people.
“If you keep up this inspection, I’m going to demand you close your eyes and go to sleep.”
“I can’t help it.” His dark brown eyes spoke of approval and friendship. “I’ve spent most of my waking minutes and half of my sleeping ones trying to imagine what you looked like and hoping you weren’t an apparition.”
She fidgeted, not sure she liked where this conversation was heading. Thankfully, she had to go soon. “It wouldn’t be such a bad thing for me not to have been human. It’d mean you received help from God.”
“I did receive help from God. He sent you to me.”
Her muscles tensed, and she moved, ready to stand and say good-bye.
“Relax, Sadie.” He put his hand on her arm. “You’re gonna have to trust me when I say I’ll be just as single when I die as I am today. We’re alike in our determination to avoid marrying, so don’t get your hackles up.”
She took a deep breath. “Gut. You scared me for a minute.”
He grimaced, looking hot and uncomfortable. Damp curls clung to his forehead.
Sadie fidgeted with the blanket. “Someone called Mammi’s place today and said you had a concussion along with your other injuries.”
“Ya, between that and the medicines, nothing feels real. But I want to get your address.”
“Levi.” She brushed his hair back, hoping it made him feel a little cooler. “We’re saying all that needs to be said right now. I want to let it go at that.”
“Knock, knock.”
At the sound of a female voice behind them, Sadie pulled back her hand from Levi’s face and stood.
Two young and attractive women stood at the open entryway of the living room, one holding a glass cake stand that encased a beautifully decorated cake.
Sadie turned to Levi, determined to speak softly so the others couldn’t hear her. “Now that you’re too injured to run away or ride off, you may be engaged in time for the wedding season.”
Levi chuckled and slowly motioned for the women to enter, a movement that indicated how drugged he was. “These are my cousins Beth and Mattie. And this is Sadie. She returned my horse.”
Sadie shook hands with the women. Levi’s words were true enough. She
had
returned his horse. The odds were good that people who knew Levi had seen her on her trek to return Amigo. Levi had just given all the explanation anyone would need.
He scratched his jaw where the neck brace rubbed it. “Beth is a Hertzler of Hertzlers’ Dry Goods.”
Had they seen her sitting on Levi’s bed and brushing the hair from his face? She hoped not. “When I was younger, I came to your store a couple of times with Mammi Lee.”
“Verna Lee? The toymaker’s wife?”
“Ya.”
“We used to carry your
Grossdaadi
’s goods.”
“I remember.”
Beth touched Mattie’s arm. “Mattie is working at the store now. She owned a cake shop in Ohio, so she’s running her own bakery section here. Our husbands built a small café for her inside the store.”
“A dry goods store with fresh cakes?”
“And sticky buns, scones, muffins, and lots of coffee.” Mattie walked to a side table and set the cake on it. “It’s about the size of a small bedroom, and I only have those other items as refreshments for the customers. The true heart of my business is using that space to showcase and take orders for decorative cakes. You know, for birthdays and weddings and such.”
“Sounds as if Hertzlers’ has changed a good bit since I was there more than ten years ago.”
“Definitely,” Beth said. “You should come by.”
“Sadie knows a thing or two about stores, don’t you?”
If Sadie could, she’d give him a glare for putting her on the spot. “A little, I guess. I help manage a five-and-dime run by a Mennonite couple. Aside from a few nonperishable items my two girlfriends and I make, the store carries the same things they did sixty years ago—including hayseed and shovels and such.”
Beth moved to the foot of the bed. “What kinds of things do
“If you keep up this inspection, I’m going to demand you close your eyes and go to sleep.”
“I can’t help it.” His dark brown eyes spoke of approval and friendship. “I’ve spent most of my waking minutes and half of my sleeping ones trying to imagine what you looked like and hoping you weren’t an apparition.”
She fidgeted, not sure she liked where this conversation was heading. Thankfully, she had to go soon. “It wouldn’t be such a bad thing for me not to have been human. It’d mean you received help from God.”
“I did receive help from God. He sent you to me.”
Her muscles tensed, and she moved, ready to stand and say good-bye.
“Relax, Sadie.” He put his hand on her arm. “You’re gonna have to trust me when I say I’ll be just as single when I die as I am today. We’re alike in our determination to avoid marrying, so don’t get your hackles up.”
She took a deep breath. “Gut. You scared me for a minute.”
He grimaced, looking hot and uncomfortable. Damp curls clung to his forehead.
Sadie fidgeted with the blanket. “Someone called Mammi’s place today and said you had a concussion along with your other injuries.”
“Ya, between that and the medicines, nothing feels real. But I want to get your address.”
“Levi.” She brushed his hair back, hoping it made him feel a little cooler. “We’re saying all that needs to be said right now. I want to let it go at that.”
“Knock, knock.”
At the sound of a female voice behind them, Sadie pulled back her hand from Levi’s face and stood.
Two young and attractive women stood at the open entryway of the living room, one holding a glass cake stand that encased a beautifully decorated cake.
Sadie turned to Levi, determined to speak softly so the others couldn’t hear her. “Now that you’re too injured to run away or ride off, you may be engaged in time for the wedding season.”
Levi chuckled and slowly motioned for the women to enter, a movement that indicated how drugged he was. “These are my cousins Beth and Mattie. And this is Sadie. She returned my horse.”
Sadie shook hands with the women. Levi’s words were true enough. She
had
returned his horse. The odds were good that people who knew Levi had seen her on her trek to return Amigo. Levi had just given all the explanation anyone would need.
He scratched his jaw where the neck brace rubbed it. “Beth is a Hertzler of Hertzlers’ Dry Goods.”
Had they seen her sitting on Levi’s bed and brushing the hair from his face? She hoped not. “When I was younger, I came to your store a couple of times with Mammi Lee.”
“Verna Lee? The toymaker’s wife?”
“Ya.”
“We used to carry your
Grossdaadi
’s goods.”
“I remember.”
Beth touched Mattie’s arm. “Mattie is working at the store now. She owned a cake shop in Ohio, so she’s running her own bakery section here. Our husbands built a small café for her inside the store.”
“A dry goods store with fresh cakes?”
“And sticky buns, scones, muffins, and lots of coffee.” Mattie walked to a side table and set the cake on it. “It’s about the size of a small bedroom, and I only have those other items as refreshments for the customers. The true heart of my business is using that space to showcase and take orders for decorative cakes. You know, for birthdays and weddings and such.”
“Sounds as if Hertzlers’ has changed a good bit since I was there more than ten years ago.”
“Definitely,” Beth said. “You should come by.”
“Sadie knows a thing or two about stores, don’t you?”
If Sadie could, she’d give him a glare for putting her on the spot. “A little, I guess. I help manage a five-and-dime run by a Mennonite couple. Aside from a few nonperishable items my two girlfriends and I make, the store carries the same things they did sixty years ago—including hayseed and shovels and such.”
Beth moved to the foot of the bed. “What kinds of things do
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