by Senft, Adina
Emma waved from the back porch of the Daadi Haus. “You’re early! Amelia isn’t even here yet, and she’s only ten minutes over the field.”
“I didn’t want to rush the walk on such a pretty day, so I left a little sooner.” Carrie hugged Emma, then held her at arms’ length. “You look so happy, Liewi. Wedding plans must agree with you.”
If you wanted to transform a plain, workaday woman into a beautiful one, just apply happiness. It worked so much better than face paint.
Emma’s smile flashed and her green eyes sparkled. “They do indeed. Every job I finish, every jar of tomatoes I can, every quart of beans I put up brings me closer to November first. I’m canning my way through the calendar, vegetable by vegetable. By the time I get to potatoes, I’ll be married.”
Carrie laughed. “That’s a good way to look at all this work.” In the kitchen, she could see that Emma had only just stopped for the day. Rows of tomatoes in glass jars sat cooling on towels laid out on the counter, and empty ones filled the drain rack for tomorrow. “I don’t know about you, but my garden has been huge this year. I suppose it was because we had such a wet spring.”
“God has been very good.” Emma put the kettle on the stove, but didn’t light the gas burner. It was better to have tea and a snack after you got your work done, not before. Otherwise, you might never get to it. “Lots of vegetables means we can begin married life with a full pantry, and leave plenty for Mamm to take with her when she goes to Katherine’s to live. And with your big garden, you will have enough to feed Melvin until April at least.”
“Longer, if he travels to the auctions to talk to people about buying pallets. I’ll be on my own for those weeks.”
Emma’s gaze settled on her, and Carrie resisted the urge to look away. A gaze like that commanded honesty—and of course they were honest with each other. You couldn’t very well offer counsel to a friend if she hid her true feelings and thoughts from you. But some things lay so close to the heart that it was all too easy for words to bruise them.
“Does he have to go?” Emma asked quietly.
“It…it’s what he’s good at.” Melvin had worked so hard at being a farmer, which he was not good at. He’d sunk money they didn’t have into the soil, where seed seemed to rot and plows churned up more rocks than crops. In a good year, when something actually grew, the market would be down and the price of corn or tobacco would be poor, and they would look at an oncoming winter with a feeling akin to panic.
God had always provided, but in those moments before He did, Carrie had gazed into her empty cupboards and resigned herself to another supper of eggs on toast instead of the creamed potatoes, pork chops and gravy, and buttered beans she knew other women in the settlement were preparing for their families.
Thank heaven for the chickens. They had sustained her through some thin times. And not once had Melvin suggested she put one of them on the table.
He was a good man. Things were looking up for them, now that he had leased his fields out, bought into the pallet shop, and found his calling as one who could bring in business simply by talking to people. Carrie had even put on a little weight, and was now pinning her belt apron closer to the back. She needed to eat good things and get her strength up, and then maybe a tiny seed would sprout in a more fertile environment.
She must take a page from Emma’s book and look at all the gifts God was providing, taking her mind off those that He was not.
Not yet, anyway.
Books by Adina Senft
The Amish Quilt Novels
The Wounded Heart
The Hidden Life
Available from FaithWords wherever books are sold.
Praise for
THE WOUNDED HEART
“This relatable story, which launches Senft’s Amish Quilt series, shows that while waiting to see God’s plan can be difficult, remembering to put Jesus first, others next, and yourself last (‘JOY’) is necessary.”
—RT Book Reviews
“With this quaint, gentle read, Senft’s promising series is off to a good start and will make a nice alternative for Jerry S. Eicher readers who want to try a new author.”
—Library Journal
Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Epigraph
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Glossary
Crosses and Losses Quilt Instructions
Reading Group Guide
A Preview of The Tempted Soul
Books by Adina Senft
Praise for The Wounded Heart
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2012 by Shelley Bates
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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First e-book edition: June 2012
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ISBN: 978-1-4555-1085-6