An Unlikely Amish Match by Vannetta Chapman

Author:Vannetta Chapman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2019-11-13T19:12:15+00:00

Chapter Eight

Susannah did not plan on telling her mamm about the kiss.

But as they were sitting at the kitchen table later that evening—her mamm knitting and Susannah stitching together the top of a nine-patch quilt—the details of the day came tumbling out of her mouth.

If her mamm was surprised, she hid it well.

“You’ve been kissed before.”

“Ya, but it’s been a while.”

“Since before your cancer.”

“Just about two years ago, which doesn’t say much for my dating life.”

“You know, Susannah, you’re not damaged goods.”

“Why would you say that?” Susannah pricked her finger with the needle, jerked her hand away and inspected it to make sure she wouldn’t bleed on the fabric.

“I sometimes think that you have the opinion that no one would want you, that you’re not whole.”

“I’m not whole. The doctors removed part of me, leaving me not whole.”

“Not true.” Her mamm shook her head so vigorously that her kapp strings bounced. It reminded Susannah so much of Sharon that she couldn’t help smiling. “You are fearfully and wonderfully made.”

“Is now really the time to quote Scripture?”

“If it fits, then yes, it is.”

Susannah ducked her head to better see the seam she was attempting to stitch. In truth, her mother’s words brought tears to her eyes. Some days she hated that she cried so easily, that she was so emotional. Other days it seemed as if she was viewing life from a distance and couldn’t feel a thing. She wasn’t sure which was worse.

“After my diagnosis, Samuel treated me differently, almost as if I was contagious.”

“It’s obvious now to both of us that you and Samuel were not meant to be anything more than freinden.”

“I wish it had been obvious then. At the time, the way he treated me and then our breakup... It just—well it hurt.”

“And if I could have spared you that hurt I would have.”

“It doesn’t bother me much anymore, not really. I’ve moved on.” As she uttered those words, words she’d probably said before, Susannah was surprised to find that they were true in a new way. Thinking of Samuel didn’t bring the old ache that it had at one time.

“My point is that your cancer wasn’t something that Gotte didn’t see coming. It wasn’t a mistake on His part.”

“How could it have been intentional?”

“I don’t know. Most of the whys in life I don’t understand.”

“What you’re saying doesn’t make any sense.”

“Do you think that Caroline Byers’s bruder is a mistake?”

“Because he has Down syndrome? Of course not.”

“He’s not damaged goods?”

“You know that no one thinks that.” She glanced up to see her mamm studying her very closely. “A person who is born different isn’t damaged in the way that a buggy might be after a wreck.”

“I’m glad you feel that way.”

“We all do. We all love Stephen. Have you seen how he is with their sheep? He’s named every one, and they come to him when he calls them. Stephen isn’t damaged. He’s special.”

“So Gotte didn’t make a mistake with him?”

“I don’t know why he’s different, but the fact that he is doesn’t cause anyone to love him any less.

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