Oh, right. Kyle should have thought of that. “I’m Dr. Hess’s assistant, and I’m running errands for his wife.” He held out the list Esther had printed on an office notepad.
The man’s suspicious look didn’t change. “I do deliveries for the doctor, and I heard he was getting an assistant. I also recognize Mrs. Hess’s car. It’s rather distinct.” He snickered a little but then returned to his judgmental stare. “How do I know you didn’t steal it?”
“If you know the Hesses, you could call them and ask.”
“Guess if I don’t, I’ll be stuck out here on the road for another two hours tonight.” He slid through the numbers on his cell, clicked on one, and held the phone to his ear. “Nobody’s picking up.”
“Maybe try one more time?” Kyle had no idea why he was being so persistent. This delivery wasn’t his responsibility, but maybe hanging around the Hesses was restoring the charitable part of himself he’d buried years ago.
Yes, and you have a soft spot for the girl who works here. Maybe you’re hoping it’ll give you a chance to see her again.
Kyle shook his head to dislodge those thoughts. Leah got under his skin, and the only thing he wanted to do was confront her about her dangerous practices.
Liar, his conscience whispered.
Beside him, the driver had reached Esther and was questioning her. A short while later, he clicked off his phone. “Mrs. Hess promises she’ll see that Leah gets the delivery, and she vouched for you.”
Fighting the wind, Kyle helped the man pile the boxes into the roomy old trunk and onto the car seats. By the time they were done, boxes were stacked ceiling high on the floor and across the backseat, except for a small opening he could peer through. They filled the bench seat next to Kyle so tightly he could barely squeeze into the driver’s seat.
After everything had been wedged inside, the driver made Kyle print his phone number on a form and took his driver’s license information. Then he shook Kyle’s hand. “I really appreciate this, man.”
“No problem.” Well, maybe shifting would be, but at least the old-fashioned shift was on the steering wheel instead of the center console. His arms tucked tightly against his sides, Kyle maneuvered the big old car out of the parking lot and onto the street. He drove a bit more slowly than usual so none of the boxes would shift.
When he arrived at the Hesses’, Esther came out on the porch. “You can pull into the garage,” she called, “and I’ll turn on the heater. We sometimes keep medical supplies in there.”
Once the car was stowed and Kyle had washed up, Esther sent him into the living room to wait for dinner. Again, a delicious aroma perfumed the air, making Kyle hungry. He relaxed on the couch, relieved he’d soon be headed home.
After dinner, Esther asked, “Would you mind taking those boxes back to the shop before you and Martin leave for the airport? Martin needs to run out to see a patient. I don’t know if I could see over such high stacks.”
“Sure.” Kyle welcomed any distraction from composing his no-thank-you-I-can’t-take-the-offer explanation. He comforted himself with the thought that plenty of young doctors like him would gladly take the offer. But the idea of driving over to the store switched his thoughts to Leah. If she worked as a midwife, most likely others in the family ran the store. Part of him hoped he wouldn’t see her again, but a small part, one he tried to squash, hoped he would.
Chapter Ten
By the time Leah arrived at the Groffs’, Sharon had already completed the checkup. “I’ve already explained that turning a baby may result in premature labor, but Matthew and Rachel have agreed to take that chance.”
Leah followed the other two women into the bedroom, and Sharon showed her how to use her hands to turn the baby to a head-down position. Moving firmly, but gently, she coaxed the baby into place.
Leah pictured Kyle’s face if he found out about this procedure. He’d probably think it was dangerous and recommend that Rachel have a caesarean at the hospital. She imagined the two of them arguing over the best choice.
When Sharon finished, she cautioned Rachel, “Some lively babies flip themselves over again during the next few weeks, so we’ll keep an eye on you. Also let us know if the baby starts kicking anywhere other than your ribs or upper abdomen. I’ll stay a few hours to be sure labor doesn’t begin, but once I leave, call me right away if you have any pains.”
Rachel turned shining eyes to Sharon. “I will and thank you for everything.” She insisted on giving Sharon and Leah each a coffee cake she’d baked that morning.
“Would it be all right if I spend some time discussing the procedure with Leah?” Sharon asked.
Rachel nodded and gestured to the kitchen table. “Make yourselves at home. I need to go down to the basement to do laundry.”
Sharon brushed damp wisps of hair from her forehead and smoothed them back into the bun at the back of her head. A white lace prayer veiling covered her bun, much smaller than Leah’s heart-shaped kapp. “The procedure I did in there is called ECV, or external cephalic version. You’ll also hear it called version. I want you to look it up in the textbooks when you get home.”
Leah wrote down the names so she could read more about the procedure. Sharon believed hands-on demonstrations followed by book learning would cement the lessons in her assistants’ minds, and Leah had found she was right.
“I wanted to wait until thirty-seven or thirty-eight weeks,” Sharon explained, “because ECV is best done when the baby can still move freely in the fluid. But the pregnancy needs to be close to term in case the procedure causes labor to begin. We want to be certain the baby is fully developed. If we do the procedure any closer to delivery, though, the baby doesn’t have much room to move.”
She paused to give Leah time to record the information before continuing. “There are a few risks, but I think they outweigh the danger of a breech birth. Read up on the possible complications so you can explain them to the parents. Give them an informed choice. I’ve found most Amish parents are willing to take the chance of an early delivery.”
An early delivery? Kyle would certainly not want to take a chance on that. He’d use that as an argument for a hospital birth. For some reason, his voice kept echoing through her mind.
Jotting notes as fast as she could, Leah tried to get down as much information as possible.
“It’s also important to know where the umbilical cord is. We can’t take a chance if it’s around the baby’s neck or likely to be. Rachel had an ultrasound yesterday so I knew it would be safe. I recommend having the mother do that so I know exactly what I’m dealing with.”
“What if the umbilical cord isn’t in the right position?”
“Depending on where it is, I might recommend a hospital birth.”
Kyle would approve of that. Leah couldn’t seem to keep her thoughts from straying to his reactions.
“Or if it doesn’t appear to be dangerous,” Sharon said, “I’ll take charge of the breech delivery. I’ve had very few of those in my twenty-five years as a midwife. If I do have one, I’ll call you to help me. You should learn how to do it.”
As much as Leah would like to see how Sharon did it, she wouldn’t wish a breech birth on anyone.
Sharon went on to list many other ways women used to turn breeches. Most of this information wouldn’t be in her textbooks, so Leah took detailed notes, ever conscious of how Kyle would glower if he heard some of these backcountry and unscientific methods.
Leah’s hand cramped, and she stretched it before resuming her copious pages of notes. By the time Sharon finished, Leah had filled a thick section of her notebook with information, and the sky had darkened. Ben would be back home milking the cows and feeding the horses by now. Leah sighed. He’d be upset to miss her two days in a row, but she had to admit she was more relieved than sad. She wasn’t looking forward to their conversation. How did you explain to someone that you’d completely forgotten about them?
Truth be told, she’d spent more time thinking about Kyle than she
had about Ben. That should never be. Ever since she’d met him, Kyle kept popping into her mind, evaluating her every decision, following her everywhere she went.
On the way home, sharp twinges in her abdomen alerted Leah that her once-a-month bout with intense pain was about to begin. She’d take a spoonful of that calcium-phosphorous supplement after dinner and hope it helped. She’d also drink some of the herbal blend they sold in the store for cramps.
She arrived back at the shop to find the door unlocked and the lights on. Surprised, she stepped inside and met her daed’s glare.
“Daed,” she faltered, “what are you doing here?”
“Doing your job and trying to find out what happened to our big shipment.”
“Ach, I forgot all about that.” Lately, her midwife calls pushed everything else from her mind. Yesterday, Ben. Today, the order. “I’m so sorry.”
“Jah, vell, according to the company, their driver dropped the shipment off between three and three thirty. Those boxes have vanished.”
They couldn’t have lost the whole shipment. They’d prepaid for it, and if the company insisted they’d delivered everything, they’d not only lose that money, but also all the customers who had placed orders would be upset. Daed couldn’t afford to replace this order. “Is it possible they made a mistake? Maybe delivered it elsewhere?”
Daed shook his head. “They can track the truck from their headquarters, and they verified his stop here. All the rest of the driver’s deliveries arrived as scheduled. The only discrepancy they found was how long he was at this spot. I’m guessing that’s because he was waiting for someone to open the shop.”
His glower made it clear who should have been there to open the shop. “They tried to talk directly to the driver, but he’s not answering. He has off until Monday.”
“I’m sorry.” Her apology wouldn’t bring back the missing merchandise. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Stay where you belong and stop running off during store hours.” Daed stalked toward the door that opened into the kitchen. “If your mamm is feeling up to it, we’ll have a family meeting to decide whether or not you can continue to help Sharon if it’s going to take you away from your duties here. Meet us upstairs after you’ve closed the shop.” His tone brooked no argument.
When six o’clock came, Leah closed out the cash register, locked the store, and pulled down the blinds. Daed and Mamm would have already eaten the meal her sister brought over tonight. Wishing she had time to grab a bite to eat and take something to ease the pangs shooting through her, Leah scurried upstairs. Daed valued punctuality, and she didn’t want to do anything to cause further upset.
As she mounted the stairs, Daed’s worried voice carried down the hall. “How will we ever afford to replace this shipment?”
The loss was all her fault, but how could she ever repay him? From time to time, people slipped her a little money when she assisted Sharon. Money that she turned over to Daed, as all unmarried children were expected to do until they turned twenty-one. The only way she could repay him was to work in the shop during the posted hours, a duty that she’d failed at twice this week. If she’d been where she should have been, she’d be checking in boxes of products right now, and Ben wouldn’t be upset with her either.
“Did you have a good day, dochder?” Mamm asked when Leah entered the room.
How should she answer that? It had been a wonderful day up until she’d arrived home. Now it had turned into a disaster. “Earlier I did,” she mumbled. “I’m so sorry, Mamm and Daed.”
“Jah, it worries me how we’ll make up these losses.” Daed pinned her with a serious look. “I’m also concerned about the shop being closed so often. I understand it was shut most of the day yesterday.”
“I received an emergency call, and Sharon wasn’t available.”
“She has other assistants. They should be helping her during the day.”
“Enos Fisher called and asked me to come. I couldn’t turn down his request for help.” Her daed always stressed helping others. Surely he’d understand she not only wanted to go, she also could never ignore a plea for assistance.
Daed’s pursed lips conflicted with the softness in his eyes. “I suppose not,” he conceded.
“And the Fishers have a healthy new son,” Mamm reminded him. “Leah needed to be there.”
Actually, Caleb had jaundice, but that would be gone soon. She didn’t contradict Mamm—not the way she’d contradicted Kyle. Her fists curled at her sides remembering his insistence on taking both babies to the hospital. He’d taken up residence in her mind, and she couldn’t seem to shake his voice or comments.
“Leah, did you hear me?” Daed stared at her, his brow creased.
“I’m sorry. What did you say?” She’d been so busy combatting Kyle’s arguments from yesterday she’d missed Daed’s comments.
He blew out an exasperated breath. “I said I’d like you to tell Sharon—”
Mamm interrupted him. “I wonder if we should come up with an alternate solution. I believe Leah is needed in the community. Sharon isn’t able to handle all the work.”
“That’s what she has assistants for,” Daed snapped, but immediately looked contrite. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so short-tempered.”
With a gentle smile, Mamm kept her response soft. “I understand Leah is the assistant she trusts most, so Sharon calls on her more than the others. I also think Leah wants to learn as much as she can. Maybe we could make different plans for the store.”
“You want to close it?” Daed asked incredulously. “I thought we’d already decided to keep it open for the community even if we barely make a profit.”
“I didn’t mean we should close it, but we could come up with an alternate plan.” Mamm held up a hand when Daed started to protest. “I don’t mean cutting the hours. I know how you feel about that.” She hesitated a minute. “Maybe it’s time to mend fences with Joel.”
Daed’s face darkened, and he stood for a few minutes, his chest rising and falling rapidly. Leah wished Mamm hadn’t brought up Joel. The one issue that roused Daed’s ire was his only son who’d left the family and the Amish community. Although he’d never forbidden them to talk about Joel, his anguish—and often his fury—when the subject came up made Mamm and Leah hesitate to mention Joel’s name.
Mamm leaned back against the pillow and closed her eyes. The fire left Daed’s eyes, and he stood staring helplessly at her.
Poor Mamm. They shouldn’t have tired her out.
Mamm opened her eyes and said in a shaky voice, “I blame myself. Working in the shop should have been my job. Leah should be free to be a midwife.”
Leah rushed over to the bed and took Mamm’s hand. “No, Mamm. Please, please don’t blame yourself. It’s my job, and I’ll do it, even if it means giving up midwifing.”
“If God is leading you to be a midwife, then we should support you in that decision.” Her mamm glanced over at Daed. “Don’t you think so?”
He harrumphed but didn’t answer.
“You know,” she said in a quiet voice, “Joel’s been struggling financially. He lost his job a few weeks ago. He’d probably be willing to…”
Daed’s glower silenced her. “If he chooses to live in the Englisch world, then he must pay the consequences.”
“I know you don’t mean that.”
Under Mamm’s steady gaze, he lowered his head and stared at the floor. “Perhaps we should save this discussion for another time.” Shoulders slumped, he walked over to the window and gazed out at their back pastures as dusk turned to night.
Daed blamed himself for Joel leaving. If only there were some way she could comfort him. The best way would be to help her family in the store. Swallowing hard, Leah said, “I won’t leave the shop again during business hours.”
A distressed look crossed Mamm’s face. “What about helping Sharon?”
“I’ll tell her I can do it only after hours.”
“That
would be best.” Daed didn’t turn around. “Especially as we’ll have to pay for this shipment. If you find working with Sharon in the evenings is overtiring you, I expect you to put the shop first.”
Daed had laid a heavier yoke on her shoulders than the one he used for the oxen in the field. If she set aside time after hours to be with Ben and to study, she’d have little opportunity to accompany Sharon. With babies being so unpredictable, how likely was it they’d be born during her free hours? Daed hadn’t forbidden her to be a midwife, but his requests curtailed her chances.
* * *
Kyle pulled into the parking lot beside the store. He’d forgotten how dark Amish houses became at night. A dim solar bulb hung over the door to the shop, barely illuminating the hours. The blinds on the windows indicated the business had closed for the night. No lights shone in the house, either upstairs or down.
Wishing he hadn’t agreed to do this favor, he circled the lot to turn around. A glow from a back window sent a faint patch of light onto the fields beside the barn. Someone must be there. He hated to disturb them, but he needed to get rid of the boxes before he took the red-eye that night. He pulled the car close to the store entrance and emerged into the frigid air. He knocked on the door, shivering as he waited. Hands thrust deep in his pockets, he paced the sidewalk. When nobody answered his second knock, he strode toward the back of the house, where he’d seen the light.
The window was dark. Maybe he’d mistaken that glimmer of light. Esther or Martin would have to bring the delivery back tomorrow. Kyle hurried to the car, eager to turn on the heater and get out of the cold. He unlocked the door and was stepping inside when a small beam of light bobbed inside the store. A flashlight. Someone was coming.
The bells jangled on the door, and Leah raised the blinds and peeked out. How pretty she appeared in moonlight.
Enough, Kyle. Unload the delivery and get out of here. Go back to the city. You’ll forget this attraction soon enough.
“Kyle?” Leah’s voice wavered. “What are you doing here?”
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