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

get you washed.” Jane gathered clean clothes, a washcloth, a cup for rinsing and other accessories.

Mercy enjoyed the bath. She smiled and cooed as Jane soaped her little body, then rinsed her off, protecting her eyes with the washcloth. As she worked, Jane felt the warmth of love steal over her for this tiny boppli. No matter what her future held, it would be hard to stop caring for Mercy.

She dressed the baby, then placed her in her bouncy seat on the kitchen table. She started to cook dinner when she heard a knock at the door.

Picking up the baby, she went to answer. Her friend Rhoda stood on the porch, panting, a dripping umbrella at her side. “We’re having another singing in the Millers’ barn since it’s too wet to work outside,” she gasped, grinning. “I ran all the way over here to ask if you can come. It starts in an hour, and if you can come, bring something to eat since we’ll all have dinner there.”

“Ja, I think so. I’ll have to make dinner for Levy, but that sounds like fun.”

“Gut! See you there.”

When Jane closed the door and returned to the kitchen, Levy was there, rain dripping off his hat brim. He looked at her unsmiling. Then he turned to wash his hands at the sink.

“I’ll make double the amount of dinner and bring half with me to the singing tonight,” said Jane.

“That’s fine.” He wiped his hands on the dish towel.

“I can bring Mercy with me, if you like.”

“Great.”

A wave of pity came over her. “Levy, I know you’re upset by what the bishop said. But try not to worry about Mercy’s future. Gott will provide.”

“Ja.” He looked down at the dish towel in his hands. “I know. I’ve been praying for clarity, for guidance. I just don’t see the right path yet.”

“You will, I’m sure. And for the moment, Mercy’s in gut hands.” Jane patted the boppli on the back.

Levy looked at her, and she saw gratitude in his eyes. “Whatever happens in the future, I thank Gott I saw you that day at the train station.”

Jane held his eyes a heartbeat longer than required before she dropped her own gaze. “Ja. Well, I guess I’ll start dinner.”

Levy disappeared into his office. The rain pattered on the roof, and Jane opened the kitchen window a bit to let the moist warm air into the house. She tried not to think of that vulnerable raw emotion she saw in his eyes. She tried not to dwell on how her own heart responded.

She set the table for Levy, packed the extra food into an insulated carrier and tucked it inside Mercy’s diaper bag. Then she slipped the boppli into the sling, and put on her cloak to protect both of them from the rain. She stopped at the doorway to Levy’s office, where a lamp lit the inside against the gloomy afternoon, illuminating an account ledger.

“I’ll be leaving now. I’ve left dinner for you on the table.”

“Danke. Have fun.” He gave her an abstracted smile, then continued scratching in the ledger with a pen.

She picked up her umbrella and the diaper bag, and set out for the Millers’ farm.

It pained her to see Levy hurting. And she wondered what else she could do to help this man, whom she was growing to care for.

* * *

She saw many young men and women walking toward the Millers’, with umbrellas bobbing from different directions. The large barn doors were wide open in welcome. Jane stepped inside, shook the rain off her umbrella and stacked it near the doorway with dozens of others.

The Millers had set up boards across sawhorses along the outside walls of the main part of the barn. Jane joined the groups of chattering, laughing young people placing food along the boards. For such a spontaneously arranged function, a lot of people had come. The rain pounded on the roof overhead, but inside the barn the energy was high.

“What’s wrong?”

Jane turned and saw Rhoda. “What do you mean, what’s wrong?”

“You were standing there like you’re angry.”

“Oh, nothing. Just some moodiness from Levy, that’s all.” Jane gave Mercy a little bob in the sling, but the baby was cozy and alert.

“Is he still giving you grief about attending youngie events?”

“Not so much. But he’s…” Jane trailed off. Gossiping was a sin, and she’d nearly gossiped about Levy’s private struggle. “Well, he just has a lot on his mind,” she went on.

Some others clustered around Jane, cooing at the baby, so she took Mercy from the sling and allowed her to be passed from arm to arm. Free of the infant, Jane found herself surrounded by several young men, who engaged her in conversation.

These were the same young men, she realized, who seemed to hang around every event she’d attended so far. Caught up in the notion she was plain, it dawned on her that she was, for the first time in her life, attracting male attention.

This was reinforced later when Sarah sidled up and whispered, “I think Charles is interested in you.”

“What? Really?” Jane refrained from glancing over at the young man. “I thought it might be David, since he’s been at my side the whole evening.”

“Him too. And maybe even Daniel. But not Josiah. I thought he was too heartbroken still, but now he may be courting.”

Josiah? Jane’s ears pricked up. That was the young man Levy’s sister had left behind when she disappeared into the Englisch world.

“Which one is Josiah?” she asked Sarah.

The young woman pointed to a nice-looking man with straight brown hair. He sat with another young woman, talking. “He was stuck on Eliza for a long time,” Sarah stated. “But now maybe things will be different. I hope so. He’s a gut man. Come on, the singing is just getting started.”

The mishmash of chairs and benches filled up as the young people seated themselves, most with hymn books in hand. Jane took Mercy back and found herself with Sarah and Rhoda, while