Sometimes the pain of knowing she would lose Levi took her breath away, which was silly because she’d never “had” him to begin with. He’d just be absent where he once was there. She should probably cut him out of her life immediately. She could figure out how to tile the bathroom by herself, and he would never need to return. It would be less painful for Winnie and her if they didn’t have a chance to get more attached. But she wasn’t ready for Levi to be gone yet. She would enjoy every minute she had with him, even knowing how much more it would hurt when he finally left. The pain then was part of the happiness now.
And she was happy. Winnie had turned out to be a great blessing in her life. Esther wasn’t a natural mater, but she was learning. She wouldn’t trade the lessons Winnie was teaching her about love and sacrifice for a thousand quilts—lessons she might never have learned, especially since she wasn’t planning to marry and would never have the chance to bear a child of her own. With the blessing of Winnie in her life, her cup was already overflowing, but because of Winnie, Levi, Nanna, Hannah, and Mary Jane had all come into her life. She truly had so much to be grateful for.
Colleen and Marie strolled out to the car about five minutes later. Marie carried a plastic bag with something swimming around in it. She held it up for Esther to see. “Mosquito fish,” she said. “I’m putting him in my bathtub until I can build a pond.”
Could somebody build a pond?
Colleen unlocked the car doors. “When all is said and done, you’ll have fewer mosquitoes if you get rid of the fish and scrap the pond idea. Ponds are breeding grounds for millions of mosquitoes.”
Marie drew her brows together. “You’re right. Maybe we can find a pond that already exists and just throw my mosquito fish in there.”
“Good idea.”
Levi opened his door and slid into the back seat. “If you need someone with a good throwing arm, Esther can do it. She used to play softball, and she’s really good at throwing apricots.”
Esther cuffed him on the arm. Nobody needed to know about her little fit the other day.
Marie turned around in her seat. “Apricots? I used to be good at throwing apricots until I got bursitis. I had to give it up.”
When Marie turned around again, Levi smiled and winked at Esther. She had to clamp her mouth shut and turn and look out the window so she wouldn’t burst into laughter. Jah. It was going to hurt something wonderful when she and Levi finally finished that bathroom. How would she ever be happy without him? Had she ever been happy before?
Chapter Seven
Levi had to hold himself back from jogging across Esther’s lawn. A nice, calm stroll would get him to her porch in plenty of time. He was just so excited to see her today. He’d been at a flea market yesterday and had found three of the most interesting tiles he’d ever seen. He couldn’t wait to see Esther’s face when he showed them to her. She was going to be thrilled. Her bathroom floor was turning into a work of art.
Before he knocked on the door, he pulled a small jar of putty from his pocket, unscrewed the lid, and scooped up a small glob with his finger. Then he smoothed it over the tiny hole in Esther’s doorjamb. The doorjamb was white and the putty was white, so he shouldn’t even have to paint it. Nobody would know anything violent had happened there.
He smiled to himself. He liked Esther’s fiery temper, even when it was directed at him. Her eyes were an even deeper blue when they flashed with anger, so pretty he couldn’t look away.
And when he was with her, he never wanted to look away.
He put the lid on the putty and slid it back into his pocket, but before he could even knock on the door, Esther threw it open. Winnie was propped on her hip, her cheeks red and moist, and she was screaming like a wounded animal. Esther didn’t look much better. Her face was pale and drawn, and it looked as if she might burst into tears any second.
“Cum reu,” she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him into the house. She handed him the baby. “Something’s wrong with Winnie, and you need to drive us to the hospital.”
Levi took Winnie and immediately bounced up and down in an effort to calm her. “What happened?”
“She cried all day yesterday and just wanted me to hold her. This morning she’s been worse, and she’s got a fever.” Esther pulled a baby thermometer from behind her ear. “I took her temperature. Ninety-nine point two.”
Levi cradled Winnie in his arms and pressed his palm to her forehead. “She does feel warm, but ninety-nine point two isn’t that high. Maybe she’s teething.”
“It’s not that,” Esther said. “I thought of that.” As if she didn’t like his reasoning, she took Winnie from his arms and hugged her tightly. “I gave her some Tylenol, but it doesn’t seem to help. And now look.” She lifted Winnie’s dress to reveal a single red blister on the small of her back.
Levi got closer to take a look. “Did she get bit by a spider?”
“I don’t know,” Esther said, the words escaping her lips with a sob. “I need your help. We need to go to the hospital.”
“Okay,” Levi said. “But we should call a driver. It’s over an hour by buggy. Let’s go to my house. My bruder Ben has a cell phone.”
Esther bit her bottom lip, handed Levi the baby, and marched into the kitchen. He followed her. She opened her fridge, reached into the meat and cheese drawer, and pulled out a cell phone.
Levi cocked an eyebrow. “You keep a cell phone in the fridge?”
“I didn’t want anybody to know, but I have a baby now. I need a quick way to get ahold of the fire department or the police. And this is one of those times.”
Esther might have felt a little guilty for owning a cell phone, but to Levi, it seemed like a pretty sensible thing to have. “Good for you.”
She glanced at him in surprise before flipping open the phone and dialing the number. “Hello, Cathy? Winnie is sick. Is there any way you could drive us to the hospital? Oh . . . okay. Really. That’s too bad . . . Thank you so much.” Esther closed her phone. “She says her estrogen’s out of balance.”
“Is she coming?”
“As far as I know, you can still drive with an estrogen imbalance.” Esther patted Winnie’s cheek. “Poor baby. Let me get you a tissue.” Winnie calmed down a bit in Levi’s arms. Esther wiped Winnie’s nose and face, then handed Levi a bottle. “See if she’ll eat anything while we wait.”
Levi sat down at the kitchen table and tucked Winnie into the crook of his elbow. She took the bottle but whimpered every few seconds as if to remind them she was not feeling well.
Esther sat next to him and chewed her thumbnail. “I’m glad you’re here. I didn’t know what to do.”
“You seem to be doing fine,” he said, because she was. She just needed more faith in herself.
She shrugged. “I feel better with you here. I can worry myself sick while you hold the baby. It’s harder to do both jobs at once.”
Winnie let out a wail as if she’d just bitten her tongue. Levi laid her over his shoulder and patted her back. “There, there, Winter. It’s okay. We’ll be to the doctor soon enough, and you’ll feel so much better. Unless he gives you a shot.”
Esther shushed Levi. “Cover her ears if you’re going to use such talk. She’s upset enough as it is.”
Winnie calmed down enough for Levi to feed her more of the bottle. He peered at Esther across the table. She looked exhausted. “Did you get any sleep last night?”
Esther pressed her hand to her forehead. “Nae. Winnie was up every few hours crying. I should have taken her into the emergency room in the middle of the night, but I didn’t want to wake Cathy, and I didn’t want to go by myself.” Her eyebrows inched together. “I should have taken her in. What was I thinking? I should have taken her in.”
“Nae. You did the right thing.”
Esther stood and paced around the small kitchen. “I didn’t want to go alone. How could I be so selfish?”
“Esther, you’re not selfish. Winnie didn’t sleep well, but she wouldn
’t have slept at all in the hospital. Babies need rest most of all when they’re sick. My mamm wouldn’t have taken her in.”
Esther looked up from her pacing and stopped. “She wouldn’t have?”
“Mamm has twelve kinner. She doesn’t take them to the doctor unless there’s a bone sticking out of their arm.”
One side of Esther’s mouth curled upward. “How many times has that happened?”
“You don’t want to know.”
Esther fingered the thermometer at her ear. “Do you think I gave her an alligator disease from the reptile park? I washed my hands really well after I held that baby alligator, but maybe not well enough.”
“I don’t think there’s such a thing as an alligator disease,” Levi said, trying hard not to smile. He didn’t want her to think he was laughing at her. He loved how conscientious Esther was. Her concern was adorable, if a little overanxious.
“Ach. I’m sure there are alligator diseases. That’s why they have to wrestle the alligators, to give them medicine. The man at the reptile park said so. Weren’t you listening?”
In truth, Levi had been watching Esther listen and hadn’t paid much attention to anything but her the whole time. But she didn’t need to know that. She’d get her hopes up, and no matter what, he was going to Ohio for a young fraa. He swallowed past the lump in his throat. Why didn’t Ohio seem as exciting as it had only a few weeks ago? It was almost as if he didn’t want to go anymore, but he didn’t see how that could be possible. He’d been wanting to go to Ohio for months. There was nobody for him here.
“You washed your hands,” Levi said, “and if Winnie has an alligator disease, you and I and everybody else there that day should have gotten it too.”
Esther thought about that for a second and nodded. “I suppose you’re right. Maybe it was something I fed her. I let her try rice cereal on Monday. Do you think she’s allergic?”
“Did she like it?”
“She thought it was nasty. I tasted it and thought it was nasty too. I won’t feed my baby something I’m not willing to eat myself. She’s never getting that again, and not just because she might be allergic.”
Levi gazed at Winnie’s face. Esther had called her “my baby.” That was the first time he’d ever heard her say that. “Allergies don’t usually cause fevers.”
“So maybe it wasn’t the rice cereal.” She glanced at the clock on the wall. It had pictures of different quilt blocks where the numbers were supposed to be, and it said, “Time to Quilt.” “I’m going to pack the diaper bag so we can leave as soon as Cathy gets here. And I’ll grab the car seat.”
Winnie drank about half the bottle, but she fussed more than she ate. It was plain she wasn’t feeling well. A car honked in front of the house. “Esther,” Levi called. “She’s here.”
Esther met him in the front hall with the diaper bag and the car seat. “Okay. Let’s go. Denki for coming with me.”
Levi carried Winnie out to the car, and Esther strapped the car seat in the middle of the back seat and then buckled Winnie into the seat. Esther had bought the car seat a month ago, and Mary Jane had spent half an hour one day giving Esther lessons on how to use it. Esther was very gute at buckling it now. Levi and Esther climbed in the back on either side of Winnie.
Cathy didn’t seem any worse for wear because of her hormone imbalance. She turned and sort of smiled at both of them. “What’s wrong with the little one? Do I need to speed?”
“Don’t speed,” Esther said, laying her hands in her lap. “But if you wouldn’t mind driving as quickly as possible, I would appreciate it.”
Cathy pulled onto the road. “Has she got the flu?”
Esther shook her head. “She has a fever, and she’s been crying and fussing all day. This morning I found a tiny red bump on her back, like maybe she was bitten by a spider.”
Cathy pulled the car over not a hundred feet from Esther’s house. “Can I see it?”
Esther’s gaze flicked to Levi. “We’d . . . I’d have to take her out of her seat. I’d like to get to the hospital as soon as possible.”
Cathy turned off the car, and Levi could feel Esther’s annoyance along with her undercurrent of panic. “Let me take a look. I might be able to save you three hundred dollars.”
“I don’t care about the money,” Esther said.
Cathy got out of the car. “Spoken like a true and loving mother. Good for you.”
Levi felt like he needed to speak up for Esther’s sake. “Can’t you take us to the hospital and then we’ll show you the bump?” Esther gave him a grateful smile that unexpectedly took his breath away.
Cathy opened the back door. “That’s how they get your money. I once went in with a sore arm, and eight thousand dollars later, I left with a stent.” She held out her arms, and Esther was obligated to unbuckle Winnie and pull her out of her car seat. The sooner Cathy was satisfied, the sooner they could go to the hospital. Esther handed the baby to Cathy, and Cathy pressed her cheek to Winnie’s. “She’s definitely warm. Let’s take a look at this bump.” She propped Winnie on her shoulder, lifted her dress, and took a look at the spot. Then she turned her around and lifted her dress away from her tummy. There were four more spots.
Esther gasped. “It’s spreading. We need to get to the hospital right now.”
Cathy handed Winnie back to Esther. “I’ll take you wherever you want to go, honey, but you don’t have to see a doctor. Winnie’s got the chicken pox. All four of my children had them. I’m lucky I got my shingles shot. It gets in the air, you know.”
Esther’s mouth fell open. She looked from Cathy to Levi and back again. “Chicken pox? Where would she have gotten chicken pox? Not from alligators, right?”
Cathy scrunched her nose. “What about alligators?”
“We went to an alligator farm a few days ago,” Levi offered.
Cathy almost smiled. “Up there past Alamosa? I love that place.”
Esther clung to Winnie as if chicken pox was the worst disease ever. Winnie began to fuss again. “But where did she get chicken pox?”
Cathy leaned her hands on the top of the door and peered into the back seat. “It’s hard to say. Winnie could have been exposed two or three weeks ago. That’s the problem with chicken pox. You think you’re okay, and then, bam, you break out in spots. Has she played with anybody who had the chicken pox?”
Esther patted Winnie on the back. “I don’t think so.”
Cathy nodded as if she knew everything. “I’d check with all the parents of the kids who’ve been around your baby. You could probably get one of them to confess.”
Esther frowned. She took Winnie to gmay every other week, and sometimes Winnie played with Mary Jane’s girls or Levi’s little sister. Esther smoothed her hand down Winnie’s dress over and over again. “What do we do about chicken pox?”
“Well, for one thing, you don’t need to see a doctor,” Cathy said. “There’s nothing the doctor can do except take your money. The last time I went in for a cold, they scheduled me for a colonoscopy.”
“She doesn’t need a doctor?”
Cathy shut Esther’s door, opened her own door, and climbed back into the car. “Children have been getting chicken pox for as long as there’ve been children. Just make sure she drinks a lot of liquids.” She started the car. “I’ll drop you two off at the house, and then I’ll go to the store for some supplies. Juice and oatmeal and calamine lotion. You put oatmeal in her bath. That helps the itching. So does the calamine lotion. Keep it on those spots. Give her Tylenol. Do you have baby Tylenol?”
Esther nodded.
“Do you have baby-sized mittens?”
“No,” Esther said. “Do I need mittens?”
“You don’t want her to scratch the rash. She could get an infection. I’ll see what I can find at the store, but I don’t think they’ll have mittens in June. You could always put socks on her hands, but I’m not sure she won’t pull them off.” Cathy turned the car around and drove the hundred
feet back to Esther’s house. “I suppose she’ll pull mittens off just as easy as socks, so I won’t look real hard for mittens.”
Esther seemed to feel better, which was quite a surprise, considering Cathy’s gruff manner. Cathy seemed so completely unsympathetic about anything. But maybe that was what made Esther feel better. If Cathy wasn’t frantic or even all that concerned, maybe Esther figured she didn’t need to be either. “Oh, thank you, Cathy,” Esther said. “I’m still sad that Winnie is sick, but I don’t feel like such a bad mother.”
Cathy put the car in park and turned a stern eye to Esther. “Never judge your mothering skills by something you have no control over. Babies get sick. Babies get grumpy and whiny. You’re a good mother if you love them and take care of them and keep your head when things get hard. You’re doing fine, Esther. We all know who the bad mother is, and it’s not you. Let’s just hope your sister develops a mother’s heart before she comes back.”
To Levi’s surprise, Esther’s expression wilted like a daisy in the desert. “Oh. Yes. Thank you for driving us, Cathy.”
“Call me anytime. I’m an old lady. I like to feel useful. I’ll be back with those supplies.”
Levi unbuckled the car seat and grabbed the diaper bag while Esther carried Winnie into the house. “Well,” he said when they stepped into the front hall, “that was a short trip.”
“I want to take her temperature again.” Esther went into Winnie’s room and laid Winnie on the bed. She undressed Winnie down to her diaper and took the thermometer from behind her ear. “Look,” she said. “More spots.”
Winnie did indeed have more spots around her neck and stomach. “That can’t feel gute.”
Esther put the end of the thermometer under Winnie’s arm and held it there until it beeped. “One hundred and one,” she said. “I’m going to give her some more Tylenol and then I want to give her an oatmeal bath. I have some oatmeal. We don’t need to wait for Cathy.”
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