Read Online Miriam's Story: Part 2 Romance in Amish Country by Melanie Schmidt - Free Book Online

Caleb snarled.
    Abram’s voice was calm and even in the darkness. “Because I trust him.”
    “How can you after finding them like this!”
    “Because I trust her, too.”
    Caleb threw his hands up in the air in frustration. “Then you are a fool!”
    “I allowed her to marry Jacob, Caleb. Are you now going to question my judgment where my sister is concerned?”
    Caleb glowered at Abram, and Miriam held her breath. Then the moment passed and Caleb let out a great huff of breath.
    “No,” he said softly. “No, I am not. But Abram…”
    “Daniel is a good man, Caleb,” Miriam said, breaking in, her voice calm once more, “and he loves me. He loves my children. He loves the child I am carrying.”
    She saw the contrasting expressions on her brothers’ faces and realized instantly that Caleb hadn’t know until that moment that Miriam was expecting a child. She stepped away from Daniel to Caleb and laid a gentle hand on his arm. “Please believe in me, Caleb. I loved Jacob with all my heart, and a part of me always will. But I cannot go on alone. As much as I need all of you, I need Daniel even more.”
    “Where will you live?” he asked after a moment, glaring at Daniel, clearly torn between his love for her and his loyalty to his brother’s memory.
    “Wherever Miriam wants,” Daniel said.
    Miriam reached back for his hand and squeezed it hard. “I once promised Rachel I would never take her grandchildren away.”
    “Then if Shem and Rachel have no objections—or you, Caleb—we will live with them. It will be the best for everyone, but especially for your parents. Something tells me we are going to need that big sleeping loft in time.”
    Abram snorted in amusement. Caleb narrowed his eyes, but the heat was gone from his glare.
    “Will you trust me, Caleb?” Miriam asked in a soft voice. “Please?”
    He looked down at her, and she saw him soften. He cupped her cheek in his palm then pulled her into an embrace. “You had best unsaddle your horse,” he growled softly at Daniel. “I have a feeling we will all be here for a while yet this evening.
    Daniel nodded and turned to comply, slipping the saddle quickly from his horse’s back and dropping it on a waiting rack. By the time he turned back, Caleb had left the barn, but Abram waited with Miriam.
    “Thank you,” he said to Miriam’s brother.
    Abram smiled and held out his hand, and Daniel took it gratefully.
    “Just do nothing to prove me wrong,” Abram said, the warning clear despite his smile.
    Daniel glanced at Miriam and smiled.
    “That will never happen.”

Chapter Nine

    “Y ou have a son!”
    Hannah Stutzman, the midwife, held up the squalling infant, so Miriam could see him. tHannah laid him across Miriam’s belly while she cut the cord, and Miriam wept with happiness as she heard the lusty cry of her baby.
    “He is a fine one,” Hannah said, taking him back long enough to wash him in the warm bath Rachel had waiting.
    Miriam looked at Rachel and saw the older woman’s tears.
    “We will call him ‘Jacob,’” Miriam whispered, and Rachel nodded mutely.
    In another moment, Miriam cried out at a sharp, unexpected pain.
    “You had better hold the babe,” Hannah said, handing little Jacob to Rachel and taking control of the situation. She looked under the apron to examine Miriam then smiled.
    “Well, well, well,” she said. “It looks as though little Jacob was not alone in there!”
    “What?”
    Then it was happening again, and Miriam was once more drawn into the otherworld of life-affirming pain. Finally, with one last push, she felt the second babe slip from her womb.
    “Ah, a little girl, this time!” Hannah said. “And is she not a beauty?”
    Exhausted, Miriam could only stare in wonder. “Rachel,” she whispered.
    She drifted off to sleep for a time, and when she awakened, she was back in bed, her gown clean, and her two babies—bathed and sweet-smelling—sleeping in the crooks of her arms. Rachel was lightly