Minding The Amish Baby

“As true as that may be, Englischers don’t think the same way we do about, er, romantic relationships and courting, so you probably shouldn’t give your address to them.”

“I didn’t give my address to Jeremy!” she protested. “His sister has given me a ride home before so she might have told him where I live, but I certainly didn’t invite him here! I’d never do such a thing!”

Her adamant objection made it clear to Turner he was mistaken to think she would have been so naïve. Wanting her to know he’d stand behind her if Jeremy showed up again, Turner said, “That’s gut.But he’ll have to answer to me if he kummes here again without an invitation.”

“He won’t,” Tessa firmly assured him, her chin in the air.

Turner got the sense she was offended, but once again he didn’t know why. After saying good-night, he tromped back to the house. To his relief, Mercy was still sleeping soundly, which was exactly what he wanted to do. But when he got into bed, sleep escaped him. All he could think about was whether Jacqueline had been drawn into the Englisch world by a boy who promised he wanted only a single date and if she didn’t like him, he’d never ask for another thing.

Then Turner questioned if he really came across as disagreeable as Tessa suggested. She had a lot of nerve, didn’t she? Perhaps if she bore even a fraction of the kind of concerns and responsibilities he had, she wouldn’t be so quick to judge. Or maybe if Turner were a younger man with little to worry about except which Willow Creek maedel he should court, he’d walk around wearing a ridiculous grin on his face.

Ah well, there was no sense dwelling on how his life might have turned out if he hadn’t had to raise his siblings. He pulled the quilt to his chin and shut his eyes so he wouldn’t be “a very grouchy person” come morning.

Chapter Three (#u93ad7e61-28ec-5f05-bfc2-d03ac9f04158)

Tessa was glad to be working at Schrock’s Shop on Saturday instead of caring for Mercy, because she was peeved at Turner for assuming she’d told Jeremy where she lived. As if she would ever—quite literally—flirt with the Englisch world! Turner was worse than her parents, to suspect her of such a thing.

How hypocritical could he be, anyway? He was the one who’d had a baby delivered to his house by an Englischer, yet from the very start, she’d put every presumptuous, judgmental or otherwise nosy speculation out of her mind. She hadn’t breathed a single meddlesome word to Turner about Mercy’s mother and his relationship with her. But did he extend the same courtesy to her about her “relationship” with Jeremy? No. He’d made a snap judgment based on superficial circumstances.

Yes, it was better she put a little distance between her and Turner, lest she give him a piece of her mind.

Besides, after two additional days of speaking to no one except Mercy, Tessa was relieved to be back in the shop among other adults again. Entering the gallery, she inhaled the scent of homemade candles, soaps and dried-flower wreaths. The large shop also showcased furniture, toys, quilts and other specialty items made by the Amish leit in Willow Creek. She relished the experience of helping tourists select their purchases. Although a few customers over the years had been impatient or even rude when speaking with her, the vast majority were respectful. If they asked questions about her Amish lifestyle that she considered too intrusive, she was skilled at refocusing the discussion to the products at hand.

The shop’s reputation for delivering high-quality goods attracted local Englisch customers as well as tourists, some of whom she knew by sight and vice versa, and they were always pleased to chat with each other. Tessa couldn’t imagine ever enjoying a job as much as she enjoyed working in the shop.

Saturday morning was especially busy and she relished being in the midst of the hubbub. During a momentary lull in ringing up sales, Joseph mentioned, “If business keeps up like this, I’ll need you back full time sooner than I anticipated.”

Tessa smiled at Joseph as she handed him a roll of receipt tape, but her mind was racing. What would she do about her commitment to care for Mercy if business soared and Joseph really did need her back sooner than expected? If he asked her to clerk more hours, she couldn’t turn him down, not without offering a good reason. Obviously, she’d never tell Joseph about caring for the baby, but what would Turner do without her help? As galled as she’d been by his comments the previous night, she didn’t have any intention of leaving him to manage Mercy on his own—for Mercy’s sake, as much as for his. Tessa recognized she was probably being sentimental, but it didn’t seem fair to break her budding connection with the baby, especially since Mercy had been left by her own mother once already.

For the rest of the morning she fretted about Joseph’s offhand remark becoming a reality. It would be wrong to wish sales wouldn’t increase at the shop, but she couldn’t think of how else she’d avoid returning to work full time. Finally, after being so distracted she rang up a purchase incorrectly three times, Tessa reminded herself the Lord knew all of their needs—hers, Joseph’s, Mercy’s and Turner’s—and He would provide for those needs according to His sovereign providence and grace. During her lunch break, she retreated to a quiet area in the back room to pray, which alleviated her anxiety.

Her lunch consisted of an apple and a piece of bread thinly smeared with peanut butter, which she swallowed quickly, hoping to use the rest of her break time to purchase groceries at the market a few doors down on Main Street, since she hadn’t had an opportunity to shop during the week. But as she headed through the gallery to the main exit, she noted a distraught young Englisch woman carrying a crying baby against her shoulder as she perused the merchandise in the soaps-and-salves aisle. Tessa recognized the woman from her previous visits.

“Shh, shh,” the woman pleaded as the baby’s volume increased. “Mommy only needs a few minutes and then we can go.”

“Hi there, Aiden,” Tessa addressed the baby, causing the woman to spin to face her. Tessa greeted her. “Hello, Gabby. Is there something I can help you find?”

“Hi, Tessa! I’m looking for goat’s milk soap—the scentless kind. My husband has allergies so he can’t use anything else, and Schrock’s is the only place that carries it.”

“It’s on the middle shelf. Here,” Tessa replied, reaching for a bar of the soap, which was closer to the size of a brick. “Is there anything else you’re looking for?”

Gabby shifted the wriggling baby from one arm to the other as his screeching escalated. “I made a list of essential items I couldn’t forget. I only have use of the car to get to Willow Creek once a month, but I don’t think Aiden’s going to let me finish my shopping today.”

“Would you like me to hold him while you get what you need? I’m still on my lunch break.”

The woman looked a little taken aback and Tessa didn’t blame her. It was a forward thing to offer, but she’d grown so accustomed to calming Mercy when the baby was upset that she didn’t think twice about volunteering to hold Gabby’s baby.

“Or I could take your list and collect your items for you,” Tessa suggested.

“Actually, would you mind holding him?” Gabby asked imploringly. “I’d be able to think a lot more clearly without him crying in my ear.”

“Of course,” Tessa agreed. “Take your time and kumme find us when you’re done. We’ll be ambling around in the back.”

“I’ll just follow the racket,” Gabby replied with a weak smile.

As Tessa strolled through the end aisle, she tried to soothe Aiden by rocking him every which way, but he was inconsolable. Mercy usually writhed like that when she had gas and Tessa suspected that was what was bothering Aiden, too. She lifted him to her shoulder and patiently tapped his back until he released a tremendous burp.

“Wow!” Gabby exclaimed as she rounded the corner with a canvas bag full of her purchases. “And I thought his crying was loud!”

“He feels better now, don’t you, Aiden?” Tessa asked as she turned the infant so they could see his face. He glowered at them as if to ask what they thought was so interesting and then he lowered his eyelids, contented.

“Thank you so much,” Gabby raved when Tessa passed the baby to her. “As much as I love him, it’s a rare treat to do an errand without toting this fifteen-pound sack of bawling babyhood in my arms.”

“You’re wilkom,” Tessa said. She certainly understood why Gabby was so frazzled. Tessa would be, too, if she rarely got out of the house without taking an infant along. Yet at the same time, holding Aiden made her feel a strange loneliness for the heft of pudgy little Mercy in her arms. Regardless of her indignation at Turner’s comments the previous evening, Tessa decided after work she’d stop in at his house to see how he and the baby were faring.

Customers lingered in the shop until after closing time and because he needed the business, Joseph didn’t hurry them away. By the time the doors were locked, the shelves restocked and the floor swept at Schrock’s, the market down Main Street was closed. Tessa’s grocery supply at home was limited to a few boxes of pasta, which she supposed she’d have to eat with butter and salt. So, when Melinda Schrock invited Tessa to join her and her husband, Jesse, and several others at the bowling alley, Tessa was tempted.

“Please?” Melinda cajoled. “We only have five people so far, which means we can’t pair up for teams.”

“I don’t know,” Tessa stalled. Usually, Tessa would have been the one who suggested the outing, but tonight she felt torn between joining her peers and getting back to see how Mercy was doing.

“It won’t be a late night and we’ll give you a lift home,” Melinda persisted.

Tessa’s stomach growled. The bowling alley, a popular location for the Amish in Willow Creek, made fantastic onion rings. Her mouth watering, she agreed, “Okay, if you’re sure it’s not going to be a late night.”

But as it turned out, the only other person to join the trio at the lanes was Aaron Chupp, Anna’s husband’s cousin, which meant Tessa had to be his bowling partner. She suspected that Melinda, who once was courted by Aaron herself, was playing matchmaker on his behalf. Melinda could have saved herself the trouble. Tessa found Aaron to be unusually self-centered, a perception that was enhanced when he insisted they play several more frames—and then several more after that—when she expressed she wanted to head home.