Katie's Redemption by Patricia Davids

continually turn to her? The memory of carrying her in his arms had haunted him long into the night and came rushing back the moment he’d seen her today.
    Was he so weak in his faith that he was only attracted to the forbidden fruit? Katie had chosen to be an outsider. He should have nothing to do with her.
    Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
    The Plain people were to live apart from the world. He must harden his heart against Katie’s dark eyes so full of pain and loneliness. He had to resist the need to make her smile. To touch her soft skin, to kiss her full lips. She was not for him.
    Eli Imhoff stepped down from the bench wagon.“ Goot day, Elam. Jacob and I have brought the benches for your house.”
    “ Danki, Mr. Imhoff, and my thanks to you, as well, Jacob.” Elam nodded to the teenage boy sitting on the back of the wagon.
    The boy nodded and held out a bundle of letters and the newspaper. “The mailman was dropping this off as we came by. I thought I’d save you a trip down the lane.”
    “ Danki, Jacob.” Elam took the mail and laid it on his mother’s rocker near the front door.
    Walking to the back of the wagon, Mr. Imhoff lowered the tailgate. “Shall we get started?”
    Elam hurried to join them. “ Jah, and then you must stay for a cup of coffee. My mother has just made some.”
    Mr. Imhoff, a widower, glanced toward the house. “How is your mother getting along? Is she liking Hope Springs?”
    Perhaps it was his awareness of Katie’s effect on him that made Elam notice the odd quality in Mr. Imhoff’s simple questions.
    “Mother is well. She misses her friends back home, but I think she likes the area well enough.”
    “ Goot. Very goot. ” Mr. Imhoff grinned and began pulling off the first seat. After unloading the sturdy wooden benches and stacking them together on the porch, Elam invited Mr. Imhoff and his son into the house.
    Elam picked up the mail as he followed them inside. He laid the letters on the counter, more interested in the looks and shy smiles that passed between his neighbor and his mother. How long had this been going on? His mother had been a widow for three years now, but he’d never considered that she might be interested in another man.
    After accepting a cup of coffee, Mr. Imhoff said, “I was just asking your son if you’re adjusting to our community.”
    “I find it much to my liking, especially since two of my daughters and my son are here.”
    “It’s a blessing to have your family close by.” Mr. Imhoff blew on his coffee to cool it.
    Jacob was drawn into the other room by Elam’s nephews. The next time Elam glanced that way, the strapping boy was down on the floor with them. Mr. Imhoff followed Elam’s gaze. “He’s used to having little ones underfoot.”
    The sound of someone descending the stairs made Elam tense. He hadn’t thought of how he would introduce Katie to the members of his church.
    She came through the door holding Rachel on her shoulder. Her English clothing and uncovered head made her stand out in the room filled with Plain women. She nodded politely at the visitors.
    Elam’s mother stepped in to fill the awkward silence. “This is our visitor. Mr. Imhoff, perhaps you remember Katie Lantz.”
    He nodded in her direction. “Quiet little Katie with the dark eyes? I do, but you are much changed. How is your brother? Is he happy in Kansas? My cousin moved there a few years ago. He says a man can own land and not farm it, but make a living by renting his grass out for other men’s cows to graze on.”
    “I have not seen my brother in quite a while,” Katie admitted.
    “I’m sorry to hear that. Family is so very important.”
    Katie looked lovingly at the child she held. “I’m beginning to understand that.”
    Mr. Imhoff sighed. “I wish God had seen fit to leave mine with me longer.”
    Nettie laid a hand