by Lily George
“I hope so.”
Mrs. Heaton had put out her sign the week before. Her boarders seemed to have a propensity to fall in love while living at Heaton House, and she had to keep putting out a sign to fill the boardinghouse once more. But it never took more than a few days to accomplish that.
Georgia loved living here and getting to know the other boarders. They were a tight-knit group who enjoyed spending time with each other—even after they married. They enjoyed going on all kinds of outings together. And one of the best times was having dinner together.
With Mrs. Heaton at the helm, it was a time to share how their days had gone and to either commiserate or rejoice with each other, depending on what had happened.
She and Betsy joined the others in the parlor. Julia, the boarder who’d been there the longest, and Emily, who was fairly new, were there with Stephen and Joe—they’d moved in at the same time Emily had. Then there was Samuel and Dave, who’d joined the mix a few days ago at the same time as Betsy. The men dipped their heads to Georgia and Betsy as they entered, just as Mrs. Heaton announced dinner was ready.
It was customary for the men to escort the ladies to the table, and tonight it was Stephen who crooked his arm for her. But as he pulled out her chair, it was Emily he had his eyes on. Samuel beat him to her this evening and Georgia could tell Stephen wasn’t at all happy about it.
It was such fun wondering who might be the next couple to come out of Heaton House. Georgia knew for sure that she would not be part of one. She was barely over being rejected by the one man she’d thought to marry until he’d become her brother-in-law. Since then she’d vowed she would never give her heart to another.
Mrs. Heaton brought Georgia’s attention back to the present as she asked Stephen to say the blessing. Then Gretchen and Maida, Mrs. Heaton’s household help, brought in dinner and began to serve. As dishes were passed around the table, their landlady asked about their day. That conversation didn’t take long tonight, as nothing out of the ordinary seemed to have happened in anyone’s workday.
She turned to Georgia. “Have you had time to think about helping Sir Tyler out?”
“I’ve prayed about it and I believe it might be the thing to do, at least for a bit, although I really don’t know anything about being a nanny.”
“Why don’t I telephone Sir Tyler and speak to him about it? I’ll stress that it will only be temporary until he can find a permanent nanny and see what he thinks?”
Georgia released a sigh of relief. She wasn’t sure how to even approach the man about helping out. “That might be the best.”
“I’ll telephone him after dinner and let you know what he says. Then you can decide for sure if it’s something you might want to do.”
Mrs. Heaton was a dear. Georgia knew the woman would want to assure herself that everything would be on the up-and-up if she took the position. After all, they didn’t know Sir Tyler all that well and Mrs. Heaton would want to make certain Georgia would be treated well. Of that she had no doubt.
And deep inside she was sure Sir…Mr. Walker… No, Sir Tyler? Oh! What was she to call the man?
Whatever she settled on, she felt sure he was an honorable man. Which only created another problem—Georgia wasn’t certain her instincts where men were concerned could ever be trusted again.
Copyright © 2016 by Janet Lee Barton
ISBN-13: 9781488007903
Once More a Family
Copyright © 2016 by Sarah Baker
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