And before her time was up here in Sweetbrier Creek, she would really like to do what she could to tear that wall down.
Once she was inside, Phoebe went in search of Edna. Earlier in the day the two of them had come up with a list of the basic things that would need to be done to get the house ready for the upcoming service. Then they’d walked through every room on the first and second floors to see if there was anything that required special attention that wasn’t already on the list. Edna, of course, had been in charge of actually writing the list, even though she had to do it left-handed.
Now it was time to look over the basement so they could make note of anything that might need sprucing up or moving out, or requiring extra attention down there.
At the end of the day the list was extensive. There were the normal tasks involved when you were going to give a home a thorough cleaning—scrub the baseboards, floors, counters and fixtures, take the rugs outside to be vigorously beaten, wash the windows and curtains, polish the woodwork and so forth. Added to that were repairing the hems on one pair of curtains, polishing the silverware, getting out the extra pitchers and platters that were used for large gatherings and making sure they were clean.
The list they’d made for Seth included tightening a loose tread on the porch steps, replacing one of the porch rails, repairing two spindles on the banister between the first and second floors, fixing a sticky window sash and taking care of a squeaky tread on the basement stairs, along with a few other odds and ends.
And they had two weeks to complete it all. Gut thing there were six Beiler brieder and her and Edna—it would take all of them to get it done.
That evening at supper, Seth waited until everyone had filled their plates and they were settling down to eat before he cleared his throat to get their attention.
All eyes immediately turned his way. He almost changed his mind. But then he caught Phoebe’s gaze on him—questioning, hopeful, supportive.
“I have a request to make,” he started. “As you’ve probably heard me say, I’ve gotten quite a few more orders for the chess sets this Christmas season than I’d expected. That’s a gut thing since we can use the extra money. But it’s also put me behind schedule.”
“Surely you’re not asking us to make some of the sets for you,” Levi said. “There’s no way we can do half as gut a job as you do.”
“Nee. But I can’t carve any faster than I already do, not without compromising on the quality. Since most of my business is word of mouth, that would be self-defeating.”
“So what are you asking us to do?” Daniel asked quietly.
“Phoebe suggested a way to speed things up that I’d like to try, at least until I’m caught up on the Christmas orders. It’s an assembly-line-type approach to getting the work done. I’d continue to carve the pieces and lay out the boards. But Phoebe has volunteered to line the storage drawers for me. And there are other things, like the staining, polishing, sealing, packaging and such that someone else could do.”
There was silence for a moment—no one spoke, no one ate or drank, they just stared at him. Then all of a sudden, they were all speaking at once, volunteering to handle various aspects of the process, even arguing over who would do what.
Seth sat back and let the talk swirl around him. He hadn’t admitted, even to himself, that he’d expected his brieder to be less than enthusiastic about helping him out. They all had their own chores to tend to and to be honest none of them had ever seemed to take much interest in his craft.
Was that because he hadn’t given them reason to, had shut them out of that part of his life?
He finally allowed himself to meet Phoebe’s gaze. She was looking at him with understanding and perhaps a bit of an I-told-you-so edge. Which he supposed he deserved.
Phoebe found herself humming as she did the dishes. She’d suspected, given time, Seth would come around, but it felt gut to be proven correct so quickly. This would work out for the gut of everyone involved, she was sure of it.
“You seem to be in a pleasant mood.”
Phoebe looked over her shoulder to see Edna standing in the doorway.
“I am,” she said as she turned back to the basin of dishes. “It’s been a gut day.”
“Did you perhaps have something to do with that surprising request Seth made at supper tonight?”
“I don’t see how Seth requesting help from his brieder would be so surprising.”
“It’s not something he’s done before. And you didn’t answer my question.”
She should have known Edna was not one to be put off. “I may have said something to him about there being a way he could work better to make those deadlines he was so worried about.”
“And he actually listened to you. That’s gut.”
Something about Edna’s tone struck Phoebe as odd. But when she turned around to look at her friend, she couldn’t read anything in her expression. Had it just been her imagination?
“What do you mean?”
“Just what I said—it’s gut that Seth took your advice on this. Change is difficult for him.”
Phoebe nodded and turned back to her work. But there’d been just the hint of a satisfied smile on Edna’s face that made her think there was something else on her friend’s mind.
Chapter 20
Tuesday midmorning Phoebe entered the kitchen to see Seth leaning against the counter, a cup of coffee in hand. “Sorry if I kept you waiting. I wanted to retrieve something from my room.”
He shrugged, seeming unconcerned by her tardiness. “I needed this coffee anyway.”
She noted the stack of mail near his elbow. Edna must have gotten it early today.
He set the coffee cup in the sink and straightened. “Ready?”
She nodded and moved to the door.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?”
She turned to see him holding up the notebook that held the shopping list. He tore out the top sheet of paper and handed it to her. “Here. You’ll need this if you don’t want to miss anything.”
