Seek Me With All Your Heart Read Online Free PDF Page A

outlets are al over the house.” Lil ian looked at the light bulb dangling from a cord above the kitchen table. She pointed to it.
    “See. They had lights.”
    “It stinks in here too, Mamm .” Anna clamped her nostrils closed with her fingers.
    Elizabeth copied her sister. “ Ya, Mamm . Schtinkich .”
    Lil ian put her hands on her hips and sighed. She could either get upset or just try to go along with things and know that their lives were in God’s hands, and that His wil would be done. She leaned down and tickled Anna and Elizabeth, bringing forth loud giggles. “Everything stinks to you two this morning, doesn’t it?” Lil ian pul ed both her girls into a hug and basked for a moment in the comfort of family, promising herself that there would be no more worrying. She had her husband and children, and they were al healthy and safe. So much to be thankful for.
    “I love you both. It won’t be like this forever.” Lil ian eased out of the hug. “Your daed should be home from town soon. He went to buy some plumbing supplies, and David should be back from the grocery store before long also.” She walked into the den, Anna and Elizabeth fol owing, and picked up two boxes of old pictures from her former life, before she’d converted to the Amish faith and married Samuel. “I’l be right back. I’m going to go put these things in the basement.”
    IT WAS THREE hours later when David turned into the driveway of what was supposed to be their new home. He grimaced as he maneuvered the buggy to the left of an old tractor partial y covered in snow and blocking part of the driveway. The snow had stopped shortly after he left the Detweilers’ place, and the trip to Monte Vista hadn’t been as bad as he’d feared. It was longer than he cared for, but most of the snow on the roads had been cleared, pushed into mounds on either side. Now the sun shone brightly atop the glistening snow that surrounded their house.
    Why here? He knew land prices were high in Lancaster County, and that farmland was becoming scarce there, but his father had plenty of land for al of them. It didn’t make any sense. He unhooked Buster and led the animal to one of the four rundown barns on the property, his black boots sinking to his ankles in the snow as he walked. Shaking his head, he couldn’t believe that his daed had sold their home in Lancaster County so quickly to make this move, despite David’s many objections. And why did Lil ian go along with it? David recal ed the look on her face when they pul ed onto the property yesterday. He thought she might cry. Then she saw the outhouse, and David knew that it was only a matter of time before Lil ian would convince his father to move back to Lancaster County. It had to be. At least he hoped so. Without his own money, David had no other choice but to live here too.
    After he secured Buster, he started to walk toward the house when the sound of hoofbeats made him turn. His father was pul ing up the driveway. As he waited, he scanned the yard around the house, much of which was covered in snow. But even the snow couldn’t hide the litter. A pile of tires, some old chairs, and a whiskey barrel were visible beneath a thin layer of white, and to his left was a pile of tin. So much debris to be carried off. Then there was the house. Badly in need of a new roof, new floors, and some insulation. In his upstairs bedroom, he had actual y felt the frigid wind blowing through the cracks in the wal s last night. Even the bathroom was poorly put together. It had a tub and sink with running water, but no toilet. Why? Wouldn’t it have been just as easy to put in a commode?
    “How was your trip to town?” Samuel trudged across the yard with a smile stretched across his face.
    “It’s a long way to Monte Vista from here.” David met his father in the yard and took two large plastic bags from him. His father balanced long white pipes across his shoulder, and David could see more of them hanging out