Read Katie's Way for Free Online Page B

convincing. “Really. That’s in the past.”
    â€œYou’re not still sad about Eli?”
    â€œNot a bit.”
    Sad wasn’t exactly the right word. She was still mourning the life they should have had together.
    The truth was that she still loved Eli. The fact that he’d decided he didn’t love her couldn’t alter her feelings.
    She followed Rhoda down the stairs, unable to prevent herself from glancing into the dim interior of Caleb’s shop. Those moments when she’d touched him, when she’d thought she felt something—well, that was a mistake. She couldn’t feel anything for anyone else because her heart belonged to Eli, and it always would.
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    After a week, she and Rhoda had fallen into a comfortable pattern, Katie decided. She glanced toward the back room, where Becky was helping Rhoda clean. The two girls had formed a rather surprising friendship in such a short time, and when her work in Caleb’s shop was finished, Becky tended to show up in the quilt shop, lending a hand with whatever Rhoda was doing.
    â€œHanging out,” Rhoda called it, a term that no doubt came from those Englisch friends Mamm had deplored so much. Fortunately, there had been none of those problems here. The birthday party Becky had invited Rhoda to had gone smoothly, with no ruffles to annoy Caleb.
    Katie felt her own little spurt of annoyance. Becky was such a shy, quiet little thing—certainly not a description anyone would apply to Rhoda. In Rhoda’s lively, talkative company, Becky seemed to come out of her shell a bit. Caleb ought to be happy about that, but Katie didn’t suppose he was.
    She paused in rearranging fabric bolts to glance into Caleb’s shop. No one was in sight. Apparently he was upstairs in the second-floor workroom. Becky’s handiwork was evident, though. The floor was spotless, the front window shone, and every piece of furniture on display seemed to glow. Did Caleb appreciate all that his niece was doing? Manlike, he might not even notice.
    Katie’s hand lingered on a length of flannelette she’d gotten in for folks making baby clothes and children’s nightgowns. The Amish wouldn’t buy quilts, since they either made them or received them as gifts. But they might start coming to her for their other fabric and sewing needs, instead of making the trip to Lewisburg or Mifflinburg to a fabric store.
    The sale of quilts and quilted items depended on Englisch customers, and so far, her store traffic hadn’t been nearly what she’d hoped.
    It had only been just over a week, she reminded herself. Things would pick up. She’d put an ad in a weekly shopping paper that other local Amish shops advertised in. That should help.
    But the ad had cost more than she’d expected. Everything did, and when she’d sat down to reckon up her expenses on Saturday evening, she’d been appalled at how quickly her savings were melting away.
    The sound of footsteps crossing the other shop pulled her away from that depressing line of thought. Caleb. She’d already learned to recognize his firm stride.
    He came through the archway carrying a large, paper-wrapped bundle in his arms.
    â€œKatie.” He put the package carefully on the countertop. “There are three quilts here from my mamm to put up for sale in your shop.”
    Relief made her smile warmer than it might otherwise have been. She’d heard nothing more from Naomi and begun to fear that she’d changed her mind.
    â€œDenke, Caleb. That is wonderful gut. I hoped she’d bring some in. I understand from Molly that she is an accomplished quilter.”
    One of the best in the valley, Molly had implied, but Amish humility didn’t allow you to claim to be better than your neighbors. You did things to the best of your ability and for the good of the community, as was pleasing to God.
    Caleb’s firm expression actually relaxed into a half