“Danke, I couldn’t agree more,” Elias said, then he sobered. “I heard about Zeke. I’m sorry, Delia.”
“Danke, but you understand that pain. I heard about Wanda,” she replied. They’d both lost their spouses in the last few years.
“Yah, it’s been...hard.” Elias looked down at his daughter, then sighed. “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away.”
“Blessed be the name of the Lord,” Delia murmured, completing the Scripture reference. “It’s not always so easy to accept it, though, is it?”
“Not at all,” he agreed. “I’m sorry to bring up sad topics. My daughter and I are here in Redemption helping my parents move to my sister Dina’s place. They just built a new dawdie hus, and my parents will be much more comfortable over there. My other sister Mary and her husband are taking over this house, so there’s a lot to prepare.”
“She mentioned that,” Delia replied. “I was talking with your mother about it not so long ago, and I thought there was another month still. But we’ve been so busy here with flower orders for some big chain stores that I think the time got away from me. Without Zeke, it falls to me and the boys to keep it all running, and I’ll admit it hasn’t been easy.”
Violet sent Delia a hopeful look that made the girl suddenly look younger, and Delia’s heart melted. With four boys of her own, she had a soft place in her heart for little girls. She’d hoped to enlarge her family with a daughter before Zeke died, but it hadn’t been Gott’s will.
“Elias, Violet mentioned she might have some free time to help me out around here,” Delia said, casting the girl a smile. “I don’t know if you’d be okay with it, but if she’d be willing to help me and the boys with some garden work, I’d pay her for her time.”
Violet’s smile was a grateful one. What could Delia say? She’d enjoy having a girl around here, too. Being the mamm of four boys left her perpetually outnumbered, and while Violet wouldn’t exactly even things out, it would be nice, all the same.
As if on cue, Delia’s two middle boys, Thomas and Aaron, came out of a greenhouse and headed in their direction. Their gloves were dirty, and they wore rubber boots. They’d been watering the more delicate rose bushes. She smiled indulgently in their direction.
“Meet two of my boys,” Delia said. “This is Thomas—he’s fifteen—and Aaron, who’s fourteen.” The boys arrived at the house then. “Boys, meet Violet Lehman. She’s the daughter of my friend, Elias.”
Thomas and Aaron exchanged a look, not to be distracted by a girl, apparently, because they then eyed Elias suspiciously.
“Is this a friend like the man from Bird in Hand?” Aaron asked, lowering his voice, but still loud enough to be heard by Elias, and Delia felt her face heat.
“No, Aaron. Not like that. This is Judith and Bernard’s son and granddaughter.”
“Oh, good,” Thomas said, shaking his head. “Sorry. There have been some men interested in courting our mamm. Just making sure you weren’t one of them.”
“Thomas!” Delia gave him an annoyed look. “I don’t have a lineup of men asking for my hand. You make one or two callers sound like a flock!”
“There were three of them,” Aaron countered.
“Over a span of two years,” Delia replied, and she looked over at Elias to find an amused smile tickling his lips.
“Daet, can I work for Delia?” Violet asked earnestly.
Delia was glad for the distraction from this current direction the conversation had taken.
“Working with boys?” Elias said, and he looked about ready to shake his head in the negative.
“I’ll have to work with boys when I get a real job, Daet,” Violet said, and she darted a cautious look in Delia’s sons’ direction. “And these ones seem decent enough. Their mamm looks like she’d keep them in line.”
Aaron’s freckled face blushed red then, and Thomas barked out a laugh. “Our mamm is downright terrifying.”
“I am not!” Delia said, shaking a finger at them. “You two, get back to work! We’ve got lots to do.”
Thomas shot her a grin that never ceased to soften her up, and Aaron eyed Violet once more as if he didn’t quite know what to make of her. But they did as they were told and headed back in the direction of the greenhouses.
Delia let her gaze move over the rows of greenhouses to the flower plots beyond—row upon row of lavender, daisies, chrysanthemums and baby’s breath had come into bloom. The color and the scent drew tourists in from the side of the road, and they’d take pictures.
“What kind of work do you need her to do?” Elias asked.
“She’d have to take direction from the boys,” Delia said. “They’re watering plants and adding fertilizer. Soon enough we’ll be picking stems for a large flower order. It’s careful work—we can’t be damaging the blooms—but I’m sure she can do it.”
Violet shot her a relieved smile. She’d probably thought that Delia was going to offer her housework. Well, Delia wouldn’t mind an opportunity to tidy up her own kitchen for a change from the outdoor work.
“Well...” Elias sighed. “Okay, if you’re offering her the work.”
“Aaron! Thomas!” Delia called. The boys turned. “Take Violet with you and show her what she can do to help out, would you? You can get her a pair of my rubber boots and one of my aprons!”
“Danke!” Violet said with a brilliant smile, and she jogged off in the boys’ direction.
“You don’t have to worry about my sons,” Delia said. “They are well-raised boys, I can assure you. My oldest, Ezekiel, already has a girlfriend of his own. And my youngest is only eleven. You’ve seen the biggest danger just now.”
Elias nodded. “I have a feeling your boys would be good kinner.” He looked in the direction of his daughter’s receding form as she ambled next to the boys toward the largest greenhouse. The aprons and boots were kept there. “Did she come asking for work?”
“Yah, she did,” Delia replied. “I guess she’s eager to make her own money.”
Elias nodded slowly, then stopped nodding and shook his head. “She’s had a hard time since her mamm passed. She’s got her own way of seeing things.”
“How has she been dealing with it all?” Delia asked.
“She’s gotten rebellious.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Me, too. I only want to keep her safe.”
