“Two hours ago before I put her down for her nap.”
Levi nodded. “She’s probably hungry.”
Esther seemed to brace herself, as if feeding the baby sounded like the hardest thing in the world. “Okay. Can you hold her while I fix a bottle?”
Levi suddenly felt very sorry for Esther. She’d been thrown into something she hadn’t asked for and certainly wasn’t prepared to handle. That’s why he’d asked his mammi, mamm, and schwester to come yesterday. “Why don’t you let me feed Winnie while you look at tile samples.”
She acted as if he’d offered to donate one of his kidneys. “Ach, would you mind? That would be wunderbarr.”
“Not at all.” He set his backpack on the floor and took the baby from Esther’s arms. “You make the bottle, and I’ll feed. And burp. You can concentrate on picking tile.”
Esther tried to pick up his backpack, but she couldn’t lift it. “What’s in this thing?”
“I told you. Tile samples.”
“Your mammi is right. I’m getting old lady arms. I’ll carry the baby into the kitchen if you carry that backpack.”
Levi chuckled. “Okay. I’ll put it on the table.”
“Don’t set it down too hard. I don’t want my table to collapse, though the way my day is going, it wouldn’t surprise me if it did.”
They went into the kitchen, where Levi deposited the backpack on the table and took Winnie from Esther’s arms. Esther washed the baby bottle and filled it with water, then pulled a cooking thermometer out of the drawer and stuck it in the water. Levi smiled to himself. Even though she hadn’t asked for a baby and she was furious with her sister, she was trying very hard to do the best she could for Winnie. Warmth radiated through Levi’s chest. Mothering obviously didn’t come naturally to Esther, but she seemed to care very deeply. All the skill in the world was no substitute for a gute and honest heart.
When she seemed satisfied with the water temperature, Esther dried the thermometer on a towel, slid it behind her ear, and finished measuring out the formula. She turned to Levi, and it looked as if she had some sort of pressure gauge attached to her head. He didn’t say a word. You never knew when you were going to need a cooking thermometer.
She shook the bottle, being careful to put her finger over the hole in the nipple, then smiled and handed the bottle to Levi. That smile, a mixture of gratitude, friendship, and delight, set Levi’s heart thumping against his chest. It was a gute thing he wasn’t interested in Esther. That smile could make any man’s knees weak.
Why had she never married?
Levi couldn’t understand it.
He cradled Winnie in his arms and stuck the bottle in her mouth. She ate as if she hadn’t been fed in days—another reason she hadn’t fallen asleep. A hungry baby didn’t sleep.
Esther noticed. “Honestly, I fed her before I put her down.”
“I believe you. Babies are funny that way. Sometimes you can’t get them to eat a thing. Other times they can’t get enough.”
She smiled again. “You’re very kind. I’m doing it all wrong, and you still try to be nice about it.”
“Not at all, Esther,” he said, pinning her with a stern gaze. “You’re doing just fine. This whole situation is not of your doing, but you’re trying to make the best of it.”
An attractive blush reddened her cheeks, and the cooking thermometer rattled when she shook her head. “By beating rugs against the house.”
He widened his eyes in mock innocence. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. How else are you going to clean the rugs?”
“I’m afraid I’m going to need more rugs to beat on. I don’t think my sister is coming back anytime soon. I might not hear from her ever again. When she jumped the fence, it took two years before she contacted us. Then she sent some pictures with a letter telling us she was in Canada. That was a comfort to Mamm, knowing that Ivy seemed healthy and happy. Six months after Mamm died, Ivy sent us another letter with a cell phone number where we could reach her. I called and told her about Mamm.”
“Was she sad?”
“She was wonderful upset, but she’d been away a long time, and we had no way to reach her. I can’t help but think that if she truly loved Mamm, she wouldn’t have stayed away so long. My dat died last November. Ivy came to his funeral, but she didn’t look good. She was pregnant and too skinny, with black circles under her eyes. Her boyfriend waited in his car while we stood at the graveside. She had convinced him to bring her to the funeral, which is something, I guess.”
Levi slipped his finger into Winnie’s little hand. “So you moved here after your dat died.”
She nodded. “Dat left everything he owned to me. I sold the house and the farm and bought this property because your mammi invited me to Colorado.”
Levi tilted his head. “I thought you had older brothers.”
“Jah. My bruderen were wonderful upset they didn’t get any money, but my dat wanted me to have my independence. An Amish old maid can’t have her own life without money.”
Levi knew exactly what she meant. Old maedels usually ended up living with one of their bruderen or married schwesteren and taking care of the nieces and nephews. Levi couldn’t imagine Esther happy as a visitor in someone else’s home, caring for someone else’s children, having nothing of her own.
“I’m froh your dat did that for you.”
“Dat wanted me to be able to take care of myself, but he wanted me to look after Ivy too, though at the time, we didn’t even know where she was. I was a dumkoff. I actually saw her return as a gute thing. I thought I would have a chance to take care of her like Dat wanted. But Ivy only thinks about herself.”
“You could count that three hundred dollars as Ivy’s inheritance. For how she’s treated you, you don’t have to feel like you owe her anything else.”
“That is a wunderbarr idea. I feel better about the money already.”
“Your rugs are saved,” Levi said, as if he was very relieved.
She laughed. “Oh, don’t be so certain. Something else is sure to come up to try my patience.” She unzipped Levi’s backpack. “Now let’s see about these tile samples you’re so excited about.”
“I’m not that excited. They’re just tile samples.”
Esther pulled them out of his backpack one by one, lining them up in rows across her table.
“I brought the six-inch squares,” Levi said. “But we can get them in eight- and twelve-inch. Just about any size. It’s a small bathroom, so I thought six-inch might look nice. You can also get them in rectangles.”
“I don’t want to spend a lot of money.”
“My mammi is paying, and she said not to tell you how much it costs. Pick whatever you want.”
Esther frowned. “That’s wonderful nice of her, but I feel like I’m taking advantage of her kindness. And she still has hospital bills.”
“You didn’t ask her to pay. She feels bad because she’s the one who found the house for you.” He pointed to the peeling wallpaper. “It needs some repairs, and the bathroom needs to be completely redone. She wants it to be nice. She wants you to be happy here.”
Esther sighed. “Ach, the house is fine. It’s my sister who’s ruined Colorado for me. I never should have given her my address.”
He leaned forward. “Still, wouldn’t it be nice to have two working bathrooms?”
“Jah. It would.” She smiled. “You’re very kind to fix my bathroom.”
“If it makes you feel better, I can show you the tiles that are least expensive.”
“Please.”
Levi pointed out the three or four tiles that cost the least amount of money. “We have a case of these left over from another job, and a half a case of this light brown one. Too bad we can’t just lay all our leftover tiles on the floor. They’d cost next to nothing.”
Esther suddenly got very excited. “Why not? I use scraps of fabric to make patchwork quilts. What if we used leftover tiles to make a patchwork bathroom flo
or? Or even better, a watercolor bathroom floor.” She caught her breath as delight spread over her face. “We could use different sizes and colors. It would be beautiful.”
“You want to paint the bathroom floor with watercolors? That won’t last long.”
“Nae. Watercolor is a type of quilt design. Your mammi is one of the most famous quilters in the world, and you don’t know what a watercolor quilt is?”
Levi raised an eyebrow. “I love my mammi, but we don’t talk about quilting so much. It’s boring.”
“Boring? How can you think quilting is boring? I get heart palpitations just walking into a fabric store.”
Levi couldn’t see the appeal. “Is my mammi really that famous?”
Esther nodded. “She’s got her own blog. She makes all the quilts, and her Englisch friend Allison takes all the pictures and posts them online. She’s got twenty thousand followers on Instagram.”
“I don’t know what that is.”
“It’s okay. It’s not an Amish thing. I happened upon her blog when I was looking for quilt patterns online at the library. I started writing letters to her, and she personally answered every one. We became friends. Your mammi has never been too famous to connect with her fans.”
“Fans? Mammi has fans?”
“Thousands of them.”
Levi couldn’t believe it. Maybe he should start paying more attention to his mammi, even if she was an old lady. “Does my dat know about this?”
Esther nodded. “He’s the bishop, so she has to get permission from him for everything she does.”
Levi curled one side of his mouth. “I can’t imagine my dat would ever say nae to his own mater.”
“I don’t know why he’d say nae. She makes the quilts, which is a very acceptable activity for an Amish woman. Allison takes all the pictures and posts all the blogs and answers all the emails. There’s not a photo of your mammi anywhere online.”
Even though the Ordnung said they were supposed to stay separate from the world, it didn’t seem like there was much harm in Mammi’s making quilts, especially if Mammi was never shown in any photos. Mammi needed the money.
Grateful he wasn’t the bishop, Levi pulled the bottle from Winnie’s mouth, draped her over his shoulder, and patted her back. “She’s nearly asleep,” he said. “I’m going to put her down for a nap.”
Esther pulled a face. “Gute luck with that.”
“Then I’ll pull the linoleum off the floor in that bathroom while you pick tile.” Levi stood up, carried Winnie into the spare bedroom, and softly laid her in her crib. She stirred slightly, then seemed to settle in for a long rest. Since she hadn’t really slept all morning, she was ready to give up the fight.
He closed the door behind him and went back into the kitchen, where Esther was rearranging tiles on the kitchen table. “Did she go to sleep?”
“I think so.”
Esther smiled at him. “You’re a natural.”
He shrugged, ignoring the way his heart sort of tripped all over itself when she smiled. “Not really. She seemed pretty beat.”
“Poor baby. I’m sure Ivy dragged her all over the place with no consideration of her sleeping or eating. I wonder if Ivy even remembered to feed her most days. What present did you bring for Winnie?” Her lips curled upward. “Or would you rather wait until she wakes up so she can open it?”
Levi reached clear to the bottom of his backpack and pulled out a pacifier still in its package. “I thought this might help her sleep.”
Smiling, Esther took it from him and fell silent as she read the entire package. “It says, ‘Do not tie pacifier around a child’s neck, as it presents a strangulation hazard.’ That’s good to know.” She glanced up at him. “Do you think it will help?”
Levi shrugged. “I don’t know. A pacifier always helped Lydiann, but Mamm used it from the day she was born. Winnie might not like it, but if she does, it might help her sleep.”
Esther studied his face. “Denki. This is a very thoughtful gift. Do they have such a thing as a pacifier for adults? I need one of those every time I think of Ivy.”
Levi laughed. “I think it’s called chocolate.”
“Chocolate? I don’t like chocolate.”
“You don’t like chocolate? Who ever heard of someone not liking chocolate?” That was gute to know. Her not liking chocolate gave him another reason to positively, absolutely not be interested in Esther, especially since he found himself drawn in by those fascinating greenish-blue eyes.
Levi looked away and made a list in his head.
She is old.
She is in my mammi’s quilting group.
She doesn’t like chocolate.
Her smile makes my pulse race, which will likely lead to high blood pressure.
It was the start of a pretty gute list of reasons not to be interested in Esther Zook.
Esther pointed to a blue-tinted tile Levi had used on a bathroom two weeks ago. “Do you have more of this one?”
He cleared his throat, tried not to be pulled into her gaze, and thought hard about how much he loved chocolate fudge. “Jah. Probably half a case.”
“Wonderful gute. This will be the most beautiful bathroom floor ever. Too bad only a handful of people will see it.”
Levi picked up the tile and smoothed his fingers over the top of it. He grinned. “You could have a bathroom party and invite the whole district.”
She looked up at the ceiling as if she was considering it. “Yes, because no one would think I was a strange old maedel if I invited them over for a bathroom party.”
He laughed. “Well, you could serve cookies. They might come.” He cocked his head to the side and fell silent. In the other room, Winnie started wailing. Levi smiled wryly at Esther. “See? You’re not a bad mater. Winnie is just a bad baby.”
“Levi Kiem, there is no such thing as a bad baby,” Esther scolded. “Every baby is a perfect and beautiful gift from Derr Herr.”
He raised his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. I didn’t mean it.”
She cracked a smile. “At least that’s what my mamm used to say, even though my nephew Raymond didn’t stop screaming for three months. My other nephew John threw up every time he ate. My sister-in-law was fit to be tied.”
“Your mamm was right. A baby doesn’t choose to misbehave. Poor Winnie has had a hard go of things. As soon as she settles into a routine, she’ll do much better.”
Esther gazed at him doubtfully. “How long does it take to settle into a routine?”
“Two, three years,” he said, winking so she knew he was teasing.
She groaned loudly. “You’re a plumber. What do you know?”
He laughed softly at the look on her face. “Not a lot.” He stood up, went back into the spare room, and took Winnie out of her crib. She burped loudly, then almost immediately burrowed her little face into his neck and fell asleep. He walked back into the kitchen. “Umm. It must be the crib.”
Esther held five tile samples between her fingers and rearranged the rest into a pattern on her table. She took a look at Winnie in his arms and burst into laughter. “Ach. That’s so cute. And so frustrating.”
Levi shook his head. “At this rate, I’ll never get that bathroom finished. I’ll try laying her down again.”
“Oh, no you don’t. For sure and certain, she’ll wake up.” Esther set down the tile samples. “She needs her sleep, and she’s going to get it. You hold her, and I’ll pull up the linoleum.” She stood and slid the cooking thermometer from behind her ear. “Show me what to do.”
Levi couldn’t help but smile. Esther had surprised him again. “It’s kind of hard.”
“I can do it. I don’t have old lady arms yet.”
“Nae,” Levi said. “You don’t have old lady arms, but my mammi wouldn’t like it if she knew I let you pull up the linoleum.”
Esther folded her arms. “She never has to know. Besides, you’re holding Winnie as a favor to me. I want to help you. You can sit right outs
ide the bathroom and tell me what to do.”
Levi sighed. There was no use arguing with her. That much was plain to see. She’d soon figure out she wasn’t strong enough to pull linoleum, and she’d give up. As long as she didn’t cut her finger off or put out an eye, there was probably no harm in it. As long as she didn’t cut her finger off ? Levi frowned. “This is a bad idea.”
She pulled a pencil out of the drawer and slid it behind her ear. “It’s going to be fine.” She carried a chair from the table down the hall to the bathroom and set it right outside the door. “You can sit here, hold Winnie, and give me instructions.”
Surrendering to the inevitable, Levi eased into the chair and talked softly so he wouldn’t wake Winnie. “First, you need the utility knife and pry bar from my backpack. And the safety glasses. And you better get the hammer too.”
She propped her hands on her hips. “No wonder that pack was so heavy.” She disappeared down the hall. Levi peered into the bathroom. He’d need to take out the toilet, but Esther could remove most of the linoleum before that. Or rather, he could remove most of the linoleum when Esther gave up. The bathroom had a shower, sink, and toilet, but it wasn’t that big, and it wouldn’t take him but two hours to take care of the linoleum.
While he sat there, Levi’s back tightened up right between his shoulder blades. He shifted Winnie so he could hold her in the crook of his elbow. She didn’t even flinch.
Esther returned, looking especially cute wearing his safety glasses. Even with the glasses, the pencil stayed firmly planted behind her ear. How did she do that? It must have been a special talent of hers. From what Levi had seen, Esther had dozens of special talents, one of them being the ability to draw his full attention whenever she smiled. He definitely needed to get to Ohio to meet some eligible girls. He was obviously starved for female attention if a thirty-year-old spinster could make his pulse race like a teenager’s.
She held up the pry bar in one fist and the utility knife and hammer in the other. “Okay. What should I do first?”
“Do you have a pair of work gloves? Mine are too big for you.”
“Do I need work gloves?”
Levi nodded. “If the utility knife slips while you’re cutting linoleum, you could lose a finger.”
The Amish Quiltmaker's Unexpected Baby Page 5