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

experience after watching Isaac fall in love with Hannah. The way she’d coped from that debacle was to leave Ohio and come here to Grand Creek.

Now it seemed she would be coping with her current jealousy the same way, by leaving. How could she stay and face the man who no longer even had the pretext of caring for the baby as the basis of his marriage proposal?

Once again, it seemed everything she cherished, longed for, hoped for, wished for was being snatched away. She had a moment of blazing anger at Gott for doing this to her…again.

She was a baptized member of the community, and her faith in Gott wasn’t diminished. But she was angry at His hand in all this. Why couldn’t Eliza have just stayed away?

The moment the thought went through her mind, she was ashamed of herself. She should be praying for Eliza’s redemption, not her estrangement. Yes, jealousy was an ugly emotion.

* * *

These thoughts were not resolved by the time Jane returned to Levy’s the next day. He was in the kitchen heating a bottle for Mercy. “She took a tiny bit of solid food this morning,” he told her. “Eliza will be so glad she’s healthy and developing normally.”

“Ja, we must thank Gott Eliza will be happy.” Jane heard the jealousy in her voice and turned away in shame.

Silence fell in the kitchen, and finally Levy asked, “Jane? What’s the matter?”

“Nothing.” To her frustration, she felt tears welling up in her eyes and refused to turn around to let Levy see them. Instead, she busied herself gathering the ingredients for making the bread she hoped to sell on Saturday.

“Are you worried about Eliza coming home?”

“Nein, why should I be?”

“You’re not a very good liar, Jane.”

She jumped, then froze when she felt his hands on her upper arms as he came up behind her. He continued gently, “I know this is hard on you, with the likelihood Eliza will take over Mercy’s care. But I don’t think I realized how hard it would be for you.”

Her shoulders heaved as a sob rose in her throat. With an inarticulate sound, Levy spun her around and pulled her against his chest. Jane’s pent-up emotions finally released and she burst into tears.

He stroked her back and just let her cry. A part of Jane was relieved he thought she was weeping solely over the loss of Mercy. But much of Jane’s despair was the imminent loss of Levy as well—the daily interactions, the seamless work, the shared meals, the mutual concern for the baby. How long could she stay in Grand Creek if those things were no longer hers to enjoy?

The pressure of his arms and the gentle stroking on her back were too much. Not trusting her reaction to his touch, she pulled away, fished a handkerchief from her pocket and removed her glasses to mop her face. “Sorry,” she murmured.

“Don’t be.” He stepped back. “Eliza’s return will throw a wrench into a lot of things. I’ve been thinking it over too, and finding myself hoping she doesn’t disrupt my routine to the point where I can’t make a living.”

“What do you mean?” She blew her nose.

“I mean, she’ll need a lot of support as she transitions back into the community. I’m the logical person to give her that support. But you’ve also seen the tight deadlines I deal with as I prepare for each week’s farmer’s market. If that deadline is interrupted and I’m not ready, I don’t earn money. The rest of the year I’m more flexible, but these farmer’s markets bring in the bulk of my income for the year. Eliza has no idea how tight my schedule is.”

In an odd way, it helped to know she wasn’t alone in realizing how much Eliza’s return would complicate things. “And you said she’ll be here next Tuesday?”

“Ja.”

“Then I will plan to not come to work that day. You and Eliza will have much to discuss.”

“I’m pretty much resigned to the fact I won’t get much work done that day.” He glanced at the clock. “Which means I’d best get back to the fields right now.”

Jane needed a huge batch of dough for bread to sell at the farmer’s market. While the dough rose, she fed and changed Mercy, then slipped the baby into the sling while she did a quick once-through on housecleaning. By the time Levy came in for the evening, ten loaves of bread were cooling on racks, and she had made meat loaf with green beans for supper.

She hoped Eliza would be able to take over these tasks. Levy needed the help.

* * *

After Jane left for the day, Levy spread a small blanket on the floor and put Mercy down on her stomach so she could practice lifting her head. The boppli smiled readily now, and he was less clumsy with her since Jane’s baby lessons were so effective.

“What will your mamm think of you, do you suppose?” he asked the infant. “Will she think your bumbling uncle did an okay job?”

He himself was still mulling through the ramifications of his sister’s return. He recognized part of his ambivalence was wondering where Jane would fit into his life after Eliza came home.

If Eliza slipped back into the role of mother—and he fully expected she would—where did that leave Jane? Levy realized how much he had come to look forward to seeing the woman on a daily basis. Whatever Eliza chose to do after she came home, Jane’s schedule would naturally change. And Levy wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

He sighed as he dangled a toy in front of Mercy. The infant raised her head and focused on it, but didn’t quite have the strength or coordination to reach for it yet. That would come. She was in all ways a healthy baby, hitting all the developmental milestones she was supposed to hit—or so Jane told him. And he trusted her to know. Her gift with babies was uncanny.

She had