“I can tie a few bows into shape so you can keep assembling the other parts,” Sadie volunteered.
“Denki, but this is my job. You’ve got your hands full enough yourself.”
“Please,” Sadie pleaded.
Maria smiled knowingly. “Do you have a case of cabin fever already?” she asked. Without waiting for an answer, she handed Sadie a spool of ribbon, and to the children’s delight, she announced she needed their help on a special project. She supplied them with precut lengths of red and green cord, as well as a glue stick to share, before leading them to a crate filled with thin slices of tree trunks. She explained how to glue the cord onto the trunk slices, transforming them into ornaments the customers’ children could take for free to decorate their trees at home.
As Maria was setting up their workbench, Sadie deftly fashioned the stiff ribbon into fat loops until she formed a half-dozen bows and then stopped to affix one on each wreath from the pile. When she finished, she repeated the process as quickly as she could in order to keep up with Maria.
Once their work fell into a steady rhythm, Maria asked, “So, are you...getting on all right at the haus?”
“Jah,” Sadie answered carefully. “Although I’m discovering parents do things a little differently in Maine than in Pennsylvania.”
“Ha!” Maria uttered. When the children looked her way, she lowered her voice to confide, “The parenting differences you’ve noticed have nothing to do with Maine.”
“So were those, uh, differences the reason the other two nannies left?”
“Two? There were four nannies before you, and jah, that’s exactly why they left,” Maria whispered. “To be fair, Levi wasn’t always like this. He used to be fairly easygoing. But after his wife died, he became really controlling.”
Sadie felt guilty for gossiping, but she wanted to know. “How did his wife die?”
“She fell off a chair cleaning a window and hit her head. A neighbor found her and called an ambulance, but she was already gone,” Maria lamented and Sadie’s eyes filled. “I think Levi’s afraid something like that might happen to his kinner, too, and that’s why he’s overly protective. His mamm was the only person he trusted to take care of them. Ever since she died and he’s had to rely on nannies, he’s become even more cautious. I know it must be difficult to tolerate. That’s one of the reasons I’m working in the shop instead of watching the kinner myself. But...”
“But it helps to know why he is the way he is,” Sadie finished her sentence. “Denki for sharing that. It gives me a different outlook.”
“Gut, because I was close friends with Leora and I’m still very fond of Levi. I’d hate for him to lose you, too—”
“Hey, I was using that!” Elizabeth scolded her brother, who hugged the glue stick to his chest so she couldn’t take it.
Her conversation with Maria interrupted, Sadie decided it was time for the children to get a little fresh air before lunch. She invited Maria to eat with them but Maria declined, saying she’d take her break in the workshop with the men when they came in to eat the meals they’d brought from home.
“Feel free to drop by again. It’s nice to have a woman around here to talk to.”
“I feel the same way,” Sadie told her. But now that she had new insight about Levi, she didn’t mind the prospect of chatting with him again, either.
“Something smells appenditlich,” Levi commented after he said grace. It really did; he wasn’t just trying to butter Sadie up and influence her decision to stay.
“It’s stew.” Sadie placed the pot on a trivet in the center of the table to serve them. Her cheeks were flushed and the children’s faces were ruddy, too.
“Did you go outside this morning?”
“Jah, but we didn’t go any farther than the barn. You said we could,” Sadie quickly reminded him, as if she was afraid they’d get in trouble. Had he really come across as that prohibitive this morning? No wonder she was considering whether to stay or not.
“Oh, gut. I was only asking because your complexion looks pretty...” he began but stopped midsentence to concentrate on not spilling the full bowl of stew Sadie handed him. When he set it down in front of him, he suddenly realized what he’d said and rushed to clarify. “I meant to say your skin looks pretty pink. Very pink, that is, not pretty. Although it’s not not pretty, either. David’s and Elizabeth’s faces are extremely pink, as well.”
Levi was certain his face was the pinkest of them all as Sadie bit back a smile and graciously switched subjects. “We stopped in the workshop and said hello to Maria, too.”
“She let us make ornaments,” David said.
“But the kinner didn’t go anywhere near Maria’s shears,” Sadie informed him. “Or get too close to the woodstove.”
Levi blinked. Was Sadie mocking him? Or was she trying to reassure him she took his concerns seriously? If so, Levi appreciated it, although he wondered what accounted for her sudden change in attitude.
“Then we played Freeze Tag in the yard. It’s like tag but you have to freeze in place like this.” David leaped up from his chair and struck a pose, causing Levi to chuckle. His laughter grew louder the longer David remained motionless, refusing to even blink.
“All right, sit down and eat your lunch now,” he finally directed his son.
“You have to tag him first.” Elizabeth walked around the table and tapped her brother on the shoulder. “Like that.”
“Denki, Elizabeth. I was getting starved,” David said appreciatively, taking his seat again.
Tickled by their cheerful behavior, Levi turned his attention to Sadie. It occurred to him he’d been so preoccupied with his own concerns that morning he hadn’t asked Sadie to tell him anything about herself.
“I’d like to hear more about your life in Pennsylvania. Do you work as a nanny there, too?”
“Neh, I worked in a furniture store.” She blew on a spoonful of meat. “But sales were in decline and the owner couldn’t employ two clerks, so here I am.”
Relieved by her response, Levi said, “We’re glad you are, aren’t we, kinner?” Their mouths were full, but they nodded vigorously.
He tried to think of something else to ask Sadie but his mind went blank, so they ate in silence. Once their meal was over, Sadie suggested the children take picture books to their rooms and told them she’d be up to tuck them in for their naps after she finished the dishes.
When Elizabeth paused in the doorway and asked, “Will you still be here when we wake up, Sadie?” Levi felt a prick of guilt, remembering how their second nanny actually did leave when the children were napping. She was so peeved about something he’d said she didn’t even finish out the day.
“Of course I will. I’m staying until the day before Grischtdaag.”
Her answer elicited cheers from the children. Over their heads Levi caught Sadie’s eye and mouthed, Denki.
When she nodded and smiled back it occurred to him his household was beginning to experience the return of joy. Maybe David was right; maybe Christmas was when wonderful things happened.
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