style="font-size:15px;"> Michael whistled a long note. “Talk about coincidences! Who would have guessed you’d find the one who got away here?”
“She’s not the one who got away.”
“Okay, she’s the one who let you get away when you decided to marry Freda instead.” Slapping Gabriel on the shoulder, he asked, “Do you think Leanna wants you back?”
“No.” The answer burst out of him.
Seeing Michael’s gut humor become astonishment, Gabriel didn’t want to hear another lecture on how he should get on with his life. Why did everyone seem to think they could tell him what to do? How many people had told him the bopplin needed a mamm? He was fumbling through each day, trying to be a competent daed as well as a gut business partner for his brother. He wasn’t succeeding at either because he snatched only a few hours of sleep each night. Even on the nights when the twins slept through, his conscience kept him awake with questions about how he could have failed to notice Freda’s despair before she died.
He set the pot aside to cool, then joined his brother at the table, selecting a seat where he could keep an eye on the bopplin. Wanting to talk about anything but Leanna, he asked, “Have you found the rest of our tools yet?”
“Most of them. I dug the nail gun out of a box marked ‘curtains.’” He laughed. “That’s not close!”
Michael didn’t seem to notice when Gabriel remained silent. Had his brother gotten accustomed to Gabriel’s inability to smile and laugh? Gabriel hadn’t been able to remember the last time he’d done either; yet, seeing Leanna today resurrected memories of the times they’d shared a laugh together. It was shocking to think a part of him had died along with Freda, and he hadn’t realized that until he’d looked into Leanna’s wunderbaar eyes and recalled when his biggest concern had been if he’d have the courage to ask her to let him drive her home.
“Have you found someone to take care of the kids while we’re at work?” Michael asked, yanking Gabriel out of his thoughts.
“Not yet.”
“Our job begins a week from yesterday.”
“I know.”
“It’s going to take two of us to get that foundation straight again. Or as straight as we can get it after the garage has been leaning for the past fifty years.”
“I know,” he repeated.
“Benjamin Kuhns—he and his brother run the sawmill—mentioned his sister used to be a nanny for an Englisch family. Maybe she’d be interested in the job.”
“Maybe.” He hated the idea of leaving Harley and Heidi with a stranger.
“How about Leanna? You know her. Do you think she’d be willing to watch the kids?”
“She said she already has a job.”
“Doing what?”
“I didn’t ask.”
Michael arched that expressive eyebrow again. “What did you two talk about? Certainly not about old times.”
“We talked about her selling me her goats’ milch.”
Harley let out a cry and Gabriel jumped to his feet, almost grateful for the interruption despite being worried about why Harley was crying. The boppli was far quieter than his sister, who wanted everyone to know when she was upset.
His anxiety eased when he realized the tiny boy had lost his hold on his toes and was frustrated with trying to capture them again. Kneeling, Gabriel guided Harley’s foot toward his fingers. The boppli grabbed them and gurgled with contentment. Gabriel gave the kinder kisses before standing again.
“You’re going to spoil them,” Michael said with a fake frown. “Aren’t daeds supposed to set rules for their kinder?”
He mumbled something in response. It must have satisfied his brother because Michael turned the discussion to the list of supplies they’d need before they began their first job.
Gabriel went to check on the formula. He kept his back to his brother, not wanting his expression to give any hint to the truth nobody living except him knew. He wasn’t the bopplin’s daed.
Leanna shouldn’t have felt so proud of herself. She was well aware of the fact hochmut was wrong for a plain person, but she couldn’t help congratulating herself for treating Gabriel as she would have any customer.
For the past four days, Gabriel had come to the house every morning to collect milch for his bopplin.
For the past four days, she’d asked him how the kinder were, and if he and Michael were getting settled in their new home.
For the past four days, he’d given her trite answers and she’d accepted them before watching him leave.
All nice and as indifferent as if they’d met for the first time when he came to inquire about purchasing milch. Because, the truth was, she wasn’t sure if he was the same man she’d known two years ago. The thought almost brought an ironic laugh from her as she finished milking the last goat in the pen.
If she’d known Gabriel as well as she’d thought she had two years ago, she wouldn’t have been blindsided by him marrying someone else.
Hearing the rattle of buggy wheels, Leanna pushed her way out of the pen. She put down the buckets to double-check the gate was secured. Goats were escape artists, and she didn’t want to give them any opportunity to sneak out.
Either she was late this morning or Gabriel was early. Usually she had the milch portioned out before he arrived.
She waited to cross the driveway until he’d slowed the black horse pulling his buggy. When he stepped out, he didn’t wave to her. Instead, he turned to look inside the vehicle. Had he brought the bopplin with him? If so, it was the first time since he’d come to see if she’d sell him milch.
Setting the buckets on the back porch, she went to the buggy. Two car seats had been secured to the back bench. She could see tiny wiggling feet, but not their faces because the seats were set so the kinder looked toward the rear. Families carried their littlest kinder on the laps of parents or older siblings. She’d never given any thought to how bopplin would travel with only a driver.
“May I see the twins?” she asked.
“Sure.”
She unlatched the door and started to raise it. When she stood on tiptoe to stretch it over her head, he took it and lifted it up to its full extent. Having him stand so close threatened to sweep her breath away, and she had to focus on breathing in and out so he wouldn’t notice he still had that effect on her. She didn’t want him to think she was a dummkopf for not ridding herself of her attraction for him. If only it were as easy to turn off as the lights on his
