Place Of Her Own by Lynn A. Coleman Page A

desire to rub the tension from his back. “He needs some udder salve. His hands are raw.”
    Urias stepped into the room and peered at Shelton’s fingers. “You said you had blisters. You didn’t tell me they looked like ground meat. Prudence, take care of Shelton. Katherine and I can finish packing. Grandma Mac will have my hide if I don’t get Katherine’s bed over there in the next fifteen minutes.”

    By the time Katherine arrived at Grandma Mac’s house, the rest of the MacKenneth family had set up one of the rooms for her. She couldn’t imagine a more supportive family, or one that feared the matriarch so much.
    Over the years Grandma Mac had spent a lot of time with Katherine, teaching her to read and schooling her in much of the education she’d missed growing up. Would rooming with her solve her desire to have her own place? She didn’t think so. But a break from the late-night awakenings of baby Elizabeth would be a welcome relief.
    After the rest of the family left for home, Katherine found herself sitting on her bed in a strange room. She loved Grandma Mac and looked forward to helping her. It was becoming increasingly difficult for the dear woman to get around these days. Besides, for the first five years of Prudence and Urias’s marriage, Katherine had been a part of their household. It would be nice for them to have time alone as a family. At least, that was what she kept telling herself.
    A light tap on the door drew her out of her musings. “Yes?”
    “May I come in, dear?”
    “Of course.”
    Grandma Mac sat in the rocking chair beside the bed. “I suppose I acted a bit rash to have you move in with me this very evening. But there was a reason for my insistence.”
    Katherine clamped her mouth tight.
    “The barn is not a fit place for Shelton to live. And adding a room on to Urias’s house right now would not be wise because of the new baby. I proposed that you move in with me so Shelton can move into your old room.”
    “I see.” She felt a bit embarrassed at not having thought of that herself. It made perfect sense.
    “Also, Urias is quite concerned about your fear of Shelton. Although I haven’t seen it myself for the past week or more.”
    “No, I’m not afraid of Shelton.”
    “Good. Because I’m hiring him to work for me while Mac takes his family fur trapping.”
    Katherine nodded. She wasn’t frightened by Shelton any longer. At least not in the same way as before. Now she was just afraid of the emotions she felt toward him.
    “Do you love him?”
    Katherine’s head shot up. “No.”
    “Hmm. That’s an awfully quick reply for a woman who was crying out to God about her feelings for a man just a few hours ago.”
    “I can’t love him.” Katherine glided her hands over the quilt. “I’m not fit.”
    “Nonsense. You are a redeemed child of the King. You’re as fit as any woman to marry a man.”
    “I can’t. Besides, Shelton doesn’t think of me in those terms. He knows who I am, who I was. After all, I was his servant.”
    “Tell me this, Katherine. Does Prudence treat you like a servant?”
    She shook her head.
    “Does Shelton?”
    Did he really?
“No, I suppose not.”
    Grandma Mac leaned back in the rocker and swung back and forth for a moment. “Then perhaps you should trust God and pray for His guidance. You’ve healed tremendously since you arrived five years ago. You no longer blame God. You’ve trusted Him with your soul. Why not trust Him regarding your future, too?”
    How could she argue with that? “I will pray,” she agreed.
    “Good. Now, this old woman has stayed up way beyond her bedtime.” Grandma Mac lifted herself from the chair and leaned on her cane as she shuffled out of the room. “Trust God, dear. And don’t argue with Him.”
    Was she arguing with God? Did she truly trust Him? Trust was an issue she felt she’d never overcome.
    Shelton’s bloody palms came back to her mind. What about Shelton? Was he working in his own