Seth frowned. “Where are you going?”
Levi grabbed his dishes and headed for the sink. “I need to head out. Onkel Uri asked us to arrive at the pickup point thirty minutes early today.”
“You should have said something last night.” Seth tried to keep the annoyance from his voice. “We could have adjusted our schedule so you didn’t have to eat on the go.”
Levi was already at the counter, giving his breakfast dishes a suspiciously quick wash. They had a standing rule that everyone carried their dishes to the counter. And on days when they were without a housekeeper everyone did their own dishes. Whoever cooked cleaned the pots and serving pieces.
“No point in making everyone adjust their schedule for me.” Levi grabbed the lunch pail he’d apparently filled earlier. “See you all this evening.” And without further explanation he was out the door.
The rest of his brieder powered through their breakfasts with more haste than manners.
In no time at all, Jesse and Kish had headed out to school, Daniel had headed to his job at their neighbor John Fretz’s orchard, and Mark had left for Calvin Detweiler’s woodworking shop, where he apprenticed for four and a half hours a day.
Which left Seth standing in the kitchen alone. Since Mark had been in a hurry to get to work, Seth had volunteered to wash the pans and serving dishes, and he tackled that now. Sometimes he felt more like a housekeeper than a bruder in this place.
Then he gave his head a mental shake. In truth he was a surrogate parent and this was all part of that role. He should consider it hands-on training for when he had kinner of his own.
Then he grimaced. He hadn’t considered having kinner to be a priority, not even when he’d married Dinah. After all, he had five half brieder to raise. But they were getting older now—and so was he—and he sometimes wondered what it might be like.
Chapter 4
Later that morning, Seth wiped his hands on a rag as he studied the patched water trough. So far so good. Hopefully it would hold this time.
He removed his hat and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. This particular chore hadn’t been on his list when he got up this morning, but few days went just the way he planned them lately.
The sound of approaching footsteps caught his attention. He squinted against the morning sun then replaced his hat. It was Edna—did that mean she was feeling better? Then he frowned. She was coming up the drive rather than from the direction of the dawdi haus. Had she been out for a walk? Perhaps she was suffering from cabin fever—even at sixty-nine and with an injury he knew she didn’t like being inactive.
He stood, remaining where he was, waiting for her to draw near.
“Gut matin,” he said. “I hope this means you’re feeling better.”
She nodded but didn’t waste time on pleasantries. “There’s something I need to speak to you about.”
“It sounds serious.” Seth’s chest tightened. She was going to quit and return to her shveshtah’s home or back to her own in Bergamot, he could feel it.
The older woman nodded without smiling. “It is. Do you mind if we go to the house where we can sit?”
“Of course.” He swept a hand in the general direction of the house. “After you.”
He and his brieder would have to shoulder the household chores full-time. He didn’t look forward to having to tell them. And beyond that, he was going to miss having her around—they all would. She’d been more than a housekeeper, she was familye.
As they moved past the dawdi haus, Seth’s thoughts scrambled for ways to handle this latest setback. Could he talk Edna into staying another week to train them on the proper way to do laundry and some of the other tasks? Their play-it-by-ear approach hadn’t always provided the best results.
Once inside, he waved her toward a seat at the table then sat across from her and folded his arms. Best not to draw this out with small talk. “I take it you’re leaving us.”
She smiled for the first time since she’d come up the drive. “Nee. I told you I’d help out as long as I was in Sweetbrier Creek and I’m a woman of my word.”
Some of the tension that had built inside Seth uncoiled. “Then what is it?”
“I’ve been wondering, it’s been nearly five years since Dinah passed. Why haven’t you found a new fraa?”
He stiffened again. “Forgive me, but I can’t see where that’s something we should be discussing.”
“Just humor your nosy old aenti. You can obviously use a helpmeet here, someone who’s more than a housekeeper with a life of her own elsewhere.” She gave him a direct look. “While I’ve enjoyed working with you and your brieder, I’ll have to return to my home in Bergamot eventually. A fraa seems like the obvious solution.”
Why was she pursuing this? “And one day I’m sure I will find someone.”
She studied him a moment. “Are you still mourning Dinah after all this time?”
“Nee. I mean, jah, I miss her. And my brieder do, too, I’m sure. She was with us for four years and we were all better when she was around.”
“I see. Given that you just said you and your brieder were better when you had a fraa in the house, what’s holding you back?”
How could she possibly think this was any of her business? “Courting takes time and effort and I have little to spare of either.”
Edna waved her gut hand dismissively. “If you wait for the perfect time it will never come. I think it’s something you should really think about.”
He was ready to put an end to this very uncomfortable discussion. “I will. Now, if there’s nothing else, I need to get back to work.” Why would she have called him in to discuss so personal a topic?
“There was one other thing.”
Smothering a sigh, he settled back down in his seat.
“I have a gut friend back in Bergamot, Phoebe Kropf.”
She’d come here to discuss a friend? Then he sat up straighter. Could this friend of Edna’s be a potential housekeeper he could hire? He hadn’t thought of looking outside the community but that was actually a gut idea. Someone with a fresh perspective might be just the thing.
“Phoebe’s family is related to my Ivan so I’ve known her for a long time. Phoebe was wonderful kind to me and Ivan when he got so sick. She spent many hours sitting by his bedside with me, providing comfort and support.”
