It was to him. He wasn’t sure what the police would think about it. But he handed the phone back to Owen and waited for him to get it ready for the next call.
He took a sip of his coffee and tried to figure out what he would say to the police, but he was saved the trouble when Owen took the matter into his own hands.
“This is Owen Carson,” he said into the phone. “I’m calling for my Amish neighbor.” He went on to explain the situation as Levi took the time to warm up for the walk back home.
“So you’ll send someone out there to let them know?” Owen asked. “Good. Good.”
Levi gave him the address, which Owen in turn gave to the dispatch person at the police department.
Owen hung up the phone with a satisfied nod. “There. All taken care of.” Then he smiled at Levi. “A baby, huh?”
Levi nodded as a lump filled his throat. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined having a newborn in his house. Not after losing Mary. “It’s something to see,” Levi said, a little surprised at his own words.
“Wait till I tell Wanda.”
Owen’s wife walked daily due to a bad heart. It was nothing to see her on the road at all hours regardless of the weather. Like today. Chilly and icy and she was out walking for her health.
“Maybe y’all can walk over and visit. I think we’re going to be in for another day or so.”
Owen looked out the kitchen window at the ice that still covered everything. “You know, I think you’re right.”
* * *
Levi drank a second cup of coffee, thanked Owen for his help, then begged his leave. He trudged back through the icy field, waving at a bundled-up Wanda as he passed her. Despite the weather, despite being iced in, his heart felt lighter than it had in a long, long while. The funny thing was he hadn’t realized how much his heart was weighing him down until the heaviness had been lifted.
And he could only attribute the change to Tillie and Emmy—mostly to the child. The baby represented everything he had thought he had lost, and though she in no way belonged to him, he felt a strong kinship to her.
You’re losing it.
That’s what Mims would say. “Projection” or something like that. She would tell him that he was taking the feelings he had for Mary and their child and pushing them off onto Tillie and her baby. Which was ridiculous. He hadn’t known them that long. He didn’t love Tillie the way he loved Mary, and it wasn’t possible after only one day he would feel that strongly toward a child who wasn’t his. Strong enough to love it as if it were his own. That sort of bond came with time.
Time.
He pushed the word away and stuffed his hands a little deeper into his pockets. He was being melodramatic. He supposed that was what happened when a person had someone like Mims for a sibling. Or maybe it was that combined with being somewhat stranded and in a situation that he had never expected.
Perhaps.
He just knew that something had shifted for him. Not a lot, but enough. Every time he gave Tillie something else for her baby, it shifted a bit more. He found more joy, a lighter spirit, and he was starting to like it.
Mary, forgive me, he prayed. But he knew that she did. His wife was nothing if not a sweet, kind, and loving person. She had a heart as big as everything, and forgiveness was second nature to her.
Plus it wasn’t like his being stranded for a day or so with Tillie Gingerich was going to change anything for him. Not really. But for now he felt better about it all, and that was worth more to him than gold.
* * *
Tillie eased up from her seat in front of the window the moment she caught sight of Levi. She bustled into the kitchen as fast as she could and returned with the pot of coffee she had been heating on the stove. She wanted to give him something warm to drink the minute he walked in the door. It was cold outside and seemed to be getting colder.
But it was toasty in the house. The fire crackled merrily in the fireplace, Emmy slept peacefully in the fabric chair contraption that Levi had offered, and Puddles in all her round, spotted glory was lying on her bed next to the potbellied stove in the kitchen.
All the scene needed was the head of the household to come home.
The door swung open and there he was.
Like a husband coming home. But it wasn’t her home and he wasn’t her husband. Not the father of her baby. He was just a man who had helped her in her time of need. She needed to get ahold of this fantasy before she made a mess of things.
“Did you get in touch with Leah?” Tillie asked. She poured him a cup of coffee and offered it to him the moment he pulled his coat off.
But he shook his head. “I’ve already had four cups today. Any more and I won’t be able to sleep tonight.” He chuckled, and she could tell that he meant no harm by his words, but somehow she was secretly crushed. He had ruined her little fantasy.
She supposed it was for the best.
Levi hung his coat and hat by the door and removed his ice-covered boots before padding in his sock feet over to the fireplace. “I left a message for Leah at the store number,” he said.
“That’s good. I suppose the store isn’t open today due to the weather.”
He nodded. “I suppose you’re right. And I called the police.”
“The police?” She was more than shocked.
“Jah. It was Owen’s idea. He’s my neighbor. He thought they might be able to stop by and let your folks know where you are. And that you’re safe.”
“That’s a good idea.”
