His Love Endures Forever Read Free Page B

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    “I know you’ll be a great mudder . What do you think Martha and Arnold will say?”
    “I don’t think Arnold will say much. He’s kinda quiet.” She smiled for a moment, swiping at her eyes. “Like you.” She bit her bottom lip, pausing before she went on. “But I suspect Martha will have plenty to say.”
    “Maybe not. She loves babies. She keeps Katie Ann’s boppli all the time.”
    Levi looked at her and wished they could go back in time. Back to before she fell in love with Matthew. Before she gave him everything and ended up with nothing but a babe in her womb and a new set of challenges ahead of her.
    Danielle leaned her head against the barn wall, then turned to him with teary eyes.
    “Levi?”
    “Ya?”
    “Do you really think I’ll be a good mother?”
    He smiled. “ Ya . I do.” He glanced at her stomach. “How long ’til . . . ?”
    “I think sometime around Christmas.”
    They were quiet for a few moments, then Levi asked, “So, what exactly did Matthew say?”
    “That he wants to go to school, that he’s leaving his community, and that a wife and baby aren’t in his plans.”
    Levi stiffened. “Did you tell him that God has other plans for his life?” After the words were out, he held his breath. Months ago, Levi learned the hard way that if they were goingto be friends, he couldn’t force the Lord on her. But he’d often wondered if God put Danielle in his path so that he could minister to her, even though it wasn’t the Amish way to do so with the Englisch .
    “Levi, I don’t want to be with someone who doesn’t want to be with me. I need Matthew to want me, whatever God has planned.” She started to cry again. “You don’t think being a bad mother is hereditary, do you? You don’t think I’ll be like my mom, do you?”
    Levi shook his head. “ Nee , I don’t. I told you. You’ll be a great mudder .”
    Danielle shifted her weight, twisting to face him. As she leaned forward with teary eyes, the movement brought her lips within inches of his. It wasn’t the first time he’d wanted to kiss her. But he never did. She was his best friend, and he didn’t want anything to mess that up. Plus, her being Englisch complicated things. But sometimes it was a struggle, especially now when he wanted so much to comfort her.
    “You think I’m a bad person, don’t you? Because I slept with Matthew.” Danielle leaned back against the barn wall again as she crossed her legs underneath her. Her teeth were chattering, like his. “Tell me the truth, Levi.”
    He frowned. Everything about her screamed goodness. If only she could find her way to a relationship with God, she’d find the direction she so desperately sought. “You know I don’t think you’re bad.” He playfully rolled his eyes.
    “But you’re disappointed in me,” she was quick to say.
    “Danielle, it’s not my place to judge. Only God—”
    “Yeah, I know.”
    But she didn’t. She was just cutting him off at the mentionof God, like she’d done so many times before. She sat up taller and sniffled.
    “I gotta go.” She stood up, and so did Levi.
    “You gonna be okay? Are you going to talk to Martha and Arnold tonight?”
    She shook her head. “No. Martha has her schedule. She eats at seven, bathes at seven thirty, and she and Arnold watch TV until nine.” She looked at her watch. “I can’t see what time it is, but I know it’s after nine, and they’re probably in bed.”
    Levi smiled. He’d heard about Martha’s strict schedule from Danielle plenty of times. “If I miss my scheduled bath time, well, I’m just out of luck,” Danielle had told him before. Martha lived in a large house with two and a half bathrooms, but it was old and had a small, noisy water heater that required time to heat up between the scheduled bath times. There was no bathing allowed after nine o’clock because that was when Martha and Arnold went to bed. It was one of Martha’s many rules.
    Danielle wrapped her