When Sarah entered the carriage shop the following morning she had every intention of giving Levi a piece of her mind. Three more suitors had darkened her door the previous evening.
She found Levi huddled in front of the stove with his arms wrapped around his body. When he looked up, his face was pale as a sheet. There were dark circles under his eyes. He shivered so violently that he nearly fell from the small stool he was perched on. The man looked sick to death. He coughed and the deep rattle in his chest frightened her.
“Levi Beachy, I never once considered you to be a fool until this moment.” She advanced toward him.
“Go away,” he muttered in a pitifully hoarse voice.
“You are the one who is going. You’re going straight to bed. You look miserable.”
“I’m fine. I just need a minute to get warm.” He leaned closer to the fire.
Shaking her head, Sarah marched to the door and flipped the Open sign to Closed. Outside, Elam Sutter was just getting out of his buggy. At least she knew he hadn’t come to court her. He was happily married to her friend Katie.
She opened the door and called out to him, “I’m sorry Elam, but the shop is closed today. Levi is sick.”
“I’ve stopped by to pick up a part he ordered for me. I had a note in the mail that it had come in.”
“All right, I’ll find it for you, but you should stay outside. I don’t want you taking sickness home to Katie and the kinder.”
“Danki, Sarah. I’ll wait right here.”
Closing the door, she quickly checked the counter area but didn’t find anything with Elam’s name on it. She crossed the room and crouched beside Levi. He was looking worse by the minute. She touched his shoulder gently. “Levi, where is the part that came in for Eli Sutter?”
He opened bloodshot eyes. “On my desk in the back.”
“I’ll get it, and then you are going back to the house.”
“I don’t want to go to the house.”
“You sound like a pouting child. You’re going back to the house if I have to drag you by your suspenders. And don’t think for a minute that I can’t do it.”
A ragged cough followed by a weak nod was her answer. She pulled off her coat and tucked it around his shoulders. He nestled into the warmth with a grateful sigh. Leaving him sitting by the fire, Sarah quickly found the part and carried it out to Elam.
He took it from her and asked, “Is there anything I can do for you or Levi?”
“Nee. Rest is what he needs now.”
“My mother said a nasty flu bug has been making the rounds over in Sugarcreek. Looks like it’s come to pay Hope Springs a visit.”
“Levi got soaked yesterday and wouldn’t go home to change. I hope it’s the flu and not pneumonia. He’s too sick to work, but he won’t go to bed, either. Sometime men are more trouble than they are worth.”
Elam chuckled. “My wife would agree with you.”
“Good day, Elam. Give Katie and the children my love.”
He promised to do so and drove away. Sarah hurried back inside just as Levi was struggling to his feet. He teetered and would have fallen if she hadn’t rushed to hold him up. Staggering under his weight, she managed to keep both of them upright.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled against her kapp.
She had both arms around his waist. “Never mind. Let’s get you to the house. What on earth possessed you to try and work today?”
“I thought I’d feel better in the shop.”
“Why would you think that?”
“I always feel better here. Besides, I have work that must be done.”
Sarah lifted Levi’s arm and placed it around her shoulder. “The work will still be here tomorrow.”
“If I don’t get it done today, there will be twice as much work tomorrow.”
“Let the twins do some of it.”
“They’re sick. I told them to stay in bed.” So it was an illness that was going around and not because Levi had had a soaking. Still, it certainly hadn’t done him any good.
“You told the twins to stay in bed, but you couldn’t take your own advice.”
A vicious cough stole his breath and left him wheezing and unsteady. She knew if he lost his balance she wouldn’t be able to hold him up. Why had she sent Elam Sutter away? He wouldn’t have had any trouble carrying Levi.
“Come. It’s only a few steps to the house. We can get there together.”
Thankfully, they were able to manage the short trek, although several times she wondered if they would make it. They were both sweating and out of breath by the time they reached his front door.
“Danki, mie goot Sarah,” he said as he sank in a heap on the couch.
Why did she wish she were his good Sarah? It wasn’t part of her makeup to be a loving wife. Hadn’t that been made painfully clear to her?
She unlaced Levi’s boots and pulled them off. As she had once suspected, both his socks had holes in them. She would have to have a stern talk with Grace when the girl came home. The art of good housekeeping wasn’t reserved solely for a woman’s husband.
Sarah pulled a folded quilt from the back of a rocker and spread it across Levi. She coaxed him to give up her coat and then tucked the quilt around his shoulders. She pressed her palm to his forehead. He was burning up.
“If I make you some hot tea will you be able to keep it down?” she asked.
“I think so.”
“When was the last time you had something to eat?”
“I’m not hungry. I just want to sleep.”
“Not until I get some fluids in you. I’m going to check on the twins.”
When Levi didn’t respond, Sarah took it as his consent. She quickly put the kettle on and made her way up the narrow stairs to the upper story of the house. The first room she looked into belonged to Grace. It was painted a lovely shade of lavender with a large throw rug on the floor and a beautiful lavender-and-white quilt on the bed.
The next door she opened was to Levi’s room. It was tidy and clean. The walls were a pale gray. His bed had a simple dark blue blanket as a spread. He was a tidy man.
The last room she looked in was not neat at all. There were clothes strewn on the floor, shoes had been tossed aside and lay where they’d fallen and numerous books and magazines lay helter-skelter around the room. From a set of twin beds, one bleary-eyed and one bright-eyed boy looked at her in astonishment. She marched to the bed closest to the door and laid her hand on Atlee’s brow.
He was hot, but his fever wasn’t as high as Levi’s.
Moses drew his covers up to his chin when she came toward him. “What are you doing in here?”
“I’m seeing who is sick and how sick they are.” She clapped a hand on his forehead. He was cool to the touch. His eyes were bright, his lips weren’t cracked.
She fisted her hands on her hips and glared at him. “You aren’t sick.”
“I am. I ache all over. My stomach is churning. I feel terrible,” he insisted.
“You’ll feel better when you’re done helping me.”
“Helping you do what?”
“Levi is downstairs and he is very sick. I don’t think I can get him up to his room by myself. You have five minutes to get dressed, and then I’m coming up here with a pail of cold water. If you’re in this bed when I get back, you’ll get a bath.”
“You wouldn’t?”
“Trust me, I would.”
She turned to leave. Stopping by Atlee, she straightened his covers and said, “I’ll bring you some hot tea with honey in a few minutes. Do you think you can eat something?”
“Maybe some toast if you don’t mind making it.” He coughed harshly.
“I don’t mind a bit. Try and get some rest.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He closed his red-rimmed eyes with a sigh.
Downstairs, she found the kettle starting to whistle. She took it off the heat and filled two big mugs with the steaming liquid. She added tea bags and honey, and then set two slices of bread in the oven.
She checked on Levi. He was curled up on the sofa with the quilt pulled tight around his neck.
The poor man, he looked miserable, but there wasn’t much she could do for him. “Levi, can you drink some of this?”
He shook his head and burrowed deeper under the quilt. Giving up, she carried the mug back in the kitchen.
Sarah glanced at the clock. When the five minutes was up, she found a saucepan and filled it with cool water. She flipped a towel over her shoulder and set the pan, the tea-filled mug and a plate with the toast on a tray. She carried it all up the stairs. As she suspected, Moses was still in bed, trying to look as if he belonged there.
Setting the tray down on Atlee’s nightstand, she helped him sit up in bed by arranging his pillows at his back and gave him the mug of tea. He wrapped his hands around it and took a sip. “Ach, that’s wunderbaar, Sarah. Danki.”
“You’re welcome.” Taking the pan, she walked around his bed and threw the water on Moses.
He came out of the covers yowling like a scalded cat. He stood in his pajamas, glaring at her while water dripped from his hair. She took the towel from her shoulder and held it out. “I couldn’t find a pail. You’re lucky all I found was a small sauce pan.”
He snatched the towel from her. “I’ll catch my death for sure now.”
“I doubt I’ll be so lucky. Get dried off, get changed, strip your bed and clean up this mess. All of this mess.” She indicated the rest of the room.
Without waiting for him to reply, she turned toward the door. Atlee sat in his bed with a stunned expression of disbelief on his face. She said gently, “Finish your tea, dear. It will help bring the fever down.”
He nodded. She smiled and walked out the door.
Twenty minutes later, Moses came into the kitchen. He was dressed in his work clothes. He held a bundle of sheets in his arms.
She took them from him. “I’ve made some scrambled eggs and hash browns. When you’re finished with breakfast, you can help me get your brother up to his room. I may need to send you for the doctor later, so stay nearby.”
He frowned and glanced in the living room. “Is he really that sick?”
“I’m afraid he may be.” Her own father had died of pneumonia. His illness had started out the same way as Levi’s. She always thought her father’s stubborn refusal to see a doctor had contributed to his untimely death.
She wouldn’t think about another death at Christmas. God would not do that to her. Besides, she didn’t love Levi. There was no reason he might die.
She said, “I don’t know if Levi took care of the horses this morning or not. Would you please check and take care of them if he didn’t?”
“Will you pour more water on my head if I say no?”
She sighed heavily. “Nee, but I will be sorely disappointed for I have always thought you had the makings of a good man in you. I know Levi believes you do, and I trust his judgment.”
Moses cast her a sheepish glance and then stared at his boots. “I’ll take care of it. Keep my eggs warm, will you?”
“Of course.”
He pulled on a coat and settled his hat on his head. When he glanced back at her, she realized how much he looked like Levi. Maybe he would grow into a good man after all. She prayed it would be so.
She spent the next half hour coaxing Levi into taking the cough medicine she found in the bathroom cabinet along with a couple of aspirin and sips of warm sweet tea. She could tell it was an effort for him just to raise his head, but he managed to swallow a full cup of the liquid. She left his side feeling better about his condition. Moses came in as she put the kettle back on.
“The stock is taken care of. I’ve stoked the fire in the shop. I can finish most of the work that Levi had planned for today. How is he?”
“He took some tea. Do you think we can get him upstairs?”
“It would be easier to bring one of the cots down here and move him onto that.”
“That’s a good idea, Moses. I’ll let you do that while I get the laundry started. I need to get your sheets out on the line so you have someplace dry to sleep tonight.”
“I can always sleep in Grace’s or Levi’s room.”
“Won’t Atlee feel better knowing you’re close by?”
“I reckon you are right about that. I’ll go get the cot.”
Between the two of them, they got Levi moved to a more comfortable bed close to the fire. It didn’t make him happy. He fretted for the next hour, more concerned about Sarah than about his own comfort.
“You must go home, Sarah. I don’t want you to become ill because of me.”
She tucked his quilt more tightly around him. “I’m a grown woman. I’ll go home when I want to and not before.”
“I wondered how soon that remark would come back to haunt me.”
“Rest and don’t worry about me. I feel fine. It is up to God if I catch your flu. Now hush. I will hear no more about leaving. Atlee is sick, too. Who will take care of him with Moses in the shop all day?”
Levi said, “I will see to the boy’s needs.”
Sarah was tired of arguing with him. She stepped back and raised her hands. “Okay, I was about to take some soup up to him, but you can do it.”
“Finally, the woman is minding me. Praise the Lord.” He pushed his covers aside and sat up.
When he didn’t go any farther, Sarah said, “The soup is in the kitchen.”
He teetered on the side of the cot. Closing his eyes, he lay back with a moan. “I can’t do it.”
“I told you so.”
“You’re laughing at me. You’re always laughing at me,” he muttered wearily.
“Nee, I have never laughed at you, Levi.”
He opened his bloodshot eyes and stared at her. “Yes, you have.”
“When?”
He started coughing again. She brought him a drink of water. He took a sip and lay back with his eyes closed.
She should let him sleep, but his comment bothered her. “When did I laugh at you, Levi? If you thought I was, it wasn’t on purpose and I’m sorry.”
“It was on purpose. You wanted me to kiss you...and then you pushed me in the creek. Everyone saw. Everyone laughed.”
She recalled the day vividly. She was saddened to realize he thought she had acted deliberately. She reached down and brushed a lock of hair from his forehead. He needed a haircut. She was pleased to note his skin felt cooler.
“You startled me, Levi. That’s why I pushed you away. I didn’t mean for you to fall in the water. I’m sorry the others laughed, but I wasn’t laughing.”
He rolled on his side away from her. “I want to sleep now.”
“All right. I’ll be here if you need me.” He didn’t answer.
She left him alone and took a bowl of soup up to Atlee. She was pleased when he managed to eat most of it. She hoped Levi would be able to take some later.
With Moses working in the carriage shop, Sarah got busy on something she had been dying to do for days—putting Levi’s house to rights.
She re-washed all the dishes in the cupboards. As she suspected, some of them had had only a cursory cleaning. After that, she scrubbed down the kitchen walls and counters. She was getting ready to mop the floor when she heard the door open. Expecting Moses, she was surprised to see Nettie Imhoff and her aunt Emma coming in.
She rushed to stop them from entering. “There is sickness in the house, ladies. It would be best to visit another time.”
Nettie set a large basket on the kitchen table. “My son Elam told me as much. Knowing that Levi is a bachelor, I came to see if I could be of use. I stopped by Emma’s place and asked her to join me.”
“Men are no good at taking care of themselves or anyone else when they’re sick,” Emma declared.
“You look like you could use a stout cup of coffee. I can do that much.” Nettie untied her bonnet, hung it along with her coat on the peg by the door and smoothed her apron.
“That sounds lovely.” Sarah kept her voice low so she wouldn’t disturb Levi.
Nettie glanced at the cot in the other room. “How is he?”
“A little better, I think. I was very worried this morning. Atlee is sick, too, but his fever isn’t nearly as high as Levi’s.”
Nettie said, “My friends in Sugarcreek wrote that this flu has been harsh, but it only lasts a few days. Levi and his brother will be better in no time.”
Sarah felt the unexpected sting of tears in her eyes. “I’m silly to fret, but with Christmas coming I can’t help but worry that something bad will happen again. Jonas, my parents, Bethany, they were all taken from me at Christmastime.”
Emma drew her into a comforting hug. “God has given you far too much grief for one so young, but do not doubt His mercy.”
Sarah sniffed and wiped her eyes. “You’re right. I must lean on His strength.”
“What can we do to help?” Nettie asked.
“Until Levi or Atlee need something, I’m trying to put this house in order.”
Emma frowned at the grimy floor. “The house is missing the mistress.”
“I can’t give Grace high marks in housekeeping. Levi seems to be the only one in the family who likes an orderly existence. The twins are slobs.”
The older women chuckled and Sarah smiled. It was good to have them here. She hadn’t realized how scared she had been. Having Levi laid up brought back so many bad memories of her husband’s illness and death.
“A strong cup of kaffi first, then we clean,” Emma declared. She glanced toward the living room and lowered her voice. “While the men are stuck in bed and can’t mess it up before we’re finished.”
With the three of them working, they were able to scrub the kitchen floor, strip and air the beds, wash a half dozen loads of laundry and clean the bathroom, all before two-o’clock in the afternoon.
Sarah blew out a weary breath as she hung the last sheet on the line. She glanced down the rows of bed linens, shirts, pants and socks flapping in the breeze. Thankfully, the day was sunny. She’d be able to gather them in a few hours and begin the process of ironing, mending and putting them away. She’d forgotten how much work it was to do laundry for more than one person. She was tired, but in a good way.
At least her string of suitors wouldn’t come looking for her over here.
Her aunt and Nettie left after exacting a promise that Sarah would send for them if she became ill or the Beachy brothers didn’t recover as expected.
Levi refused any supper, but since he was keeping liquids down, Sarah left it at that. Atlee was feeling better while Moses came in looking worn to the bone. Sarah laid a hand on his forehead. “Are you feeling ill now?”
He shook his head. “It was a busy day, that’s all.”
“Levi will be pleased when he learns how you stepped in to take his place. I’ve left some soup on the stove and there is fried chicken staying warm in the oven. Just put the leftovers in the refrigerator.”
He sniffed the air. “What’s that funny smell?”
Sarah tried not to laugh. “Pine cleaner.”
“Oh.”
“Moses, I’m sorry about tossing water on you this morning.”
He grinned. “I reckon Atlee and me played enough jokes on you that I had a little payback coming. Just remember what I said about pranks.”
“It’s only funny the first time?”
“Ja.”
“I’ll see you first thing in the morning. Don’t be afraid to come get me if either of them get worse.” She glanced once more toward Levi’s bed. He would be fine. She had to have faith. So why didn’t she?
* * *
Levi wasn’t sure if he was still among the living, but he decided he must be when he rolled over and every muscle in his body protested.
Daylight streamed in through the window on the east side of the house. What time was it? How long had he been asleep?
He sat up in bed and discovered he could do it without getting dizzy. He was definitely on the mend. Maybe it had been Sarah’s tea.
He realized he was thirsty. Rising, he made it as far as the kitchen. There was a pitcher of orange juice and several glasses on the table. He sat down and poured himself a drink. It tasted wonderful.
“You need a haircut.” Sarah was standing behind his chair. He should have known she was in the house. When was the last time one of the twins made fresh-squeezed orange juice? Before he could form an answer, she was running her fingers through his hair.
His ability to speak vanished altogether. He stopped breathing. It was the first time a woman who wasn’t his sister or his mother had touched him like this.
“I never realized you have such nice curls.” She tugged gently, testing the length and thickness of the hair he battled into smooth submission with a brush each morning. His scalp prickled, and gooseflesh rose on his arms. A shiver raced through his body.
She stopped. “Are you cold?”
He wasn’t, but he lied. “A little.”
“Do you want to move closer to the stove?”
“Nee.” He could already feel the heat building in his body. Did she realize how her touch affected him? He hoped not. He prayed not.
She said, “How foolish of me. A haircut can wait until you’re feeling better.”
Even if he had been at death’s door it wouldn’t have mattered. All he wanted was for her to keep her fingers in his hair. He managed to say, “I reckon a haircut is past due. Might as well get it over with. If you don’t mind the chore.”
“I don’t mind at all. Let me get a towel.” She seemed delighted with his capitulation. She left the room humming and returned a few moments later with a large white towel under her arm, scissors and a comb in her other hand.
Setting her tools aside, she shook out the towel and put it around his neck, fastening it behind him with a safety pin. Taking up the comb, she studied him for a moment. He glanced at her from beneath his lashes.
Her blue-green eyes narrowed as she assessed his head. She tilted her face first one way and then another. She ran the comb through his hair. It caught on a tangle and he winced.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right.” He prepared to withstand a few more pulls for his hair was matted from his fever.
She started combing again, more gently. “Levi, can I ask you something?”
“Ja.”
“Yesterday, you said... Oh, never mind.”
“I accused you of laughing at me. I know you weren’t. You were only trying to help.”
“That’s true, but you said when we were in school that I...that I asked you to kiss me. Why did you say that?”
“It was a long time ago. Can we just skip it?”
“I want to know what I did that gave you that impression.”
“Impression? You wrote me a note. It said to meet you by the creek if I wanted to kiss you. What other impression was I going to get?”
She stopped combing his hair. “I did not.”
Anger rose in him. “Now you’re saying I’m a liar?”
Taking a seat beside him, she faced him without flinching. “I don’t know a more honest man than you, Levi Beachy. You must believe me when I say I did not write you such a note.”
“If you didn’t, why were you waiting under the willow tree?”
Her eyes widened, and she sat back with a stunned expression on her face. “She wouldn’t have.”
“Who?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Did the note say exactly where I would be?”
His anger drained away. He was tired, and he wanted to lie down again. He didn’t want to rehash the most embarrassing event of his youth. “Does it matter?”
“I guess not, but I think I know what happened. My sister was a prankster equal to or better than your brothers. When school let out that day she said she had a surprise for me. I was to wait by the willow tree and keep my eyes closed. Then you came, and I forgot all about her surprise.”
Sarah rose to her feet and resumed combing his hair. “I’m sorry she made you a pawn in her game, Levi. Bethany never thought how her actions would affect others.”
All this time he had blamed Sarah, and she hadn’t had anything to do with his humiliation. What a fool he had been. What a fool he still was. “I’m sorry I fell into her trap so easily.”
“We were kids. It happened. It wasn’t a bad kiss, you know.”
Embarrassment made him want to sink through the floor. Why did she have to admit that now?
She stopped combing and bit the corner of her lower lip. “I need better light.”
He started to rise, but she laid a hand on his shoulder. “Just scoot your chair a little closer to the window.”
The legs of the chair grated on the wooden floor as he shifted closer to the light. She pressed her hand to his chest to stop his forward movement. “That’s fine.”
When his poor heart started beating again, Levi realized with a jolt what Gideon had recognized weeks ago.
Levi cared about Sarah. Not just as his responsibility, not because she had been Jonas’s wife, but because she was a warm and vibrant woman. As much as he wanted to deny it, his heart would no longer be silent.
He was falling foolishly and hopelessly in love with Sarah, and she treated him like a brother.
She stepped behind him and carefully pulled the comb through his hair again. The rasp of the teeth over his scalp, the tugs when she encountered tangles, none of those small discomforts mattered, because each time she smoothed them away with her other hand. She started humming again.
No matter how he felt, he knew she would never return his feelings. She had loved her husband. Levi was a poor substitute for a man such as Jonas. It was pure foolishness to think anything else.
He would never embarrass her with unwanted displays of affection. He was good at keeping his feelings hidden. He would remain her friend as he had promised Jonas he would.
She ran her fingers through his hair again. “I haven’t done this in a while. I hope I remember how. Are you sure you’re not too tired to do this?”
If he said yes, she would stop. He should send her away. He opened his mouth to do so, but couldn’t speak the words. Instead, he said, “I’m fine.”
She said, “Here goes.” He heard the snip of the scissors.
Levi closed his eyes and gave himself up to the forbidden luxury of her touch.