Katie's Redemption Read Online Free PDF

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 his native tongue. Rachel stared back at him intently for a few minutes, but she eventually grew discontent with his voice and the fingers she couldn’t quite get in her mouth. Her little fussing noises became a full-fledged cry.
    “I guess I can’t fix what ails you after all. I reckon I’ll have to wake your mother.”
    “I’m awake.” Katie’s low voice came from the bed.
    He looked over to find her watching him with dark eyes as beautiful and intense as her daughter’s. How long had she been listening to him?

Chapter Four
    K atie met Elam’s gaze across the room. Moonlight streaming through the windows cut long rectangles of light across the plank floor. It gave her enough light to see the way Elam held her daughter. With confidence, caring and gentleness. Would Matt have done the same? Somehow, she didn’t think so.
    Her boyfriend’s charm had evaporated quickly, once the novelty of having an Amish girlfriend wore off. When he found himself stuck with a “stupid Amish bumpkin” who couldn’t use a microwave and didn’t know how to work a cell phone, he reverted to his true nature. The harder Katie tried to make him happy, the more resentful he became. The harder she tried to prove her love, the louder he complained that she was smothering him. Looking back, it seemed that their relationship had been doomed from the start.
    Her elderly landlady back in Columbus once said, “Honey, that man’s a case of bad judgment. Dump him before he dumps you.”
    Katie hadn’t wanted to believe Mrs. Pearlman, but it turned out she knew what she was talking about.
    Elam spoke as he rose to his feet, yanking Katie’s attention back to the present. “I was trying to get Rachel to go back to sleep without waking you.”
    “The song you were singing, what’s it called?”
    “You don’t know In der Stillen Einsamkeit? ” He sounded genuinely surprised.
    “No.”
    “I thought every Amish child had heard it. My mother sang it to all of us and still sings it to her grandchildren.”
    “There wasn’t a lot of singing in my house. I don’t remember my mother ever singing. I have very few clear memories of my family. My father died before I was born in some kind of farm accident. I do remember my brother Hans playing with me. He was always laughing. He gave me a doll that I loved, and he gave me piggyback rides. I remember someone scolding him to be careful. I think it was my mother.”
    “What happened to your family?”
    “Everyone except Malachi and I died in a fire when I was four.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    Katie shrugged off his sympathy. “It was a long time ago.”
    Rachel gave another lusty cry. Elam said, “I think she’s telling me I make a poor substitute for her mother.”
    Katie shifted into a sitting position in the bed and held out her arms. When Elam laid her daughter in her embrace, she said, “I’m afraid she’s going to think I’m a poor substitute for a mother when she gets to know me.”
    “My sisters all worried that they wouldn’t make good mothers, but they learned. You will, too.”
    “I hope you’re right.” He sounded so matter-of-fact. Like it was a done deal. She wanted to believe him, but she had made such a mess of her life up to this point.
    “My mother will help as long as you’re here. If you let her.”
    “I’m