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

was hard to imagine not seeing him on a daily basis. The very thought made her heart lurch in her chest.

She thought she’d learned her lesson back home in Ohio. Why did it seem she was destined to fall in love with men who didn’t see her as a woman? Levy, she knew, appreciated her help in everything from Mercy’s care to the items she made to sell. He was, by every indicator, an excellent boss.

It wasn’t his fault she had fallen in love with him.

But she kept her emotions in check. She’d grown up a lot over the summer and refused to become the lovelorn figure she was when she first arrived. Besides, Levy had given no indication he returned her affections, and she wasn’t about to make a fool of herself. Again.

She forced her mind back to the present. “I’m going to start making peach chutney this week,” she said. “The peaches are beautiful. All your fruit trees are doing well.”

He gave a small groan as he rose to his feet. “Ach, my sore muscles. There are some crates of peaches in the basement, ripening,” he added. “Go ahead and use those.”

She watched as he went back to work. That was another thing she’d come to admire over the last two months. His work ethic. He never seemed to stop. She didn’t think she’d ever met a man as hardworking as Levy.

By the time Saturday rolled around, Jane had pulled together fifty pints of peach chutney, two dozen pints of applesauce, two dozen pints of tomato salsa and three dozen quarts of apple pie filling.

In addition to the full bounty of a September harvest, Levy had expanded into offering packets of seeds for customers to purchase. He made brown-paper envelopes, and on each envelope he wrote out the types of seeds and basic planting directions. Jane used a tiny green ribbon to close the flaps.

The booth, when it was set up at the Saturday market, was packed to capacity with goods for sale.

“There.” Levy finished tying some corn stalks for decoration at the booth corners before the market opened. He took off his hat and wiped a hand across his brow. “Let’s pray sales are gut today.”

By the time they were ready to break down in the late afternoon, nearly everything had sold. The packets of seeds were especially popular, another component that surprised him. “Unbelievable,” he muttered to Jane. “Seeds are available everywhere. Why would people buy so many here?”

She picked up the one remaining unsold packet. “These look gut. And people know the seeds come from your farm. I’ve come to realize how many people like knowing the sources for things.”

“I’ve never had a summer like this.” He started breaking down the booth components so they could be loaded into the wagon. “Ach, I’m glad tomorrow is the Sabbath.”

“Ja, it will be good to rest.”

Jane helped him load the boxes and crates, and the wagon started for home.

Jane thought Levy still seemed distracted, almost nervous. “I’ll throw together a quick dinner before I go home tonight,” she offered.

“Danke,” he answered, then fell silent.

She didn’t know what to make of his behavior. He didn’t seem angry. She’d had no cross words with him in weeks. They seemed to work well together. What could possibly be wrong?

When he pulled up to the house, Jane took Mercy inside and started dinner while Levy groomed and fed Maggie and put the booth away for the week. By the time he came inside, she had the table set.

Levy sluiced his face at the sink as Jane pulled food from the oven. He sat down at the table and fidgeted. He shuffled. He fretted.

“Levy, are you oll recht?” she asked after they’d said grace. “You seem as nervous as a cat.” She poured herself some milk.

“Ja, sure.” He took a bite, then laid his fork down. “Jane, I have a question for you.”

“Ja? What is it?”

“Would you consider marrying me?”

Jane couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “What? Did I hear you right?”

“Yes.”

“Levy, where did this come from?”

“I think it’s a logical question. You’re so good with Mercy. You’re amazing in everything you do…”

Jane’s temper rose. If she had ever entertained any hopes about her and Levy, they were dashed on the rocks at the bottom of her heart. There was no mention of love, of warmth or affection or anything else upon which a stable long-term marriage could be built.

Her answer was short. “No.”

He winced. “I’m sorry I asked so bluntly, please won’t you reconsider…”

“Levy, do you expect me to marry someone who only sees me as a baby nurse?” She got to her feet so fast the chair went flying and crashed to the floor. Mercy whimpered.

He looked surprised. “Just a baby nurse? Jane, hasn’t it been obvious that my feelings for you have grown over the summer?”

She stared as her heart continued to pound in thick, painful thuds. “No. It hasn’t been obvious.”

“I thought we were getting along so well…”

“Sure, as an employer and employee. Not as a husband and wife.”

He, too, rose to his feet. “Then I’ve been remiss. I’ve… I’ve never courted before. This is new territory for me.”

For Levy to admit such a weakness drained Jane’s anger. But the tiny portion of her heart that longed for romance shrank from him. Her mind flip-flopped this way and that, trying to come to terms with this new development.

“Besides,” he added, “I can’t take care of the baby on my own.”

Her heart sank. Useful again. Never romantic.

And yet…and yet…was that really such a bad thing? She loved him, and even if he didn’t return her feelings, they got along well and had the baby to unite them. Could such a marriage work?

“That’s what the bishop is urging you to do, ain’t so?” she asked. “Marry?”

“Ja. If you marry me, we can raise Mercy together.” He raised an eyebrow. “That’s the most logical, rational solution to the problem.”

She lifted her chin. “If you want a logical, rational answer, then here’s