Harlequin Love Inspired March 2021--Box Set 2 of 2 by Patrice Lewis (best large ereader .txt) 📕

“Well, don’t worry about her for now. I’ll take care of her.” She thought about her conversation with Sarah and Rhoda last night at the barbecue, about Levy’s determination to keep the baby. Personally she thought the bishop was right and Levy should give Mercy to another family to raise. It was clearly too much for him to run his business and care for such a tiny infant.

But he’d already told her he didn’t want to give Mercy up without knowing if his sister would return. Plus he was a stubborn man. She looked down at the baby in the sling. The child’s eyes were heavy. After the anxious atmosphere of the morning, she seemed ready to sleep. Jane chose not to voice her doubts about Levy’s decision to keep Mercy. “I’m grateful for the work, and I enjoy caring for the boppli, however long the arrangement lasts.”

“Right now I’m too busy to think long-term. All I know is…” His voice trailed off.

Jane glanced at him, then looked out at the scenery going by. She promised herself not to bring up his sister anymore. The subject was clearly too personal, too raw for him. He wouldn’t give up Mercy because doing so would be giving up on Mercy’s mother, his sister. That much was obvious.

“I’ll do my best to ease your burden,” she said instead. “I like caring for babies.”

“Danke.”

She lapsed into silence as Mercy fell asleep. Feeling the precious weight against her chest, her feelings toward the baby—already warm—altered. There were worse jobs than to act as a surrogate mother to this baby.

The farmer’s market was held in a shady park that took up nearly one entire city block in an otherwise quiet residential neighborhood. A section was fenced off for Amish horses and buggies, and the parking lot was for vendors only.

“Do customers have to park on the streets?” inquired Jane, looking around.

“Ja. The whole farmer’s market takes on an air of a festival every weekend. They even arrange for some children’s entertainment, clown shows and such.” Levy guided the horse through the parking area. “It’s a whole lot more popular than the size of the town suggests. I’m fortunate it’s so close by.”

A clatter of other wagons crowded the streets, and Amish families started setting up their own stalls and booths. Levy called out to a number of them.

“Hei, what a lot of vendors!” Jane exclaimed. The place was packed.

“Ja. You won’t believe the crowds that will come later,” Levy answered.

He pulled up by an empty space and climbed down from the wagon, then raised his arms for Mercy. Jane handed him the sleeping infant, then climbed down from the wagon and took the baby again. “What do you want me to do?”

“I have to figure out how to set up this new booth. While I work on that, can you unload boxes of produce? Or would that be too much while you’re holding the baby?” He seemed to be over his earlier dark mood.

He grinned at her, which made Jane catch her breath. Levy’s rare smiles transformed him from a rather grim man to an unnervingly handsome one. His dark blue eyes glinted in the dappled sunshine. To hide her reaction, she concentrated on slipping Mercy into the padded basket Levy used as a makeshift cradle without waking her. “Nein, unloading boxes shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll just make sure she’s safe in the shade by that tree.”

With Mercy sleeping in the basket, she deposited the diaper bag and food hamper nearby, then began unloading crates of produce while Levy figured out how to assemble his new booth.

The park was busy with vendors setting up. The scope of the market amazed her. Dozens of booths were being assembled. Not all were run by Amish families. She saw many Englisch farmers as well, setting out crates of tomatoes, corn, peppers and other vegetables and fruits. A few early shoppers wandered around, but most sellers weren’t quite ready to open for business yet. She received friendly nods and greetings from neighboring sellers.

“Here, can you hold this?” asked Levy. He indicated a pole. “I need to fasten these two pieces together. Ja, just like that.”

Jane helped balance various components while the booth took shape under Levy’s hands.

Finally he stepped back. “What do you think?”

“It looks gut!” she replied. “I don’t know what your previous booth looked like, but this seems spacious and welcoming.”

“Danke.” He began setting out baskets of tomatoes, propped up at an inviting angle on a display rack. “I think it will work out well.”

Jane began hauling boxes of produce over, but then Mercy woke up, so instead she grabbed one of the two folding chairs Levy had brought and set it next to the nearby tree. She found a bottle of formula in the diaper bag and settled in to feed the boppli.

“What’s that?” Levy pointed to the hamper next to the diaper bag.

“Lunch. And breakfast, for that matter.”

“Gut! I completely forgot.” He smiled at a family who wandered by and stopped to examine the produce for sale.

“Does this farmer’s market have an official opening time?” Jane settled the baby more comfortably in the crook of her arm.

Levy waited until the potential customers moved on, then he dove into the food hamper, pulled out some biscuits and began eating. “I was so busy this morning I didn’t have time for breakfast. As for when it opens—it’s somewhat informal, though vendors are asked to finish unloading and move their cars and wagons by 9:00 a.m. We have to stay until five o’clock, though, by the rules.”

“Rules? Is it that structured?”

“Ja. We sign an agreement. I can understand why they have these rules, otherwise a vendor might depart early and leave a big gaping hole where his booth was. Good morning!” he added to a young mother with two children in tow.

Once Mercy was fed, Jane slipped the infant into the sling and helped Levy stock the booth, spreading out the fresh fruits and vegetables in beautiful