Noelle’s gaze fell back on Greta. What was it about a baby—any baby—that was so magnetizing? She leaned down and brushed her nose over the top of Greta’s head. She smelled of baby shampoo and lotion. Noelle sat up straight again and leaned back against the chair, drawing the baby closer.
When Greta had finished eating, Noelle burped her and then settled her on her lap. The weight of the baby planted her firmly in the present. For the first time since she saw Jesse in the market, her thoughts weren’t flitting to the past.
But then Noelle heard footsteps on the back porch. Jesse stepped into the kitchen, his hat in his hand, and froze when his gaze fell on Noelle and Greta.
CHAPTER SIX
When the baby saw Jesse, she giggled and then reached out to him.
“Just a minute, Boppli,” he said and then retreated to the mudroom.
Greta began to fuss. As much as Noelle wanted to pass her off to someone else, she didn’t want to make a scene. Instead, she began rocking again, which calmed Greta. But when Jesse reentered the kitchen, without his hat and coat, the baby began to cry.
Noelle stood, balancing the baby in her arms as she did, and nodded toward the rocking chair as she met Jesse’s gaze. “She wants you.”
Jesse smiled as he approached. “Denki for feeding her.” He gently scooped the baby, along with her bottle, from Noelle. The sensation of his touch against her arms sent a shiver down Noelle’s spine. She ducked her head, but then, as he settled down in the rocker with the baby, her gaze couldn’t help but return to him.
He was a natural when it came to the little one. Noelle always knew Jesse King would be a good father.
As Noelle tried not to stare, a group of the men came into the kitchen, ready to go. Their wives thanked Barbara, and then one by one, the group left.
Dat and Ben, however, stayed in the living room.
Greta was now “standing” on Jesse’s lap, tugging on his lower lip. He’d laugh and then she’d giggle. Then she began pulling on his beard.
When Barbara slipped into the living room, Jesse turned the baby around and sat her down on his lap. He splayed his fingers out for her to play with. It was obvious he spent a lot of time with her.
Jesse met Noelle’s gaze. “How’s your Dat?”
She looked away. “Better.” She could feel his eyes on her.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about our conversation last Sunday.”
Noelle held her breath. If she didn’t respond, would he stop talking?
Apparently not. “I really did hear you were done with me, that you didn’t want me to come home.”
“I never said that.” Noelle raised her head. “Who would have told you that?”
“Actually,” Jesse said as Barbara came back into the room, “Aenti did.”
“What did I do?” Barbara stopped in the middle of the kitchen, a smile on her face.
Jesse sighed. “I’m putting you on the spot.”
Barbara put her hand on her hip, a smile still on her face. “I don’t mind.”
“You told me Noelle was done with me,” Jesse said, “when I was in Montana.”
She nodded her head. “Jah, I did tell you that. Everyone knew it.”
Everyone? Noelle’s heart nearly stopped. She took a raggedy breath and looked at Barbara. “Who told you that’s what I’d said?”
Barbara tilted her head. “I’m not sure.” She shrugged. “It was common knowledge, I think.” She continued to the stove, grabbed the coffeepot, and then headed back into the living room.
Noelle struggled to breathe. This so-called common knowledge had ended Noelle’s life as she’d known it and changed her future forever.
Jesse, his face pale, leaned toward her. “See?”
Noelle bristled. “If that’s what you were told, why didn’t you write?”
A pained expression passed over Jesse’s face.
“Or call? You had to suspect that what your Aenti said could be gossip.”
He shook his head. “I did write.”
“I don’t believe you,” she said.
He shook his head a little. “Well, then it doesn’t really matter, does it? You were so mad the last time I saw you before I left that I believed what I was told.”
“My Mamm had just had a stroke, and you decided to go to Montana anyway. Of course I was mad.”
“Jah, but you didn’t do anything to make me think you wanted me to come back.”
Noelle’s head begin to spin. It all made sense now. She’d just assumed that the girls in Montana were a lot more fun than she was. And he used what Barbara had told him to justify going forward with his life—without Noelle.
She managed to stand, make her way into the living room, and quietly tell Dat they needed to go home. She couldn’t spend another minute with Jesse King.
More snow fell Sunday night, and on Monday, after breakfast, Noelle had to shovel her way to the phone shed to call the cardiologist, a Dr. Chris Morrison. She was able to get an appointment for Dat the next Tuesday, so she called Pamela and arranged for a ride. Then she did the laundry in the old wringer washer they’d brought from the Dawdi Haus and hung it out on the line that ran on a pulley from the back porch to the pole in the yard.
When Dat settled down for a nap, Noelle headed toward Salome’s with the casserole pan for LuAnne and the money from the Christmas Market sales from the week before, including what Holly had given her. Salome did all of the bookkeeping and would need to make the deposits, then she’d pay Noelle her percentage from the business.
When Noelle arrived at the Dawdi Haus, her heart swelled a little. Would it always feel like home to her? It was where she’d grown up. Where Jesse had courted her. Where she’d nursed her own broken heart. There were so many memories wrapped up here.
Was the end of their relationship truly
