Seth was in the mudroom getting ready to head outside. He paused buttoning his jacket and looked up to see Phoebe facing him, her hand kneading her apron. His brieder had already scattered for the morning and Edna had headed back to the dawdi haus so it was just him and her in this part of the house.
“Of course. What is it?” Why did she look so nervous?
“In a few minutes I’m going to go call my daed and tell him I need the addresses, just as we discussed last nacht. Then I’ll call back in an hour so he or Mamm can find the addresses and give them to me.”
He thought he knew what this was about. “If you’re asking permission to use the phone, I already said last night—”
“Nee.” She took a breath and lifted her chin. “When I call back, would you mind going with me? I need someone to write down the information. I’d try to memorize the addresses but I’m afraid I might mess up.”
Seth mentally kicked himself. He should have realized that would be an issue for her. Being forced to ask for help this way couldn’t have been easy. So he answered as matter-of-factly as he could. “I can do that. Just come by the workshop when you’re ready.” He grinned. “I may lose track of time.”
He saw some of the tension ease from her demeanor.
“Danke. I know you’re very busy—hopefully this won’t take too much of your time.”
He gave her a self-deprecating smile. “No doubt I’ll be ready for a little break by the time you need me.”
As Seth made his exit he wondered about the protective urge she kept bringing out in him. He’d like to say it was because she was in his care while she was here but he knew it was more than that.
He thought of the way she’d looked as she’d asked for a favor. Unhappy about having to ask but willing to put her fears aside and push through to do what needed to be done.
He finally decided it was that odd mix of vulnerability and courage that tugged at him, made him want to slay her dragons. Or in her case, stand beside her to slay those dragons together. Because she always seemed ready to face her problems head-on.
About five minutes before the scheduled call time, Phoebe stepped into Seth’s workshop.
“Be with you in a moment,” he called out without looking up.
She took advantage of his attention on his work to watch him at his craft. He was totally focused on what he was doing—the vertical lines between his eyebrows were pronounced, his gaze was locked on his carving and his head was bent over his work. But it was his hands that captured her attention. The sight of his large, callused hands that could somehow make such sure, delicate movements as he brought the dark king to life from the cylinder of wood was fascinating, mesmerizing. As he paused to run his thumb across the surface of the wood, she saw a faded scar that she hadn’t noticed before—what was the story behind it?
When he finally sat back she moved farther into the room. “Is this a gut time?”
“Jah.” Seth set the piece and his gouge down, stood and worked the kinks out of his neck and back. Then he grabbed a small notepad and pencil from his worktable.
“Let’s go, we don’t want to keep your eldre waiting.”
The wind had picked up and Phoebe pulled her coat closer as they tromped down the drive. Seth thoughtfully adjusted his long stride to match her shorter one.
“I appreciate you taking time away from your work to do this for me.”
“Glad to do it. I needed a bit of fresh air to clear my head anyway.”
When they arrived at the phone shanty Phoebe ignored the bench and stood in the middle of the small shelter to place her call. It only rang twice before her mamm answered.
“Phoebe, is that you?”
“Hello, Mamm.”
“Ach, it’s so gut to hear your voice. Have you been getting on okay? Are you ready to come home yet?”
Phoebe winced but tried to keep her irritation out of her voice. “I’m doing well. And I’ll be home for a visit on Christmas Eve, just like we planned.”
“A visit.” There was a definite note of disappointment in her mamm’s voice. “So Edna isn’t healed yet?”
Stay positive. “Not entirely. She has a doctor visit sometime this week I believe. That’ll tell us how long I’ll be needed here.” She made a mental note to remember to ask Edna just when her appointment was.
“Well, at least a hurt arm doesn’t affect her ability to give you direction. I’m sure that’s been a blessing to you.”
Phoebe decided not to respond to that and instead got down to business. “Did you get the addresses I needed?”
“Jah. These are for Christmas cards, ain’t so?”
“They are.”
She heard a deep sigh come over the line. “Rhoda and I are working on ours. I certainly miss those pretty little touches you contributed in the past.” Then she added, “But Rhoda is a gut artist, her drawings are wunderbaar.”
“That’s nice.” And she meant it. Now that she’d put some time and distance between her and her familye she could see that Mamm needed a dochder she felt comfortable sharing the running of the household with. And it would never be her. “Are you ready with the addresses?”
“Jah, I have them right here. I can read them to you if you’re ready. And I can go over them as many times as you need me to so you can memorize them.”
Her irritation faded. Mamm might think of her as a kinner, but she was patient and loving still. “Danke, but that won’t be necessary. I have someone here who will write it down for me. His name is Seth Beiler and I’m going to give him the phone now so you can speak directly to him.” And with that she passed the receiver to Seth.
As soon as Seth began speaking to her mamm Phoebe realized she should have swapped places with him and stepped outside the shanty, no matter how cold and windy it was. With him drawing closer to be able to hear her mamm and write the information down, the shanty quickly felt crowded. They weren’t touching exactly, but his presence seemed to fill the small space and she had nowhere to go.
She was surrounded by the scent of wood and stain and him, by the sound of his rich voice, by the sight of his strong hands flowing fluidly across the paper as he wrote down the addresses. Where the shanty had felt cold a moment ago, Phoebe now found it almost uncomfortably warm. She had to fight to control her breathing, to not let it turn into gasps.
These feelings were new, unexpected, unsettling. What was wrong with her?
