The Storekeeper's Daughter by Wanda E. Brunstetter

seat on the edge of her bed, pulled the pins from her hair, and brushed the golden brown waves cascading across her shoulders. Tomorrow was an off-Sunday, and there would be no church. Maybe she could get caught up on her rest, since they had no company coming and no plans to go calling.
    Zach stirred from his crib across the room, and Naomi went to check on him. He’d kicked off the covers, exposing his bare feet.
    “Sleep well, little one, and may your days ahead be trouble free,” Naomi murmured as she pulled the boy’s quilt over his body. The quilt Mama made before Zach was born . It’s all my little brother has of our mamm now. Naomi’s nose burned with unshed tears. I won’t cry. There’s been enough tears already. She leaned over and kissed the baby’s forehead, then tiptoed across the room.
    Letting the weight of exhaustion settle over her body like a heavy blanket, she flopped onto her bed. As soon as her eyes closed, a vision of Caleb came to mind. What would it be like if they could marry and start a family? Would she be happier raising her own children than taking care of her siblings?
    “Guess I’ll never know,” she murmured before drifting off to sleep.
    ***
    Holding a single red rose in one hand and his lunch pail in the other, Jim stepped into the kitchen. “Honey, I’m home!”
    When there was no response, he decided Linda might be upstairs taking a nap. She’d been doing that a lot lately, and he suspected it had something to do with her depression over not having a baby.
    “That’s about to change.” He dropped his lunch pail on the counter, opened the door under the sink, retrieved a small glass vase, and inserted the rose. Eager to share his good news, he headed upstairs.
    As Jim expected, he found his wife on the bed. She wasn’t sleeping, though—just lying there staring at the ceiling.
    He bent over and kissed Linda’s forehead, then held up the rose.
    “What’s that for?”
    “We’re celebrating.”
    “Celebrating what?”
    “Our lawyer, Max, called this afternoon, saying a young woman in Bel Air, Maryland, has agreed to give us her son. If you’re agreeable, we can head east by the end of next week. That’ll give me time to get some jobs lined out and be sure my foreman knows what to do in my absence.”
    Linda sat up, her eyes wide and her mouth open. “A baby? We’re finally going to get a baby?”
    “Not exactly a baby. He’s a year old, but—”
    “A year isn’t that old, Jim. He’s almost a baby,” she said excitedly.
    Jim smiled. “I was hoping you’d see it that way.”
    She clambered off the bed. “The end of next week, you said?”
    “I think we can be ready by then, don’t you?”
    She nodded and wrapped her arms around him, almost crushing the rose. “Will we fly or drive?”
    “I thought it would be best if we drove. It’s been several years since we’ve had a real vacation, and we can see a few things on our way to and from.”
    Linda rushed over to their closet and pulled out a suitcase. “There’s so much to do between now and then. I’ll need to pack, make motel reservations in Maryland, buy some baby things, get the nursery ready—”
    “Whoa! Slow down, sweetie. I’ll take care of the motel reservations, we can go shopping together, and you can pack. How’s that sound?”
    She grinned, reminding him of the carefree young woman he’d married eight years ago. “This is going to be the best vacation ever!”
    “Yeah, I think so, too.”
    ***
    Naomi stood at the stove, stirring a pan full of scrambled eggs. Papa, Matthew, Norman, and Jake were still outside doing chores. Samuel and Mary Ann had gone to the henhouse to gather eggs. Zach sat in his high chair across the room, while Nancy spoon-fed him cereal.
    “Is breakfast ready yet?” Nancy asked. “I’m so hungry I might start eating the boppli’s mush.”
    Naomi chuckled. “The eggs will be done soon. I think you can wait.”
    “Since there’s no preaching today, can