The Wonder of Your Love (A Land of Canaan Novel) (22 page)

Dear Eli,

I so enjoyed your letter and hearing about Leah and the twins. It sounds like you have such a wonderful family, and I loved hearing about them. Tonight, worry fills my heart, as tomorrow morning I will be taking Martha to the hospital to have the tumor removed. Lillian will keep Jonas for me. I’ve prayed hard about tomorrow, and I know that worry is a sin, but on this night I’m afraid I’m filled with concern. You probably only saw one side of Martha (now I’m chuckling), but I promise you, she has a huge heart, and she is very dear to me, as if she were my own mother.

Katie Ann tapped the pen to her chin as more visions of Eli’s kiss raced through her head.

It has gotten much colder since you left, dropping into the single digits the last few days. I will be glad when spring is here. Last year, Lillian and I didn’t have a garden. We weren’t sure what to plant. The growing season is so different here, with only three months of frost-free weather. But after talking with some other folks, we have a plan. We will grow peas, tomatoes, sweet corn, potatoes, and onions. And we’re told that cauliflower, cabbage, and broccoli will do
gut
in this climate. I’m looking forward to that, but our last day of frost will not come until mid-June.

Jonas continues to amaze me on a daily basis, and he smiles every time I say his name. What a blessing he is to me so late in life.

I’ve been quilting pot holders in the evenings, and I’m working on a cookbook. Someday I would like to have a small shop to sell things like that, something very small.

She recalled how Eli mentioned that he’d always wanted a shop, but she decided not to bring that up.

I will close for now, as I want to spend extra time in prayer tonight. May this letter find you well in all the ways of the Lord.

She paused, thought for a minute, and decided to sign her letter the same way he had.

Best friends, in His name,
Katie Ann

She folded the letter, put it in an envelope, and found Eli’s address on her end table. She’d drop the letter in the mailbox on the way to the hospital in the morning. She’d tried to get Martha to spend the night with her, but Martha was insistent that she wanted to spend her last night on Earth in her own bed.

Katie Ann closed her eyes in prayer.

Please, Lord, don’t let Martha die. Please
.

Twelve

“I
T STINKS IN HERE
.” M
ARTHA WAS DRESSED IN A
purple pants outfit, and Katie Ann could tell that her friend had spent extra time on her hair this morning. Not one strand was out of place, and it was tightly secured under the butterfly clip. And her makeup was perfectly applied, right down to her bright red lipstick. “And I don’t even want to talk about how hungry I am.”

“I’m sure they’ll let you eat not long after the surgery.”

They wound their way down the hall to admissions. Martha said she’d already preregistered at the hospital, so it wasn’t long before she was shown to her room and settled into her bed. Much to her chagrin, it was not a private room.

“Katie Ann . . .” Martha motioned from her bed for Katie Ann to come closer, then she whispered, “Go find out why that person is in my room. I specifically asked for a private room, and I am paying good money to have one.”

In the next bed, a woman was lying on her side facing the window, only her long blond hair visible atop the covers.

“All right.” Katie Ann patted her on the arm, although she wasn’t as concerned about Martha’s roommate as she was about finding the doctor and getting some details about Martha’s surgery. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

She turned when she got to the door. Martha was wearing a white hospital gown and was tucked beneath the quilt Katie Ann had given her. “Do you need anything?”

Martha pointed to the bed next to her and mouthed, “I don’t need a roommate.”

“Okay,” Katie Ann whispered as she left the room.

M
ARTHA TRIED TO
calm her breathing. They’d be coming for her soon. She closed her eyes and prayed silently.
Please, Lord, if You could see fit to have me wake up and live a few more years, I’d sure be grateful to get to see my little Jonas grow into a small person. If I leave now, he won’t remember me
. She sighed.
But if it’s Your will to take me home, please take care of Katie Ann and Jonas. And, Lord . . . can You make this as painless as possible? You know how much I hate pain
.

Her prayer was interrupted when she heard whimpering to her left. She turned to face the back of the person in the bed a few feet from hers. Twisting her mouth back and forth, she watched the woman’s body shaking.

“You all right over there?” When there was no answer, Martha asked, “Do you need me to get a nurse for you?”

The woman didn’t turn around, but just shook her head.

Martha glanced around the room at all the equipment, wishing she could yank the IV out of her arm, but she figured that would hurt just as much as when they put it in. The woman in the next bed kept crying, and Martha hoped Katie Ann would hurry back and get this person out of here. Last thing she needed was more sadness.

Martha sat up in bed, dropped her feet to the floor, then pulled the IV pole the few feet to where the woman lay. She tapped her on the arm. “Honey?”

“I’m fine, really.”

Martha could tell by her voice that she was young, but she wasn’t sure how young. Her body stretched the full length of the bed beneath the covers. Martha leaned closer, not sure what to do. “You don’t sound fine,” she finally said.

“Well, I am.” The woman shifted a bit, but she didn’t turn around.

Martha wanted to see the face of the person she was talking to. She gently tapped her on the shoulder again. “I’m going to call a nurse if you don’t turn around and let me see that you’re all right.”

As the covers shifted, the woman slowly turned to face Martha, and Martha gasped.

“Do I look all right to you?” The woman could barely move her mouth due to the stitches across her lip, and Martha wasn’t sure she’d ever seen a shiner like the one this young woman had. Her left eye was swollen shut, and another gash ran along the side of her cheek with more stitches. “Happy now?” She turned back to face the window.

Martha didn’t move or speak for a few moments, then she took in a swift breath. “Whoever did that to you should be shot in the . . .” She bit her lip and remembered that the good Lord was listening. “Did a boyfriend or husband do that to you?”

No answer.

“Maybe a car wreck?”

The woman eased back around to face Martha. “I really don’t want to talk right now. Can you please just leave me alone?” She rolled over again, just about the time Katie Ann walked back into the room.

“What are you doing out of bed?” Katie Ann moved toward her, and Martha reluctantly climbed back into bed. Once she was settled beneath her quilt, which, unbeknownst to Katie Ann, she’d had blessed by both a priest and Bishop Esh, she folded her arms across her chest.

Katie Ann leaned closer and whispered, “They’ll be moving that woman out of here shortly, and you’ll have the room to yourself.”

Martha scowled. “What?”

Still whispering, Katie Ann leaned even closer to Martha’s ear. “You told me that you didn’t want to share a room, so they are coming to get her soon.”

“Well, that’s ridiculous.” She waved her hand toward the door. “Go back and tell them never mind.”

Katie Ann’s mouth fell open as she cupped her hands to her hips.

“Oh, don’t look so bothered. I’m the one about to get cut wide open. Just go now . . .” She waved her hand again, and Katie Ann shook her head all the way out the door.

Martha wanted to talk to the woman next to her. Actually, she was more like a girl, maybe sixteen or seventeen. But she wasn’t sure how to start up a conversation without irritating her more.

Just then the door eased open. Martha glanced up, and she was sure her heart was going to beat out of her chest. “Arnold? What in the world are you doing here? Now I’m
sure
I’m going to die, or you wouldn’t be here.”

The love of her life took off a black felt hat, similar to what the Amish folks wore, although Arnold was as Catholic as could be, and he shuffled toward the bed. “Hello, Martha. You should have told me you were ill.” He leaned down, and to her surprise, he kissed her on the cheek. “I’ve missed you.”

She swallowed back a lump in her throat. “How are things in Georgia?”

“I had my reasons why I needed to stay there after my son passed, but I am wrapping things up.” He smiled. “I’m thinking about moving back here, to Canaan.”

“Well, that’s just peachy, Arnold. You decide to move back here
now
? When I’m about to kick the bucket?” She rolled her eyes, glanced up, and prayed aloud. “Lord, there is something unfair about this.”

Arnold sat down in the chair by her bed, reached for her hand, and squeezed. “You are going to be just fine, Martha. I know it.”

“Nope. I’m fairly certain that I’m not going to wake up once they knock me out.” She squinted her eyes. “So, Arnold Becker, if there is anything you want to tell me, I suggest you do it right now.” She raised her chin.

Arnold chuckled. “Still my same Martha.”

His eyes twinkled, and Martha wished she could marry him on the spot.

“My, how I’ve missed you.” Then he frowned. “Why wouldn’t you let me come visit you?”

She turned to face the poor girl next to her, who was still facing the window. “I didn’t want to have to say good-bye again.”

She turned back to him. “But here you are, and I guess I’ll have to say it anyway.”

“I needed to be with my daughter-in-law and her family. We were all grieving, and I hated to leave them . . . and . . .” He pulled his eyes away from hers as he took a deep breath. “I didn’t come back to stay because I couldn’t provide for you in a proper manner. But I made some investments, and now—”

“Did the good Lord strip you of your senses?” Martha stiffened as she thought about all the months she’d missed this man. “I have more money than I’ll ever spend in a lifetime. I thought you knew that.”

Arnold stood taller. “But I wanted to be able to take care of you.”

She stared into his kind eyes, never more touched—or frustrated. She pressed her lips firmly together for a moment.

“On the off chance I pull through this, am I gonna have to tell you good-bye again?”

“Yes, we’ll have to part ways once you are better. But I’ll be back in a few weeks. To stay, if that’s all right with you.”

Martha shrugged, elated, but not about to let Arnold know just how much. “It’s a free country.”

Arnold chuckled again. “Yes, it is.”

Martha narrowed her brows. “Who told you I was getting cut on today?” She waved her hand in the air. “Oh, never mind. I know who it was.”

Right then, Katie Ann walked back into the room.

“My goodness, Katie Ann, look who showed up out of the blue!” She lifted one brow at Katie Ann, never more grateful to her friend.

“How about that, Martha. What a coincidence.” Katie Ann smiled. She walked closer to Martha and whispered again. “The girl is staying, but I don’t know why you can’t make up your mind.”