A VOW for ALWAYS (3 page)

Sadie’s forehead wrinkled. “You ought to call on Elam more, instead of asking Jonah.
I’m sure he’s got lots to do at the buggy shop.”

“Speaking of Elam, where is he right now?” Meredith asked.

“He had a dental appointment this morning. When he’s done there, he has some errands
to run.”

“Oh, I see.” Meredith sat quietly for a moment. Then she looked at Sadie and said,
“I was wondering if you’d be willing to watch Levi while I run a few errands and take
care of some business this morning.”

Surprised by the offer, Sadie nodded agreeably. “I’d be happy to do that. By the time
you get back, Elam might be here, and we can all have lunch together.”

“That’d be nice.” Meredith handed Levi to Sadie; then she reached into his diaper
bag and took out a bottle. “I just fed him before we left home, but if he gets hungry
before I return, you can feed him this bottle I’ve filled with breast milk.”

“I can certainly do that.” Sadie looked forward to the time she’d have with her grandson.
“You can put it in the refrigerator for now, and I’ll heat it up if he gets fussy.”

“Danki,”
Meredith said as she started for the kitchen. “I shouldn’t be gone more than a few
hours.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind me taking today off?” Jonah asked as he and Dad mucked
out the horse stalls. It had been two weeks since Dad had been bitten by the black
widow, and he’d been back working in the buggy shop for the last week.

“ ’Course I don’t mind. We agreed some time ago that Mondays would be your day off,
so if you’ve made plans for the day, just do ’em.”

Jonah smiled. He’d been courting Meredith, and even though they’d gone for a couple
of buggy rides and done a few other things together, he didn’t see nearly as much
of her as he’d like. Today, however, before he went to see Meredith, Jonah wanted
to pay a call on Sadie and Elam, hoping he might win them over. He planned to do that
as soon as he finished up in the barn.

“Anything new on that house you wanted to buy?” Dad asked, pulling Jonah’s thoughts
aside.

Jonah shook his head. “I made an offer on the place, but they won’t come down to a
fair asking price, so I decided to give up on it and look for another home.”

“That’s probably for the best,” Dad said. “It wouldn’t be good for you to overextend
yourself.”

“I’ll just keep looking, and when the time is right, I’m sure the house I want will
be there.”

“Wa-a-a! Wa-a-a!”

Sadie paced the floor, patting Levi’s back, trying to get him to burp. She’d fed him
awhile ago, but he still hadn’t burped. All he’d done was scream. She was beginning
to wish Meredith hadn’t left Levi with her today. It had been some time since she’d
had a baby to take care of, so maybe she wasn’t up to the challenge.

Sadie continued to pace, while patting Levi’s back. “Come on, little fellow, give
me a burp.”

“Wa-a-a! Wa-a-a! Wa-a-a!”
Levi cried even harder, setting Sadie’s teeth on edge, until she thought she might
scream herself.
I wonder if a walk around the yard might do us both some good
. Sadie went to get her shawl before she wrapped Levi in his blanket.

A knock came from the front door.

Draping her shawl over the back of the chair and keeping a tight grip on the screaming
baby, Sadie opened the door. Jonah Miller stood on the porch with his straw hat in
his hand.

“I’d like to speak with you,” Jonah said.

Sadie frowned. “This isn’t a good time. I’m babysitting Levi, and as I’m sure you
can tell, he’s fussy right now.”

“What seems to be the problem?” Jonah asked.

Walking out to the porch, where the air was nice and crisp, and wrapping the blanket
tighter around her restless grandson, Sadie hoped the change might help calm him down.
“I fed him awhile ago, and he’s been crying ever since,” she explained.

“Maybe he needs to burp.”

“Of course he does. For the last twenty minutes I’ve been trying to get him to do
that,” Sadie said with a huff as she continued to pat Levi’s back.

“Babies don’t always need to be patted in order for them to burp,” Jonah said. “They
need to be relaxed.”

Sadie ground her teeth together. Who did Jonah think he was, trying to tell her how
to burp the baby?

“Want me to try?” he asked, plunking his hat back on his head and extending his arms.

She shook her head.

“My twin sister has little ones, so I’ve had some experience burping
bopplin.”

“And I’ve raised my own
kinner
, so I’ve had more experience than you,” Sadie answered, feeling more than a little
miffed.

“I’d like to try.”

Seeing the determined set of Jonah’s jaw, Sadie finally nodded. Maybe once he saw
that he couldn’t get Levi to burp or stop crying, he’d give up and leave. She opened
the screen door and led the way to the living room then handed Jonah the baby.

Jonah took a seat in the rocker and used one hand to hold Levi so that his backside
was supported, almost like a seat. He held the little guy’s head with the other hand,
tipped him slightly forward, and gently lifted him up and down in a slow bounce.

A few seconds later, Levi stopped crying and let out a loud burp!

Jonah looked over at Sadie and grinned. “Works nearly every time.”

Sadie couldn’t believe how easily Jonah had done what she couldn’t do with all her
patting of the baby’s back. She was also amazed at how relaxed Jonah seemed to be
holding the baby as he gently rocked him. He obviously did have some experience with
babies. She forced a smile and said, “Danki for getting him calmed down.”

“You’re welcome.” Jonah cleared his throat. “Is Meredith here?”

Sadie shook her head. “She had some errands to run, so she left Levi with me. Elam’s
not here either,” she quickly added.

“I’d like to talk to you about something,” he said, stroking the top of Levi’s blond
head.

“What’s that?”

“It’s about me and Meredith.”

Sadie grunted. “I know the two of you are courting, if that’s what you came to say.”

“That’s right, and we’d like your and Elam’s blessing.”

Sadie stared at the floor, unable to form any words. She had a hunch from the way
Jonah handled the baby that he’d make a good father. From the things Meredith had
told her, she knew Jonah was kind and helpful, but could she accept it if he and Meredith
got married?

“I’m very fond of Meredith,” Jonah said. “And this little fellow, too.” He put Levi
over his shoulder and gently patted his back. “But I want you to know that I’m not
trying to take your son’s place. I know Luke will always hold a spot in Meredith’s
heart that I’ll probably never be able to fill, but I will always be good to her and
the boppli.”

Tears welled in Sadie’s eyes. “Are you hoping to marry Meredith?”

Jonah gave a nod. “When the time is right; if she’ll have me, that is.”

“Will you stay here in Lancaster County or move back to Ohio?”

“I have no plans of living anywhere but here,” Jonah answered. “My folks are here,
and I’m happy working for my daed in the buggy shop.”

“If you married Meredith, would we still be able to see Levi?” she dared to ask.

“Of course. I’d want him to spend time with all of his grandparents.”

Sadie sighed as a sense of relief flooded over her. “You have my blessing to court
Meredith, and I’m sure Elam feels the same way.”

Darby

“It won’t be long and we’ll be done with this project,” Henry said as he and Luke
sat at the picnic table, putting the finishing touches on the birdhouses they’d been
making for the church bazaar.

“It’s been fun working on them,” Luke said, adding a bit more red paint to the birdhouse
he’d made to look like an old barn.

Henry smiled. “You’ve done a great job with that. If I were to hazard a guess, I’d
say you’ve done some carpentry work in the past.”

Luke’s jaw clenched as he tried to recall what he had done in the past. Nothing came
to mind. Nothing at all. Then a thought popped unexpectedly into his head. “Someone
told me once that whenever we do anything, we should make sure we do it well.”

Henry set his paintbrush aside and looked at Luke with a curious expression. “Who
told you that, son?”

Luke shrugged. “I don’t know. Just remember hearing it from someone before.”

Henry clasped Luke’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “See now, Luke, you’ve just remembered
one more thing from your past. That’s a real good sign.”

Luke started painting again. He longed for Henry to be right but didn’t want to get
his hopes up, only to be disappointed in the end.

“Look over there,” Henry said, pointing across the yard.

Luke followed Henry’s gaze and spotted a lazy possum ambling out from behind the woodshed
and waddling away. “It’s fun to watch nature,” he said as a cardinal flew out of the
maple tree and landed on one of the birdbaths.

“I agree. Norma and I both enjoy watching the birds in our yard, any season of the
year.” Henry pointed to the birdbath. “That one I keep heated during the winter months
so the birds have fresh water to drink. You’d be surprised how many birds flock to
that heated birdbath.” He chuckled. “On really cold days, the steam comes up from
the water and makes it look like a hot tub.”

Luke laughed, too. He could almost picture the birds sitting around the birdbath as
the steam lifted into the air. It made him think about the hot tub he’d used during
therapy at the hospital and how good it had felt on his sore muscles. “Do the birds
actually get in the warm water during the winter?” he questioned.

Henry shook his head. “Not to my knowledge, but they do sit on the rim and drink.
Guess you could say Norma and I like to spoil our feathered friends.”

“That’s nice. Staying connected to nature is what sometimes kept me going while I
was in the hospital. That, and the support of your granddaughters, of course.”

“They’re wonderful girls.” Henry grinned. “Guess it’s better to say, young women,
since they aren’t really girls anymore. But then to me and Norma, Susan and Anne will
always be our special girls.”

Luke was tempted to tell Henry how fond he was of his granddaughters—especially Susan.
Just then the back door opened, and Norma stepped out, interrupting their conversation.

“I brought a few nibblies to tide you over until lunch,” she said, placing a tray
of fruit and vegetables on the picnic table.

“They look good.” Henry smiled at his wife.

“There’s also a small bowl of vegetable dip, if you want to pep it up a little,” Norma
said, taking a seat beside the men. “Oh, and I brought a jug of warm apple cider,
too.”

Henry smacked his lips. “There’s nothin’ like hot apple cider on a chilly fall day.”

Norma pulled her jacket a little tighter around her neck. “It probably won’t be long
before we see some snow flurries.” She smiled at Luke. “I really get into the Christmas
spirit when there’s snow on the ground.”

“Maybe it’ll snow on Thanksgiving, like it did last year,” Henry chimed in. “But then
I guess we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. Let’s just enjoy the beautiful autumn
colors ’cause they won’t be here much longer.”