“Of course.”
With a nod, Edna turned and headed for the back porch exit.
Phoebe smoothed her skirt, then moved to the living room, pausing on the threshold as she took in the scene.
The boys had pulled out a cornhole board and were having a rousing game with Kish and Daniel on one side and Levi and Mark on the other. Jesse seemed to be keeping score. And it appeared that several tosses had gone way off course if the items littering the floor were any indication.
Conspicuously absent from the room was Seth. Had Levi been right, was the oldest Beiler in his office?
Levi looked up and spotted her. “Want to join us?” He held out a blue beanbag. “You can take my turn.”
Phoebe was tempted. She felt it was important that she build a relationship with the family outside of her role as housekeeper. But would that be overstepping?
Before she could decide she heard someone coming down the hall.
A moment later Seth showed up. The mood of the room immediately sobered. Seth looked around and she saw his gaze taking in every fallen and misplaced item. For a minute no one said anything.
Then Phoebe spoke up. “This is gut. Seth is here so now the teams are even again.” She met his gaze. “You can join one team and Jesse the other. I’ll keep score.”
There was a moment of complete silence where it felt like his younger brieder were all holding their breaths. Was it so unheard of for Seth to be playful?
Phoebe’s invitation caught Seth completely off guard. The boys had quit inviting him to join them in their games years ago, and he told himself that was how he preferred it. He’d stood as daed to them for so long it was difficult to see himself as anything else. Those days when he was just one of the Beiler boys were so far in the past that he could no longer remember what that had felt like.
But as he was held by Phoebe’s gaze, he saw the innocent expectation in her expression and found himself nodding in spite of himself. And when he was rewarded by a dazzling smile he couldn’t find it in himself to regret it.
“I suppose I can play a game or two.”
“Jesse’s with us,” Levi said immediately.
Seth smiled at Daniel and Kish. “Looks like I’m on your team.”
His brieder smiled a welcome.
Seth hadn’t played cornhole toss—or anything else—in a while but as they progressed he found he was enjoying himself. The camaraderie and good humor filled a hole inside him he hadn’t realized was there. And watching Phoebe, the way she laughed with them and how she cheered for everyone, regardless of whose team scored, was a delight to watch.
But then knowledge of the work he had to do niggled at him and he reluctantly straightened. “The morning will come soon enough. I think we should start winding down for the night.”
There was a bit of mumbled grumbling but the boys began to fold away the cornhole board, a portable set, into a compact unit.
Phoebe moved to pick up some of the items that had been knocked off a side table earlier but Seth stopped her. “We’ll take care of straightening the room. You’ve had a long first day, I’m sure you’re ready to turn in.”
She smiled. “Danke. If you’re sure you don’t need me, I’ll say gut nacht.”
He nodded. “We’ll see you in the morning.”
“Sweet dreams,” Levi added.
Seth cut his bruder an exasperated look but Levi just grinned.
As Seth helped his brieder put the room to rights he thought about the new housekeeper. In some ways Phoebe was like his brieder—she was young, she had a childlike side to her and she seemed eager to please. And she’d handled the meals and cleanup well. It wasn’t her fault she didn’t know about his aversion to copper pennies.
Had she noticed?
Of course she had—after the way his brieder had acted she’d have to be blind and deaf not to. But she’d handled it with gut grace.
Her tendency to spill things was another matter. For now he’d put it down to first-day jitters. But he would keep an eye on her to see if it would be a problem.
As Phoebe made her way to the dawdi haus she thought of the almost boyish way Seth had competed in their cornhole game. She got the impression he didn’t usually join the others in their good-natured fun, which was a shame. He should strive to do more of it, because it looked like he was having a gut time, as did his brieder.
Then her thoughts turned to how her day had gone. All things considered she’d had a gut day. Managing a house full of men and boys was going to be a challenge, but she rather enjoyed the idea of being kept on her toes.
And Seth seemed willing to let her take charge of things around the house, which was an entirely new experience for her. It gave her hope that, given the chance, she could prove she was a capable woman after all.
Phoebe was in the kitchen just before dawn the next morning. But even though the sun hadn’t come up, there were signs she wasn’t the first one in the household to greet the day—the light had been turned on, the coffee had been brewed and there was an empty coffee cup in the sink.
She looked out the window and sure enough there was the glow of a light shining softly from the barn. Someone—and she was sure it would be Seth—was apparently milking the cows. Taking a deep breath, Phoebe turned from the window and went to work getting what she hoped would be a gut breakfast ready.
The Beilers were all hardworking men and boys and they would need something hearty. She checked the contents of the pantry and refrigerator again and decided on potatoes, eggs, sausage and biscuits. Since she would need Edna’s help for the biscuits and the woman hadn’t made an appearance yet, she’d start on the other items.
She washed and peeled the potatoes then cut them up and placed them in a bowl of cool water and set them aside to soak just as she’d seen Mamm do.
Then she fried up the sausage and put it in a shallow bowl lined with paper towels and set it on the back of the stove to stay warm.
Where was Edna? It wasn’t like her to oversleep.
