With her heart pounding fiercely in her ears, Esther pulled Ivy’s letter from her bag and found the number she needed to call. The computer made a strange ringing noise, but no one answered on the other end. Was there anyone at the other end? Esther glanced at Levi, who seemed even more tense than she was. “I’ll check the number,” she said.
Winnie tried to grab the keyboard and pushed some button that made the computer screen go blank. Oh, sis yuscht. Levi strolled back to the reference desk and asked the nice lady to come fix the computer. The librarian navigated back to the Skype page and keyed in the number for Esther. That metallic ringing noise again and again, but nobody appeared on the screen. Esther checked her letter again. She was there at the right time using the right number. Where was Ivy?
Levi handed Winnie her teething ring, and she shoved it into her mouth, but after a few seconds she dropped it and pounded on the keys again. Levi chuckled and took Winnie from Esther’s arms. “Winnie,” he cooed, “you’re not making this easy for Aendi Esther. Cum. Let’s go find some books.”
Esther smiled her thanks and tried her call again. Maybe she had the wrong number, or maybe something was wrong with the computer, but Ivy didn’t appear on the screen, and Esther had already tried three times. She looked up from her computer. Levi was sitting in a soft chair with Winnie on his lap patiently reading her a book. Eyes wide, Winnie tapped her hand on each page as if she wanted to play with the book instead of read it. Levi had to time it just right to even turn the pages.
Something like affection caught in Esther’s throat, and she had to swallow hard to dislodge it. She was too old for Levi, and he was too big for his britches, but for sure and certain no one had ever looked more attractive than Levi Kiem cradling her niece in his arms and trying to read her a book. He didn’t seem to care that Winnie was drooling on his sleeve or that he had to read the same sentence over and over because Winnie wouldn’t let him turn the pages. It was the sweetest, most adorable thing Esther had ever seen.
Levi glanced up and caught Esther staring at him. If he noticed her misty eyes or bemused expression, he didn’t show it. He raised his eyebrows expectantly, and she shook her head. Still no Ivy.
Esther waited another minute and tried again. No response on the other end. She examined Ivy’s letter again. She had the right date, the right time, and the right phone number. She called again, waited five minutes, and called again.
Ivy wasn’t there, wasn’t wherever she was supposed to be to get Esther’s call. Esther shouldn’t have been surprised. This was typical Ivy behavior. Of course Ivy had missed the call, and Esther was most irritated she’d made the effort to come to the library at all. Maybe Ivy had never had any intention of showing up. The letter was just another way to throw Esther into a tizzy and control her emotions from a distance. Ivy was determined to make Esther’s life miserable in every way. Would she get tossed out of the library if she started throwing books at the window?
Esther took a deep breath and let her gaze travel across the room to Levi and Winnie. Levi had given Winnie his tube of lip balm, probably so she wouldn’t try to eat the book. With the book laid across his lap and his arm securely around Winnie, he was fast asleep. Esther cracked a smile. She was angry with Ivy, but she should probably count her blessings before she started throwing books. Winnie was gaining weight and actually slept through the night most nights. Levi and Mary Jane and the Hannahs had been Esther’s lifelines. Gotte had sent them at exactly the right time. And even though Esther was frustrated with her schwester, she loved Ivy fiercely. It was nice to have someone you loved that much, even if she drove you crazy. Ivy had lost her way, but at least she was alive. And she’d had sense and love enough to bring her baby to a place where someone would take care of her.
To own the truth, Esther was more relieved than she was annoyed. She hadn’t been forced to talk to Ivy and hadn’t had to figure out what to say to make her stay away. Esther wasn’t good at being devious like that. That was Ivy’s talent.
Esther ambled over to the soft chair where Levi was resting while Winnie played happily on his lap. She gave Levi a nudge, and he opened his eyes and caught his breath as if he’d had a sudden shock. His arm tightened around Winnie. “I’m awake. I’m awake,” he said, running his hand across his eyes and smiling like a boy who’s just been caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar.
She laughed. “Have an early morning?”
“Just as early as usual, but I had to wrestle my circular saw away from a very stubborn Amish woman earlier today. It took all the energy out of me.”
“There was no need to wrestle that saw away. You should have shown me how to use it.”
“You’re not using my saw. I told you, I’ll cut. You can pop out the old floor sections with the sledgehammer.”
She glared at him. “I can’t even lift the sledgehammer.”
“Hmm. Too bad.” He patted Winnie’s head and closed the book. “That was a short call—or have I been asleep longer than I thought?”
“I tried six times. Ivy didn’t answer.”
He studied her face. “I’m sorry.”
She shook her head. “I shouldn’t admit it, but I’m froh. Now I don’t have to figure out what to say.”
“I’m just glad she didn’t catch a glimpse of me in the background. We don’t know what could have happened.”
She rolled her eyes. “For sure and certain, there would have been trouble.”
Levi laid the book on the table next to his chair and stood up with Winnie in his arms. “Should we go, then?”
“Not yet,” Esther said. “Now that we’re here, I want to show you something on the computer.”
“Show me what?”
“It’s about time you learned what a famous person your mammi is. We’re going to look at her quilting website.”
Chapter Six
Mammi was the dearest soul in the world, but she was completely incapable of leaving the house on time for any occasion, even when the family went to church. Levi sat in the buggy waiting for her to find her bag and her bonnet and her glasses. She had come out once, then had to go back into the house for a pot of soup she’d made for Esther. After another ten minutes, she finally bustled out the side door and settled herself into the buggy. “Sorry that took so long. I realized I hadn’t put any onions in the soup, so I chopped some right quick. Soup just isn’t soup without onions.”
Levi forced a smile. He’d been sitting out here for ten minutes while Mammi chopped onions? Ach, vell. He’d learned many years ago that with Mammi, patience was not only a virtue, but a necessity. He should start keeping a book in his buggy for times when Mammi decided she just needed to run into the house to bake up some cookies for a sick neighbor. “That’s okay, Mammi. I’m just froh to be driving a famous person around town in my buggy.”
Mammi made that little noise she always made when she thought you were being frivolous. It was something halfway between a grunt and a squeak. “Famous person? What famous person?”
“Esther showed me your quilting blog on the computer. She says people all over the world have seen your quilts.”
That little squeak again. “My quilts are famous. No one knows me from Adam.”
“Or Eve,” Levi said.
“Eve?”
“If someone met you and Adam on the street, they’d know you from Adam because he was a man.”
Mammi laughed, and her shoulders shook and her eyes all but disappeared into slits on her face. Levi liked that when Mammi laughed, she did it with her whole heart and her whole body. She’d told Levi that was what cancer did to you. It taught you to enjoy every minute of your life because none of it was disposable. “So Esther showed you my website. That was nice of her.”
“It’s wonderful gute, Mammi. The photos and the instructions and the comments from women who like your designs.”
“I mostly make the quilts. Allison does all the computer stuff.”
“Esther showed me your watercolor qu
ilt. She wants to do something like that on the bathroom floor. It will take too much time, but it will be pretty when she’s done. Or when I’m done.” He’d almost let slip the secret that Esther was the one fixing up the bathroom.
“Esther is truly an artist. She’s already a better quilter than I’ll ever be. For sure and certain, there will never be a nicer bathroom floor.” She glanced at Levi and smiled. “This is the first time you’ve shown any interest in my quilts.”
“It’s not that I wasn’t interested. It’s just that I wasn’t aware.”
“That describes just about every boy your age, so I don’t see as it’s anything to be ashamed of,” Mammi said.
Levi chuckled. “Me neither, but I’m froh Esther showed me. Now I’m not so unaware.”
Mammi’s eyes sparkled. “Esther’s a dear girl. Very thoughtful.”
Levi nodded. “She takes very gute care of Winnie, even though she doesn’t know much about babies.”
“What she doesn’t know, she’s eager to learn.”
Mammi was a keen observer, and she was right. Anything Esther didn’t know, she was willing to learn. Levi loved that about her. She wasn’t content to just do the best she could with Winnie. She checked out parenting books from the library, asked Levi lots of questions, and practiced over and over again. And with the way Winnie went through diapers, Esther got a lot of practice. Esther didn’t seem embarrassed to ask a twenty-four-year-old boy about feeding or naptime, and she acted as if she sincerely thought he knew what he was talking about. With the bathroom project, she was even more attentive to his instructions. She absorbed information and was grateful for it, grateful to him. He was always glad he could be of help. “Esther is smart as a whip too. We measured the bathroom floor, and she calculated in her head how many square feet of particleboard I’d need. And when I brought her tiles for the floor, she said, ‘I need two more of this gray four-inch tile,’ without even having to lay it out first. She has a head for numbers.”
Mammi seemed pleased. “Esther has too many talents to count. I’m froh you’ve noticed.” She adjusted the kapp over her short hair. The kapp must have been harder to keep in place now that she couldn’t anchor it to her bun. “What a nice day for an outing.”
Levi cocked his eyebrow. “An outing? Since when did this turn into an outing? I thought you wanted me to take you to inspect the progress on Esther’s bathroom.”
Mammi grinned and shrugged. “Who says a bathroom inspection can’t be an outing? Maybe after I look at the bathroom, we can have a picnic on Esther’s lawn.”
Levi pressed his lips together to mask any emotion that might betray him. He’d like nothing better than to have a picnic with Esther and Winnie, but he was trying to be practical, and spending more time with either of them wasn’t a gute idea. Depending on how quickly Esther laid the tile, the bathroom would be finished in another month or two, and Levi was already too attached to Winnie. What would he do when he didn’t see her every week? Esther needed him. She was up to her neck in diapers and bottles and jars of baby food. What would she do without Levi to help her?
Levi could tell that Esther really enjoyed the time he spent at her house. He played with Winnie in the hall outside the bathroom while Esther installed the subfloor, and they talked and laughed. He loved how he could talk to Esther about anything—his group of friends, his plans for improving his father’s business, his frustration at his younger brother. She always listened and never offered unwanted advice. He loved her determination to remodel her own bathroom and even her stubbornness when she wanted to use a tool he refused to let her touch. He liked how she carefully followed directions and was cautious with the power tools. He liked how she could make him laugh without even trying. It was going to leave a big hole in Esther’s life when he finished the bathroom and didn’t come around anymore.
A very big hole.
“I don’t know if I’ll have time for a picnic, Mammi.”
“Oh, stuff and nonsense. Of course you have time. What’s so important you can’t stay and eat lunch? You can spend an hour for lunch.”
“One less hour to work on the bathroom,” he said.
“And that’s another thing. That bathroom isn’t that big. Why haven’t you finished it yet?”
Levi wasn’t about to tell Mammi that the work went slower because Esther was doing most of it. Esther did quality work and she was thorough, but she was just learning, so of course she’d take her time. “It’s harder with the baby. Winnie likes me to hold her, and she’s so cute, I can’t resist.”
Mammi seemed satisfied with that answer. “You always did love babies. I’ve told Hannah a dozen times how blessed she is to have you as her eldest. You’ve been a great help to her, and you’re a great help to Esther. Denki.”
“It is my pleasure,” Levi said, and he meant it. He was enchanted with Winnie, and Esther surprised him every minute. He wasn’t sure how he’d managed to have any fun in his life before he’d met Esther. That was why it was going to be so hard when he finished the bathroom. That was why he needed to start distancing himself from Winnie and Esther and start thinking about finding a fraa in Ohio. He couldn’t be Esther’s friend forever.
Levi pulled the buggy in front of Esther’s house and jumped out. He carried Mammi’s pot of soup, and Mammi carried the bag of fabric scraps that she took everywhere. She said the fabric was in case she needed to match something, but it seemed to Levi that she’d only need to match something if she was at the fabric store. He couldn’t see the sense of carrying the bag everywhere. But if it made Mammi feel more secure, he didn’t see any harm in her carrying a bag of fabric to Esther’s house or to pickleball or even to church. Maybe a quilter like Mammi just felt happier having her fabric with her at all times. It was much like Levi and his crescent wrench. He would have liked to take it everywhere with him, but it might look odd if he started carrying a toolbox to gmay.
He knocked softly on Esther’s door because it was Winnie’s naptime. When Esther didn’t answer, Levi opened the door and walked into the house. Mammi cocked her head and raised her eyebrows. “Esther doesn’t mind if you let yourself in?”
Winnie’s room was immediately to the left. Levi pointed to her door and whispered. “Sometimes she’s got her hands full with the baby or a quilt. I usually just knock and then walk in.”
“But Esther wouldn’t like it if just anybody strolled into her house,” Mammi said, lowering her voice.
“For sure and certain she wouldn’t. But she doesn’t care if I come in.”
Mammi nodded as if she’d just learned how to spell “chrysanthemum,” as if she thought she was pretty smart. “I see.”
Levi frowned at her. “It’s not rude if Esther says it’s okay.”
Mammi seemed about ready to laugh. “Ach, I never said it was.”
The quilt set on frames in the front room was made of small rectangles in many different shades of purple. When Levi squinted at the quilt, the pattern seemed to move and swirl before his eyes. It was a trick Esther had taught him. He was starting to appreciate what a talent quilt making was, and Esther was wonderful gute at it.
They tiptoed into the kitchen, but Esther wasn’t there. Levi set the pot of soup on the stove. Mammi drew her brows together and pointed down the hall. Someone was in the new bathroom sniffling and whimpering softly. Levi didn’t like the sound of that. He strode down the hall with Mammi close behind him. Esther sat on the new subfloor with her face buried in her hands and a full roll of toilet paper at her feet. A piece of red licorice was tucked behind her ear.
Levi’s heart fell to his toes. He’d seen Esther ferociously mad often enough. The anger never bothered him. But her sadness absolutely tore him apart. He knelt down next to her and laid his hand on her arm. “Esther? What’s the matter? How can I help?”
A tiny sob escaped her lips, and she turned her face away from him. “Oh, sis yuscht. I was going to be done before you got here.”
“Can we help?” Mammi sa
id, pressing her fingers to Levi’s shoulder.
“I’m a terrible mother,” Esther said, with a mournful note to her voice. “I’m just a terrible mother.”
Levi grabbed her hand. “That’s a big lie. You’re a wunderbarr mater. Winnie loves you.”
Esther unrolled a long strand of toilet paper and dabbed at her eyes. “I tried to clip her fingernails this morning, and I cut her pinky finger. She started to bleed, and I don’t have a single Band-Aid in the house. What kind of mother doesn’t have a supply of Band-Aids? She looked at me like I’d betrayed her.”
“It’s for sure she doesn’t think you’ve betrayed her,” Levi said, trying not to smile. Now that he was assured Esther wasn’t seriously injured or someone hadn’t died, he felt a thousand times better.
“I didn’t have a Band-Aid, so she got blood on her dress, and I had to put her to bed in just a diaper, because there isn’t one clean outfit in her drawer, and now there’s blood on her sheets.”
“A lot of blood?” Levi said doubtfully. Just how badly had Winnie been cut?
“Two spots,” Esther said, “but nobody likes blood on their sheets. And when am I supposed to do laundry? If I’m not taking care of Winnie, I’m washing dishes or mopping the floor or trying to work on a quilt. I thought I could wash some clothes when I put her down for a nap, but all her dirty clothes are in the basket in her room and I’ll wake her if I go in to fetch them. When I realized I had time to do the laundry but the clothes were out of reach, I sort of fell apart.”
She couldn’t have been comfortable on that unfinished bathroom floor. “Cum,” Levi said. He slid one arm under her knees and the other around her back and lifted her off the floor. Instead of resisting, she slipped her arms around his neck and sort of melted into his embrace as he carried her to the kitchen and set her down in a chair. Mammi followed with the toilet paper, which she gave to Levi as soon as his hands were free. He unrolled another long piece and handed it to Esther. She took it gratefully and blew her nose.
The Amish Quiltmaker's Unexpected Baby Page 9