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

Levy was determined to raise his niece, then he’d better take to heart those baby lessons.

“I think we’re going to have rain tomorrow.” Rhoda pointed overhead at the darkening sky. “Maybe even tonight. That’s gut, we need it.”

“I should probably get going.” Jane rose to her feet. “I told Levy I’d bring Mercy back home by 8:30 so he could put her to bed.”

“Are you coming to the singing on Friday? It’s at my house,” urged Rhoda.

“I hope so. I’ll probably have to do the same thing and bring Mercy with me, but I’d like to attend.”

“Everyone is so glad you’re here,” Rhoda stated. “We want you to come to every gathering!”

She smiled her thanks. “I’ll come as often as I can. Come on, little one, let’s go see your uncle.” She lifted Mercy off the blanket and slipped her into the sling. “Gude nacht.”

She walked the half mile or so back to Levy’s home. The clouds overhead thickened and a wind gusted up. Jane picked up her pace.

She hesitated at Levy’s front door. Lamplight shone from within. She knocked before walking in. “Levy? I’ve brought Mercy home.”

Levy emerged from the small room he used as an office. “Ja, danke.”

“Do you want me to change her diaper before I go?”

“Nein, I’ll take care of it.” His face was a neutral mask. He didn’t ask her about the gathering, didn’t ask how Mercy had behaved. He simply held out his arms to take the baby.

“I’ll be here tomorrow then.” Feeling peeved, she hung the baby sling on a hook by the door and left.

Would it kill Levy to show any warmth or appreciation? Would it pain him to inquire how her new friends were or how many people had attended the hot dog roast? As she stomped down the road, she admitted his lack of interest bothered her.

* * *

Levy didn’t see Jane disappear into the night. He saw his sister Eliza walk away. For one moment, the two women merged in his mind, and he shook his head to dispel the illusion.

He knew he was projecting his fears and concerns about Eliza’s behavior on to Jane, and that wasn’t fair.

He looked at the sweet baby in his arms. She looked ready for sleep, her eyes just about drooping. He searched her features again for any traces of his sister, and believed he saw a similarity. Or was he imagining things?

He sighed and went about preparing Mercy for bed. How much did the baby resemble her father?

He shied away from speculating on the circumstances of Mercy’s birth. He loved his sister with a fierce devotion, a bond made stronger after he stepped into the role of guardian when his parents died. His failure to rein in Eliza’s wild adolescence weighed on him like a stone. He still blamed himself for her departure.

If Mercy was born out of wedlock as he suspected, then Eliza might never return to the community.

Yet he desperately hoped that one day Eliza would return to claim her baby, even if it meant facing down the inevitable gossip. That, more than anything else, accounted for his stubborn refusal to give Mercy to another family to raise. However irrational, Mercy was a link to his lost sister. If he gave up Mercy, he gave up all hope of seeing Eliza again.

He kissed the boppli’s forehead and laid the sleepy infant in her crib. He would never give up Mercy, because he would never give up hope that Eliza might return.

CHAPTER SEVEN

In the morning Jane opened her eyes and saw it was raining, no surprise after the change in weather she saw the night before.

“It is a gift from Gott, as we need the rain,” Uncle Peter commented at breakfast, sipping coffee and looking at the gray weather outside.

“It’s going to keep Levy indoors, though,” muttered Jane.

Her uncle raised his eyebrows in a silent question.

She explained, “I’ve come up with a daily routine with the baby, and he’s likely to get in the way.”

“Well, it’s his house. And his niece.”

“Ja, I know.” Jane scrubbed a hand over her face. “I’m sorry, Onkel Peter. It’s just that…well, Levy and I don’t always get along.”

“He has a lot on his mind.”

“I know, so I try to be understanding about it.” Jane glanced at the clock. “But I’d better get going. I try to be there by seven.”

Donning a cloak and taking an umbrella, Jane headed out toward Levy’s house. The fields around her, even under a gray sky, greened up as the rain washed away dust and soaked the thirsty soil. Jane breathed deeply in the moist fresh air and vowed to keep her temper in check today.

Surprisingly, Levy was feeding the baby when she arrived, sitting with Mercy in the rocking chair as she drank a bottle of formula. “Guder mariye,” she said. “Do you want me to take over?”

“Ja, please. I haven’t milked the cows yet.”

Mercy fussed when the bottle slipped out of her mouth, but Jane traded places, settled into the chair and continued feeding her. “You milk three cows, right?”

“Right. It takes me about half an hour.”

“Have you had breakfast?”

“Ja.” He crammed his hat over his curly hair. “Back in a while.” He left for the barn.

When he returned with buckets of fresh milk, Jane was in the kitchen putting together lunch, with Mercy secure in the sling against her chest.

Levy stood in front of the sink, staring out the kitchen window at the pouring rain. “I won’t get much done today,” he muttered.

“Is it such a bad thing to take a day off?” Jane asked.

“I already have a day off,” he replied. “On the Sabbath. The rest of the time, I’m on a tight schedule to get everything done in time for Saturday’s market. You know that.”

“Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like you have a choice.” She gestured toward the window.

“I know.”

“Don’t you have anything that needs doing in the barn?” she hinted.

He quirked an eyebrow at her. “Trying to get rid of me?”

“Well, you may not