“Jeff Mallory. Brandy’s oldest brother.”
“Ach, is there something wrong with Brandy?”
“Nope, but she insisted I drive by here on the way out of town to say goodbye. And show you her newborn.”
“Really? Oh, yes! I’d love to see her baby.”
Following Jeff, I traipsed across the parking lot to his sedan. Its engine was running. Brandy lowered her window for a minute and waved. “Hey, Eva! Come and meet little Eva.”
In a car seat in the back slept a precious baby swaddled in pink blankets. I rounded the car and got in the backseat to get a closer view.
“Ach, she’s perfectly beautiful.” Taking in her angelic features, I inhaled the sweet, unique fragrance only a baby could produce and yearned for one of my own. “But shouldn’t you two still be in the hospital?”
“The doctor says I must have gotten my dates mixed up because your namesake appears to have arrived exactly on time. I never was good at math or watching the calendar.”
“That’s a lame excuse for getting pregnant,” Jeff said. “Didn’t anyone ever teach you the facts of life?”
I ignored the siblings’ squabble. “You’re so beautiful,” I told my namesake. “I’ve never had a baby named after me. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am.” My hands naturally reached out to straighten her knit hat and fluff the blankets around her neck. More than anything, I wanted to rock my own baby in my arms. “I’d better not wake her up,” I said with hesitancy, because I was dying to. “She looks so peaceful.”
Brandy spoke to me over her shoulder. “She’s got a full tummy, so I hope she sleeps the whole way home. Maybe we can come back next month. Or you can visit us. Jake could drive you.”
“Where will you be living?” I asked.
“At our oldest sister’s,” Jeff said, buckling his seat belt. “Cindy’s been lamenting that her four kids—ages twelve to nineteen—are growing up too quickly. One’s away at college, leaving a spare bedroom. Their house is a rambler that goes on forever. Plenty of room and a built-in babysitter.”
“Cindy kept her crib and all her kids’ clothing for when she’s a grandma. She’s spending today getting everything ready for us.”
“She’s real excited,” Jeff said. “Says she can’t wait.”
I imagined Brandy’s little one crying in the middle of the night and wondered how long her enthusiasm would last.
“Is she married?”
“Oh, yeah,” Brandy said. “Her husband’s a big old teddy bear. He said he don’t mind. The more the merrier. He’ll go along with the program as long as his wife’s happy.”
I gave little Eva one last looking over. “Brandy, please keep in touch.” I dreaded shortening the visit, but I didn’t want the baby to get cold. And Jeff seemed ready to leave.
“Of course,” Brandy said.
“Please wait just a moment.” I got out, dashed into the retail store, and grabbed a piece of stationery and an envelope. Coming around to Brandy’s window I handed her the paper. “You can write me at this address. The café’s telephone number is printed on here too. And please do call me anytime.”
“Absolutely.”
“And send me a photo, okay?”
“I thought Amish can’t have photographs.”
“She’s not Amish, now is she?”
“No. I assure you, neither of her parents is Amish.”
I stood for a few minutes, watching them leave the parking lot. I wanted to help Brandy, but maybe I’d done all I could. I tried to recall the baby’s sweet scent, but already the aroma was being replaced by the exhaust of a nearby SUV, its back hatch full of shrubs.
When I returned to the café, the phone was ringing. Sadie swiped up the receiver and then held it out to me.
“A call for you, Evie. I think it’s Jake,” she whispered as she handed it to me.
“Did you see little Eva?” Jake asked me the instant I answered.
“Yes. She’s adorable.” I missed her already.
“The most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen,” he said. “But then we haven’t seen ours yet.”
“Ours? You mean yours and mine?”
“You don’t hope to marry Stephen, do you, Evie?”
“Nee, I suppose not.”
“Gut, because you and I should get married and start our own family immediately. I can’t wait. How about you?”
“Hold on. You mean get baptized first, don’t you?”
“I don’t want to wait six or more months the way Bishop Harvey insists. He isn’t even a bishop in my district. Let’s get married by a justice of the peace tonight and then get baptized later.” His voice was exuberant, full of self-assurance.
“Are you sure we can do that?” I’d never heard of it. And did I really want to embark on a merry-go-round marriage?
“Why not?” he asked.
“For one thing, I’m going to Bishop Harvey’s house for supper later today.”
“What? Are you pulling my leg?”
“Nee. He wants me to meet his family.”
“You know what that means, don’t you?” Jake sputtered. “He wants to court you. Right under my nose, that dear, kindly bishop is trying to steal you away.”
“I have no idea what he wants. I think his dochders talked him into the invitation.”
“But finally, we can be together. Forever. And live right here with my parents, who already love you like their own dochder.”
“I’ll think about it. But not this evening because I have other plans.”
“I forbid you to go.”
“Ha, that’s a laugh. You are not my husband, nor my minister, deacon, or bishop, and you have no say over how I spend my time or with whom.”
“But Harvey’s an old man. Probably too old to have or want more children. He’s a fine man, but no doubt set in his ways. And you’re too young to throw in the towel.”
I wasn’t going to make things easy for Jake anymore. I cupped my mouth with my hand. “Jake, if you really want to marry me so much, you’ll have to wait.”
“Please promise me you won’t commit yourself to Harvey or Stephen. I know you won’t because you don’t love either
