“You know you’re going to take one,” Levi said.
“Not if she never has them.”
“I suppose she felt she needs to wait her turn.”
Mims whirled around and eyed him carefully. “Why are you talking in riddles, Levi?”
He had wanted somebody to talk to, and now that he had her, he didn’t seem to be able to find the words. Where did he start?
“Tillie Gingerich was here.” It seemed as good a place as any to begin.
Mims drew back in surprise. “What?” Then she rushed toward him, grabbed his hand, and dragged him over to the sofa. “Sit,” she said. “Sit down and tell me everything.”
Chapter Nineteen
By Wednesday he could take it no longer. After he had explained the entire weekend to his sister, Mims had squealed, then clapped her hands together as if it was the best news that she had ever received.
He wasn’t discounting the fact that it was indeed wonderful news, for Tillie and her baby. But having them around for that couple of days . . . It was as if something had shifted inside him.
Monday after Tillie had left, he started to pick up all the little wayward pieces of her visit, all the reminders that there had been a baby in the house. He washed a load of clothes and then regretted it since it was so cold outside. The items would freeze before they got dry, but he hung them up anyway. Then he ate his solitary supper, washed dishes, and checked on Puddles.
The poor dog still hadn’t given birth to her puppies, and before he went to bed, he checked on her. He made sure she was warm and hoped that soon she would whelp. She looked so miserable.
Tuesday was given to a litter of eleven pups, six of which looked exactly like their mother, speckled and mottled as if someone had spilled bleach on a regular dog. Two were solid black, one was black with brown paws, and yet another was white with black dots. The last one had a white face with a black nose, or half-black anyway, and a little white tail with a black tip on the end. He didn’t ever recall seeing something like that. Usually the dog had a black tail with a white tip, and he figured if she made it through, he would keep that one for sure.
Puddles looked more than relieved to have had the puppies. Though they couldn’t all eat at the same time. The poor dog had more puppies than teats. But she seemed to make sure they all were fed, and none seemed to be in any kind of danger. The rest of Tuesday passed uneventfully. Mims had come by the day before, so she skipped Tuesday.
He walked to the edge of the road and checked the mail. He cleaned the horse stalls, milked the cow, fed the chickens, left food out for the stray cats that came by, and otherwise sat around and waited. For something. He felt as if he were biding his time. Until what?
He had no idea.
And by Wednesday he’d had all he could take. He wanted to go see Emmy and Tillie. He needed to get out. He had been in the house for days—something he never thought would’ve bothered him before. But for some reason, today it felt so confining. He needed to get out, but he was almost down the driveway when he realized he needed some sort of reason to go to see Tillie. And that was where he was going. But he couldn’t just show up on her doorstep.
Couldn’t he?
He was reluctant to, anyway. So he turned the buggy around and headed back to the house. Leaving the horse hitched, he loped back up the steps and was inside in a flash. He made his way to the baby’s room and looked around for things to take. He grabbed the last bag of diapers and the little yellow bunny that he had placed in the cradle for Emmy.
It was new, and he was certain Mary had bought it for their baby. But he didn’t need it. And he thought that it would perhaps bring a little joy into Emmy’s life. When she was big enough to realize what it was, anyway. Those items in hand, he hustled back out the door and hopped into his buggy once more.
The weather had warmed up just enough that the road graders had gotten out and smoothed over some of the damage caused by the ice storm. Even so, it was slow going. Or maybe it just felt that way because he was anxious.
As he rode along, he bounced one foot even faster than the clip of the horse’s hooves. He wasn’t sure why he was so nervous. He just was. Surely he had cause to call on her today. Not just Emmy, but Tillie too. He wanted to make sure that they were okay, that they had settled in, that no other complications had arisen after she gotten back to her parents’ house.
And a part of him wanted to know how Melvin had taken the news.
Levi knew in his heart that it was no business of his, but it still plagued him.
Maybe because he knew what was at stake. Because if Melvin didn’t come back and live an Amish life, kneel before the congregation, and confess his sins, Tillie would be forced to leave as well. For some reason it just didn’t sound right to him. Nor did the thought of her marrying Melvin. But it was really none of his concern. And yet somehow he felt that it was. Maybe because he helped bring little Emmy into the world. He’d been there, and perhaps it should have been Melvin, even if the thought made his stomach plummet to the ground.
It was slow going down the hill on the road that led to the little valley where the Gingeriches lived. Their road hadn’t been traveled much since the storm
