A Miracle of Hope (The Amish Wonders Series) Read Online Free Page B

out and shook it. Had she been looking where she stepped, she would have spotted the path of cedar shavings. But even the ground beneath the wood chips was soft.
    Josiah grabbed two of the boxes. “I’ll kumm back for the other ones.” He headed for the house.
    She followed him onto the porch, but paused when he opened the front door. Maybe she should wait for an invitation. After all, it wasn’t her home. Not yet.
    “You’re going to get kalt standing on the porch,” he said.
    It wasn’t the warmest welcome, but an invitation nevertheless. She stepped inside and removed her muddy shoes. The wooden floor chilled her stocking feet, though her toes werealready numb. One of the first items she planned to unpack was her wool socks.
    “This is the sitting room.” He kept walking as he spoke. “In here is the kitchen.” He pointed with his elbow as he passed the entrance and continued down the hallway.
    This wasn’t the time for a tour. She was more concerned over where he was hauling her things. Her heart raced so fast some of the beats seemed to jump over themselves.
    Josiah stopped at the end of the hall, opened the door on the right, and stepped inside. He lowered the boxes to the floor. “You’ll want to get out of those clothes.”
    She gasped. “Why?”
    He crinkled his brows, eyed her from kapp to stockings, then looked at his clothes. “Aren’t your clothes wet? I know mine are.”
    Undress? In front of him? She couldn’t breathe. She hugged herself and looked down at the floor. She felt his stare.
    “I’ll bring in your other boxes.” He shuffled out of the room.
    Her view of the wooden floor blurred. She wiped her eyes, then looked around the room. A large dresser, a table with an oil lamp on it, and a double-sized bed made up with a gray-and-black patched quilt.
    A burning sensation climbed the back of her throat. It was normal to feel nervous on one’s wedding night—but she was sick.
    Lindie bolted out of the room. She nearly ran into Josiah in the hallway as she made her way to the front door. Outside, she rushed to the far end of the porch and bent over the railing just as her stomach revolted in dry heaves. She straightened, but only for a moment before the nausea returned. She hunched over the railing, but still nothing came up. Her ears rang and sweat beaded along her brow, yet her teeth chattered from the cold.

    A minute passed, then the door creaked open and Josiah came up beside her. “You’ve got it bad, don’t you?”
    “Jah.” She pushed off the railing.
    “I’ll help you get into bed.” He looped his arm around her shoulders. “I put your other boxes in the bedroom.”
    She lacked the strength to object to his assistance. “Denki.”
    Josiah guided her and didn’t release his hand from her back until she was seated on the bed. “May I?” He pointed to the boxes.
    She shrugged. As her husband, he didn’t have to ask. Ach , what was she doing married to a stranger?
    He pulled a pocketknife from his pants pocket, cut the twine binding, and squatted beside her belongings. He sifted through two of them before he rose to his feet, a nightdress in his hand.
    “You can change into this,” he said, handing her the garment. “I’ll warm a glass of milk for you.” He left the room, closing the door behind him.
    She trembled as she clutched the nightdress in her hands. She wasn’t ready for this night. The clang of pots and pans jolted her senses. She unfastened the pins from her dress, set them on the dresser, then climbed out of her wet clothes and into the cotton nightdress. Hearing footsteps stop outside her door, she scurried to get under the covers.
    A soft tap sounded.
    She pulled the covers up to her neck. “Jah?”
    “May I kumm in?”
    “Jah.”
    The door creaked open and Josiah entered. “Here’s the warmed milk.” He set the glass on the lamp table beside the bed. “Would you like anything else?”
    “Nay, denki.”
    “I’m going to reheat some soup for