Besides, her boys would be home soon, and he needed time with his own daughter.
The kinner had to come first.
Chapter Nine
As Elias pulled up to the Swarey farm, Violet stood outside on the grass, her feet bare and her gaze steely. He knew that look, and Elias couldn’t help but sigh. The boys had returned, too, from their supper out with cousins. They sat outside on the step looking bored, and all five sets of teenage eyes turned toward the buggy as he reined in the horse.
“The boys don’t look happy,” Delia murmured.
“Neither does my daughter.”
They exchanged a look, and he tied off the reins. The kinner might not look happy, but they didn’t know the pain their mamm carried in her heart tonight, either. “Is there anything else I can do to make your evening easier?”
“No, you’ve done so much already,” Delia replied. “I’ll be all right. Danke for being here for me today. It was kind.”
“It’s where I wanted to be,” he said.
Delia dropped her gaze. He sounded like he was flirting, he knew, but he wasn’t. Of course he’d help her! She was his parents’ neighbor, an old friend...a new friend. And she was starting to feel like a confidante, too, and someone he wanted to stay in contact with once he headed home again... But they had an irritated audience, and there was no time to say more tonight.
“You weren’t home when we got here,” Moses said, standing up from his seat on the step. “Where were you?”
The last thing Delia needed tonight was her sons talking back to her. She had enough on her shoulders.
“Hey,” Elias said, letting his voice carry. “I know you boys don’t like me stepping out with your mamm, but you watch how you talk to her.”
“That was rather rude, Moses,” Ezekiel said.
“Sorry, Mamm,” the boy muttered.
“I had to go help your mammi,” Delia said. “She’s not feeling herself lately, and Dawdie Joseph asked for my help.”
Expressions changed then. The boys jumped up and those angry looks changed to worry. They’d have a lot to talk about as a family that wasn’t really Elias’s business.
He allowed his fingers to linger over Delia’s hand, and she cast him a grateful look, then pulled her fingers free and jumped down from the buggy.
“I thought you had a key to get in the house,” Delia said as she made her way toward the porch.
“We do. We came outside to wait for you. We thought you were on a date,” Thomas said, and he cast a somewhat annoyed look in Elias’s direction. Apparently, all was not forgiven with those suspenders, after all.
“Without telling us!” Moses interjected, his voice trailing off as Delia and her boys headed into the house.
Violet came over to the buggy and hoisted herself up. She landed with a huff on the seat next to him.
“That was a date, wasn’t it?” she said.
“Violet, I gave her a ride to her mother’s home. That’s it.”
But was it? Was he lying to his daughter tonight as well as to himself? Because he’d certainly been more than her ride. He’d been her friend and her comfort, too. Still, kinner couldn’t understand these complexities.
“What’s wrong with her mamm?” Violet asked, her tone softening.
“It’s private family business for them,” Elias said, flicking the reins to turn the buggy around. “Can I trust your discretion?”
Violet’s shoulders straightened. “Of course, Daet.”
“Good. Well, Delia’s mamm is having trouble with her memory—a lot of trouble. She’s going to need to go to a doctor and hopefully the doctor can help her, but it sounds serious to me. And sometimes when older people are struggling, they blame the ones trying to help them.”
“So Delia’s mamm is mad at her for trying to help?” Violet asked.
“It seems that way.”
“Poor Delia...” Violet murmured.
“Yah, poor Delia,” he agreed. Poor Delia, indeed. She took care of so much all by herself, and she never seemed to have a moment just to rest or get her balance back. “Delia will be talking to the boys about it tonight, I’m sure,” he went on. “They shouldn’t hear it from you.”
“I’m not going to say anything,” Violet said. “I’m not a kid.”
Elias smiled faintly. Because she was a kid, but he had to admit that she was quickly growing up.
“I hope when I’m old, I don’t give you a hard time for trying to help me,” he said.
“You’d better not!” Violet said, but she cast him an impish little smile.
As he guided the buggy into his parents’ drive, he looked out over that familiar landscape. He’d grown up here, and while his sister Mary would be raising her own kinner in this little house, this did feel like the end of an era.
“I’ll get older, you know,” Elias said as he reined in the horse. “It’s a fact of life. And no one knows how that will go. Mammi and Dawdie are strong and healthy still. They need my help, but not as much as Delia’s mamm will need. And when I get old, I don’t know if I’ll be strong and healthy—Gott willing—or if I’ll decline faster.”
“Daet, don’t talk about that. You’re the strongest man I know!”
