.
Amber laid the baby on the table and unwrapped her enough to listen to her heart and lungs with a stethoscope. Katie couldn’t close her eyes until she knew all was well. After finishing her examination, Amber rewrapped the baby tightly and laid her in the basket. “Everything looks good, but I’ll be back to check on her tomorrow, and you, too, Mommy. I’ll also draw a little blood from her heel tomorrow. The state requires certain tests on all newborns. You’ll get the results in a few weeks. I can tell you’re tired, Katie. We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
Katie scooted down under the covers and rolled to her side so that she could see her daughter. “Will she be warm enough?”
“She’ll be fine. We’ll keep the stove going all night,” Nettie promised.
“She’s so sweet. I can’t believe how much I love her already.” Sleep pulled Katie’s eyelids lower. She fought it, afraid if she slept she would wake and find it all had been a dream.
The murmur of