Heart in Hand: Stitches in Time Series #3 by Barbara Cameron Page B
Authors: Barbara Cameron
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heard before, but today, at the spiritual joining of two of her favorite people, the telling seemed new and fresh and caught her attention.
“Many of you may know by now that Linda is my second wife,” he said, and almost as one being, the congregants nodded.
“My first wife was young and died giving birth prematurely,” he said solemnly. “And my son died a day later. I thought that my life was over. But God showed me that it wasn’t, that I had to have faith in His will, and two years later, He sent the woman He created and set aside for me, my Linda. This month we celebrate fifty years together.”
Was God sending her the message that He had a plan for her? That He had set aside another mann for her so that she would walk through the rest of her life knowing a beloved partner’s love and spiritual support?
Several people around her shifted—three hours on a hard wooden bench weren’t easy, after all. But Anna became aware of something else that caught her attention. The hair prickled on the back of her neck . . . she thought she saw movement in the periphery of her vision. A slight turn of her head and she was staring into Gideon’s eyes.
She looked away quickly, uncomfortable with him possibly guessing her reaction to the bishop’s story. It was, after all, her business, and she also didn’t know how she felt about seeing more of him. She just didn’t know how she felt about taking that step with him.
There was a quiet rustling at the back of the room as Sadie carried her fussy baby into the bedroom to feed it. Anna watched Mary Katherine’s gaze follow her, watched as her cousin’s lips curved into a smile. Her gaze moved on, and asit did, Anna followed it, curious but not surprised when it landed on Jacob.
When he smiled at her as if nothing existed but her, Anna’s heart turned over. They were going to have a boppli ; she was sure of it. When Mary Katherine glanced back, Anna looked away, feeling guilty as if she’d invaded their privacy. But it was so hard not to jump for joy.
She wondered why they hadn’t told the family yet and, in the next moment, decided it must have been because they’d just found out—or because they didn’t want to take any attention from Naomi and her wedding. Anna suspected it was the second; it was just like Mary Katherine to think of others.
Her grandmother sat in the next row, and Anna tilted her head, studying her. Something was different. Her grandmother gazed in the direction of Naomi and Nick, but it seemed that her attention turned inward.
Was she remembering her own wedding day? She’d shown Anna her own wedding dress—a midnight blue, darker than Anna’s. Blue was a favorite color for brides in the community, and when she held it up before her, Anna had seen how the color had favored her grandmother’s fair skin. Actually, it wasn’t the color so much as the way her skin warmed and her eyes grew gentle and far away as she talked about the day she’d married her husband.
She heard sniffling and saw Jenny Bontrager wiping her nose with a tissue. When she realized Anna watched her, she shrugged and mouthed, “Weddings!”
People always said that the wedding couple never looked happier, but it was true of Naomi and Nick. Their journey to walking together to stand before the congregation and take their vows hadn’t been easy , Anna thought. Naomi had fallen in love with a man who said he loved her but hurt her with his words and his hands. She had believed she had to stay with him—ifGod had put them together, then she needed to prove her love and keep trying to stay together.
Her cousins, her grandmother and even Nick had tried to convince her otherwise. In the end, Naomi finally realized that love wasn’t supposed to come with battered emotions and her love being used against her to manipulate her to John’s will.
Nick had started off being their driver and became their friend, then a close personal friend. And then slowly, showing he
“Many of you may know by now that Linda is my second wife,” he said, and almost as one being, the congregants nodded.
“My first wife was young and died giving birth prematurely,” he said solemnly. “And my son died a day later. I thought that my life was over. But God showed me that it wasn’t, that I had to have faith in His will, and two years later, He sent the woman He created and set aside for me, my Linda. This month we celebrate fifty years together.”
Was God sending her the message that He had a plan for her? That He had set aside another mann for her so that she would walk through the rest of her life knowing a beloved partner’s love and spiritual support?
Several people around her shifted—three hours on a hard wooden bench weren’t easy, after all. But Anna became aware of something else that caught her attention. The hair prickled on the back of her neck . . . she thought she saw movement in the periphery of her vision. A slight turn of her head and she was staring into Gideon’s eyes.
She looked away quickly, uncomfortable with him possibly guessing her reaction to the bishop’s story. It was, after all, her business, and she also didn’t know how she felt about seeing more of him. She just didn’t know how she felt about taking that step with him.
There was a quiet rustling at the back of the room as Sadie carried her fussy baby into the bedroom to feed it. Anna watched Mary Katherine’s gaze follow her, watched as her cousin’s lips curved into a smile. Her gaze moved on, and asit did, Anna followed it, curious but not surprised when it landed on Jacob.
When he smiled at her as if nothing existed but her, Anna’s heart turned over. They were going to have a boppli ; she was sure of it. When Mary Katherine glanced back, Anna looked away, feeling guilty as if she’d invaded their privacy. But it was so hard not to jump for joy.
She wondered why they hadn’t told the family yet and, in the next moment, decided it must have been because they’d just found out—or because they didn’t want to take any attention from Naomi and her wedding. Anna suspected it was the second; it was just like Mary Katherine to think of others.
Her grandmother sat in the next row, and Anna tilted her head, studying her. Something was different. Her grandmother gazed in the direction of Naomi and Nick, but it seemed that her attention turned inward.
Was she remembering her own wedding day? She’d shown Anna her own wedding dress—a midnight blue, darker than Anna’s. Blue was a favorite color for brides in the community, and when she held it up before her, Anna had seen how the color had favored her grandmother’s fair skin. Actually, it wasn’t the color so much as the way her skin warmed and her eyes grew gentle and far away as she talked about the day she’d married her husband.
She heard sniffling and saw Jenny Bontrager wiping her nose with a tissue. When she realized Anna watched her, she shrugged and mouthed, “Weddings!”
People always said that the wedding couple never looked happier, but it was true of Naomi and Nick. Their journey to walking together to stand before the congregation and take their vows hadn’t been easy , Anna thought. Naomi had fallen in love with a man who said he loved her but hurt her with his words and his hands. She had believed she had to stay with him—ifGod had put them together, then she needed to prove her love and keep trying to stay together.
Her cousins, her grandmother and even Nick had tried to convince her otherwise. In the end, Naomi finally realized that love wasn’t supposed to come with battered emotions and her love being used against her to manipulate her to John’s will.
Nick had started off being their driver and became their friend, then a close personal friend. And then slowly, showing he
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