The Parting Read Online Free PDF

breeding and raising horses. He had gotten his start by purchasing half a dozen lame racing horses at local stockyard auctions, mostly Morgan trotters, taking care to flawlessly mend their injuries. Over time those horses and their offspring became some of the best for harness use, thanks to Reuben’s gentle, yet persistent nature and knack for training colts. His reputation was such now that Amish farmers from all around the area turned to him whenever they required a reliable horse. Truly, Betsy knew she’d married a good man; one with a good heart, too.
    She caught herself in a rare smile and stopped to glance across the yard at the bakery shop, all freshly painted and done up. Wonder how Nan’s faring today . Most days, she’d much rather help Nellie Mae’s customers than tend to the chickens. Who wouldn’t? Nice warm, cheery room. Friendly faces, pleasant chatter . . . a bit of gossip. She felt too alone here lately, but all of that was another thing yet. ’Twas Reuben’s say-so where she spent her days for now.
    She made her way across the yard, still wet in patches from the heavy dew. She remembered sitting there on the lawn with five-year-old Emma, her son James’s daughter. How she’d enjoyed eating strawberries from Kauffman’s Fruit Farm in the shade of their old maple.
    Was it just this past June—before Suzy died?
    A sudden longing sprang up for the youngster who looked ever so much like Suzy, but who possessed more sense of right and wrong, hopefully. She wished Emma would slow down some and not grow up so quicklike. The times she crawled onto her Mammi’s lap were already becoming scarce. Thinks she’s too big for that now, Betsy supposed.
    What was it about summertime? Children and weeds.
    Sighing loudly, she pushed open the door to the chicken house. The hens flapped and cackled greedily. “ Kumm get it.” She reached for the sack of feed, knowing right then why she cared not one bit for this job. She’d only begun doing Suzy’s chore the day after she’d drowned, reluctant to let anyone else take it on.
    Several times since, she’d considered stepping aside. “Think like Nellie Mae . . . be strong,” Betsy urged herself. Still, it was all she could do to complete the chore and get herself back into the house to sit awhile. If only her nowyoungest might somehow sense how much she was needed at home.
    Rosanna King’s blue eyes shone brightly with tears, and her blond hair was pulled back tightly in a large bun beneath her white head covering—her prayer Kapp . The expression on her face made it clear to Nellie her friend’s tears were joyful ones. “Oh, Nellie Mae, you’ll never guess what I have to tell ya. You just never will.”
    “Well, what on earth?”
    “Nearly too good to be true, it is.” Rosanna reached for Nellie’s hand. “Ach . . . but my cousin Kate has offered Elias and me a most remarkable gift.”
    The first thing that came to mind was Kate Beiler’s antique hope chest, which was a lovely sight to see. Handcrafted from the finest wood, it was perhaps the prettiest piece of furniture Nellie had ever seen. Was Kate going to part with it?
    “Kate’s in the family way—due near Christmas.”
    She’s had many-a baby, thought Nellie, not quite sure what Rosanna meant to say.
    “Kate wants to give the baby to me . . . to Elias and me.”
    Witnessing the joy-light in Rosanna’s eyes, Nellie Mae’s heart leaped. “What unbelievable news, Rosie!” She had heard of an Amish mother in another state offering to give an infant to relatives, but learning her barren friend was to receive such a gift was another thing altogether.
    “Ain’t it, though? And to think the Good Lord told my cousins to do this—well, put it in their hearts, I s’pose I should say.”
    “Jah, ’cause God scarcely ever talks to folk, ya know,” Nellie said.
    “Well, in this case . . . He surely must have.”
    “I’m ever so happy for you,” Nellie said, smiling at this woman who was