Mother For His Children, A by Drexler Jan

Author:Drexler, Jan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mills & Boon Love Inspired Historical
Published: 2014-10-15T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Levi slid into the welcome warmth of the cowshed, chilled after the short walk through the frigid evening. The cold was always strongest this time of year, just before they could expect the first thaws in late February. He lit the lantern hanging on the nail just inside the door and started on his nightly round.

The milk cows, Milly and Kitty, didn’t move as he walked past their pen. They both lay in their straw bed with their legs folded under them, eyes closed and chewing their cud. Moolah was up in the calving pen, standing over her sleeping calf. He stopped to rub the cow’s forehead.

“You did a good job, giving us a heifer calf, Moolah. Good girl.” He grinned at his own words. Wasn’t it a silly thing to be talking to a cow?

He went on through the door into the barn cellar, shining the light into each horse’s stall, and then into the pigsty. The animals looked at him with sleepy eyes, used to his nightly visits. All was well.

He retraced his steps to the cowshed, pausing to give Moolah another pat. Was it just last night that he and Ruth had worked together to help the cow past her crisis? He had held no thought of marriage than beyond a passing whim, but ever since Deacon Beachey’s visit this morning the idea had taken hold of him. His first thought had been that marriage to Ruth would solve his problems, but the more he considered the idea, the less he thought about anything but what a wonderful-gut wife she would be.

And then she had given him her conditions.

Could he live with her, knowing that in the eyes of the church they were man and wife, but at home they were no closer than brother and sister? Could he go through the motions of every day knowing he had the right—but restrain himself from even kissing her?

Levi leaned on the top rail of the calving stall, his shoulders slumped.

He could hope she would change her mind, that her feelings for him would grow, but what if they didn’t? There had been someone else...that nameless man back in Pennsylvania. She claimed she no longer loved him, but why else would she consider a marriage like the one she had proposed? Could he marry her, knowing she loved someone else? Could he love her...?

Levi rubbed his forehead, willing the tension to leave.

Did he love her? If he did, it was nothing like the easy camaraderie he and Salome had shared. When he was with Ruth, he wanted much more than friendship, but was that love?

Levi gave Moolah a last pat, then blew out the lantern and replaced it on its hook. He pulled his coat tighter and braced himself for the cold walk back to the house. He looked up at the dark bedroom windows. The children were all in bed. The only light shone from the lowered lantern he had left in the kitchen. Even the Dawdi Haus windows were dark.

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