“Denki, but I’ll hang it up right here. It smells like something might be burning.” Sadie bent to unlace her boots.
“Neh, that’s from before,” Elizabeth said. “Daed’s making dinner.”
Straightening, Sadie looked into Levi’s eyes. “Really? You’re cooking? I thought I’d scrape together a meal.”
Recalling what she’d said about girls liking to run and jump and climb, Levi gave her arm a little nudge. “Just because I’m a bu doesn’t mean I can’t cook.”
Sadie’s teeth were small and pretty and her eyes squinted into upside-down smiles when she laughed. “That’s true. I only meant I thought I was cooking.”
“Neh, today you’re our special guest because we’re thankful you came to watch us,” David told her. “All the other nannies left.”
Elizabeth sniffed the air. “That schtinke is getting worse.”
Levi dashed back to the stove; sure enough, he’d burned the butter again. Sadie joined him at the sink. Surveying the pots, she asked, “Are you sure—”
“I’ll get it right this time,” he promised, coughing. The air was acrid. “I’m going to crack the windows in here for a couple of minutes. Please have a seat in the living room.”
“You can kumme into our cave with us,” David invited.
“Neh. Put those cushions back on the sofa for Sadie,” he called. “Dinner will be on the table in a few minutes.”
It actually took forty minutes and two more pots before Levi led them in a prayer of Thanksgiving. When they lifted their heads, he said, “Our blessings are abundant even if our food isn’t.”
“I’m so hungerich from fasting I could eat a moose,” Sadie claimed, accepting the plate of buttered noodles with steamed broccoli on the side.
“Can we close the windows now? I’m cold,” Elizabeth grumbled.
As soon as Levi took his first bite he apologized, “Ach! I didn’t boil the noodles long enough.”
“What are you talking about? They’re fine,” Sadie said, lifting a forkful to her mouth. There was discernible crunching as she chewed.
Levi rose and reached for her plate. “You don’t have to eat that, really.”
“Do I have to eat mine, Daed?” David asked.
“You do if you want pie,” Sadie answered for Levi. “It’s only the ends that are crunchy, so we can cut those off. That happens to me, too, if I don’t push the noodles all the way down into the water.”
“It’s cold in here, Daed. Can we shut the windows?” Elizabeth repeated.
“Enough! I’ll close the window but I want you to stop whining and eat your meal.” Even though Levi had known their dinner wouldn’t be lavish, he’d hoped it would turn out better than this and he was frustrated.
He strode to the window, pushed it shut and then returned to the table as Sadie wordlessly cut the ends off Elizabeth’s noodles and handed her plate back to her. Noticing Elizabeth was on the brink of tears and David wouldn’t meet his eyes, Levi regretted his sharp tone, but he didn’t know how to lighten the mood. The only sound in the room was the crunch, crunch, crunch of Sadie chewing her half-cooked pasta, and before he knew it, Levi started to chortle. Soon he was shaking with a belly laugh and the children joined him. The three of them slapped the table and held on to their sides, but Sadie primly dabbed the sides of her lips with her napkin.
“What’s voll schpass?” she asked in between crunches, which made them laugh even harder.
“Your noodles are noisy!” Elizabeth exclaimed.
“They’re the noisiest Thanksgiving noodles I ever heard!” David declared, nearly spilling his milk.
“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about. Other than the fire cracking in the living room, I don’t hear a thing,” Sadie said, winking at Levi. He reflexively winked back. It’s only a friendly gesture, he told himself although he savored their playfulness.
“It’s a gut thing Sadie made dessert. My stomach is still growling,” he told the children when everyone finished eating.
“Jah, but she made pumpkin pie with nutmeg, Daed. You don’t like—”
Levi raised an eyebrow, willing his daughter to be quiet, and to his relief she took the hint. “You’re right, Elizabeth. I don’t like to be the only one eating pie. Did you make it with pecans and caramel or plain, Sadie?”
Sadie furrowed her brows. “Actually, I made both kinds, but—”
“Great! I’m going to have a slice of each. But first the kinner and I will clean up in here and then I’ll put on a pot of tea. Please go relax in the living room,” Levi suggested.
Sadie tried to insist on helping, but Levi wouldn’t hear of it. He rose and escorted her into the living room, where she settled onto the sofa while he stoked the fire with fresh logs and the children brought her a lap quilt.
“Denki,” she said, leaning back against a cushion. Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes reflected the warm lamplight. “If you keep treating me like this, I’ll never want to leave.”
“See, Daed, I told you if you were real nice she would stay here longer,” David reminded his father.
The possibility made Levi catch his breath. If only.
* * *
Sadie giggled to herself as she listened to the clatter of dishes and the scraping of chairs as Levi and the children cleared the table and swept the floor in the next room. There must have been half a dozen pots in the sink when there should have been only two or three. It was true the butter was burnt—even after his third attempt at melting it—and the noodles were undercooked, but Sadie didn’t mind. After all, Levi was going to eat not one but two slices of pie he detested, just to be polite. What were a few lousy meals between friends?
She was so cozy lounging there that she closed her eyes and allowed her imagination to roam. David’s comment about her staying longer hadn’t gone unnoticed. If she and Levi had more time together, might a romantic relationship develop between them? What would it be like to kiss a man with a mustache?
“Are you having a gut dream?” Elizabeth asked softly and Sadie’s eyes popped open. “You were smiling with your lips like this.” The child pursed her lips into a half smile, half pucker.
Mortified, Sadie questioned, “Is it time for pie and tea?”
“Jah. Daed said to ask what kind of pie you want.”
“I’d like a piece with caramel and pecans on it, please.”
Elizabeth’s eyes lit up. “Same as me.” She skipped out of the room and returned with a plate of pie, which she set on the coffee table in front of Sadie. Then she left and came back with another plate, but this one held a plain piece of pie, as well as a piece with pecans and caramel; she set the dish next to Sadie’s. That means Levi will be sitting next to me! Sadie felt as giddy as a schoolgirl at the idea.
When Elizabeth returned the final time, David was with her and they each held their own plates of pie, followed by Levi, who balanced a tray of teacups. The children sat on the floor on the opposite side of the coffee table and Levi seated himself next to Sadie. After pouring them both a cup, he waited for Sadie to try her pie before heartily digging into his. She was so touched by his courtesy she resisted the urge to tell him it wasn’t necessary to pretend he liked the dessert.
Just as they finished, David bounced up and pointed to the window. “It’s snowing!”
The white flakes were barely discernible, but Elizabeth repeated, “Snow! Look, snow! Let’s go build a snowman.”
“We might have to wait until it piles up to do that. How about if we go out and play Freeze Tag instead. Your daed has never played.”
“Not it!” Elizabeth and David shouted simultaneously.
“Not it!” Sadie repeated before Levi had any idea what was happening. The children darted toward the mudroom.
“I guess that means I’m it,” he sighed exaggeratedly, collecting the plates.
&
nbsp; “Jah, and you’ll be it for a long time if you run as slowly as you call ‘not it,’” Sadie teased as she held out the tray for him to stack the dishes on.
“Oh, you’re going to be the first one I catch, you little schnickelfritz, you!” he warned, following her into the kitchen.
Over her shoulder she taunted, “In case you’ve forgotten, I have seven brieder and I can still outrun them all.”
Levi’s voice deepened as he came up beside her. “And in case you’ve forgotten, I’m not one of your brieder.” He was flirting. They both were flirting. And she had no inclination to stop.
The teacups vibrated against the saucers on the tray as Sadie fought to keep her hands from trembling. When Levi spoke his breath puffed against her ear and cheek. She knew what this internal quivery feeling meant and no matter what her head told her about not falling for him, her heart spoke louder.
So did Elizabeth. “Daed! Sadie! Are you almost ready?”
Levi nearly leaped backward, causing Sadie to titter nervously. She set the tray on the counter near the sink, wiped her hands on her apron and turned to face Levi before calling, “I’m ready, but I don’t know if your daed is.”
She’d meant it playfully, as a reference to his ability to outrun her. But as soon as the words left her mouth she realized they sounded fraught with innuendo, as if she were questioning his readiness to be in a romantic relationship. Or was she just imagining it sounded that way because of how she felt? Levi probably didn’t give her response a second thought.
“Be patient, please,” he replied to Elizabeth while holding Sadie’s gaze, which only confused the matter all the more. Was he really speaking to his daughter or was he asking Sadie to wait for him to be ready to be in a relationship?
You’re hearing what you want to hear, she told herself as she pulled her coat from the peg in the mudroom. Unless he tells you directly that he wants to court you, you have to assume he doesn’t.
“Please wear my coat, Sadie. It’s too big for you to wear alone but you can put it on over yours and it should fit. Otherwise you’re going to be too cold. I have another one I can wear.”
“Oh, sure, you’re just trying to slow me down with extra layers,” Sadie joked. “Denki, but neh. After a few minutes of running around, I’ll be so warm I’ll need to unzip my coat.”
Levi wouldn’t be dissuaded, however. Without touching her, he encircled Sadie with his arms, holding the coat behind her so she had no choice but to slide her arms into it. The sleeves hung past her wrists and the wool collar was scratchy against her chin, but Levi was right—it was much warmer than hers.
“The porch is home base, Daed. If you’re there you’re safe and no one can tag you,” David explained as they all went outside. “But you can only stay on it for the count of ten.”
Elizabeth added, “And remember what we told you—the people who aren’t it can unfreeze someone by tagging them.”
Levi clarified, “What if I freeze all of you and there’s no one left to unfreeze you?”
“Then you win and you get to pick someone else to be it,” Sadie said. “But if all three of us make it back to home base at the same time, you have to be it again.”
Sadie, Elizabeth and David paced across the lawn to the fence, which was considered the starting point. Levi charged at Sadie and she shot across the yard so quickly he gave up and veered toward David, who managed to zigzag out of his way. Sadie laughed as she watched Elizabeth jump just out of his reach, too; clearly he was allowing his children to escape him on purpose, but he didn’t extend her the same allowance. After gaining ground on her, he successfully faked his intended direction, causing her literally to run into his arms. They both stumbled backward from the force of the collision, but Levi grabbed Sadie by the arms to keep her upright.
“Daed, this is tag only. No fair holding on to the person,” Elizabeth admonished from the safety of the porch.
Levi loosened his grip. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
Sadie doubled over, using the pause to her advantage to catch her breath. Before she could assure him she was fine, David yelled, “I’ll unfreeze you Sadie!” and zipped across the lawn, tagged Sadie’s back and darted toward home base. She followed on his heels, arriving at the porch before Levi even realized she’d left. Only then did Sadie realize he was stunned with worry. He must have really thought he’d hurt her and she regretted scaring him.
But then Elizabeth hollered, “You’re not the one who’s supposed to freeze, Daed!” and Levi’s face cracked into a gigantic grin.
“You all have until the count of ten to get off home base!” he warned. “And then I’m tagging you all.”
He did, too, but Sadie didn’t mind. In fact, she liked the thrill of being pursued by Levi until, breathless and laughing, he finally caught her.
* * *
“One more time, please?” David wheedled.
“Neh, it’s getting too dark. Sadie, would you mind taking them in while I milk the cow?”
“Of course not. I’ll put on a kettle for hot chocolate.”
“Can we have pie, too?” Elizabeth begged.
Ordinarily Levi would tell her she’d had enough, but considering there was virtually nothing else to eat in the house, he agreed. As he milked the cow and fed the horse, he contemplated when they’d get to the grocery store. Customers were prohibited from venturing into the rows of trees at dusk—Levi didn’t want them to have an accident or get lost in the dark—but a couple of nights a week he intended to keep the small lot of precut trees open until eight o’clock for the convenience of Englisch customers who worked until early evening.
Knowing how rambunctious the twins could be, Levi was hesitant to send them and Sadie into town, where they’d have to deal with inconsiderate tourists and their bad driving. He supposed Maria could manage the twins while tending to customers—until he remembered she might be too sick to come to work for the next few days.
Latching the heavy barn door into place, Levi prayed, Dear Gott, please show me how to manage the needs of my business, as well as of my familye. As he started toward the house, he saw a buggy coming up the driveway. If he wasn’t mistaken, it was the deacon, Abram, and his wife, Jaala. Levi waited until they came to a stop and disembarked. Jaala was holding a platter, which she handed to Levi so she could carry one of the two coolers Abram pulled from the back of the carriage. They explained they’d heard Maria and her mother were sick, so they’d paid them a visit and Maria had told them about canceling Thanksgiving dinner at her house at the last minute.
“We brought you leftovers—unless you’ve already eaten,” Jaala said, trailing him into the house.
Levi was overjoyed at how the Lord had answered his prayer. When he went inside and announced the news, he knew the children were less excited—they were looking forward to eating pie for supper—but he was pleased they hid their disappointment well, not uttering a word of protest.
“You brought enough to feed us for three days!” Sadie exclaimed as she helped Jaala unpack the coolers.
“We know the farm is opening tomorrow and we figured you might be too busy to get to the market.”
“Denki. This is very generous of you. You’ll sit down and join us, jah?” Levi asked.
“We’d like to but we’re on our way to see the Zook familye. They came down with the twenty-four-hour bug Maria and her mamm had, too,” Abram explained. “Ah, I almost forgot. Maria is already feeling better and she said to tell you she’ll see you bright and early tomorrow morning.”
Again Levi was amazed by how the Lord had answered his prayer before he’d even prayed it. “That’s wunderbaar.”
“We’ll kumme again when we can stay longer,” Jaala said as Levi escorted his visitors out the door and onto the porch. “We want to spend more time with you before you move back to Indiana.”
Levi winced. He hoped the c
hildren hadn’t overheard Jaala’s remark. To his relief, when he went back into the kitchen, they were busily setting the table and Sadie was sliding a pan into the oven. Her eyes were gleaming when she glanced up and said, “Jaala even brought a couple of slices of apple pie. I’ll save those for you, since each of the kinner practically have an entire pie each for themselves.”
But once Elizabeth and David finished eating their meal they were too full and tired for dessert. All that running around in the fresh air had tuckered them out and they could barely pull themselves from their chairs. Before taking them upstairs to bed, Levi prompted the twins to say good-night to Sadie.
David twirled, ran to where Sadie was standing and wrapped his arms around her legs. When she bent to his level, he let go and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Not to be outdone, Elizabeth edged her way in to embrace Sadie’s neck and kiss her other cheek.
“That was the happiest day I ever had,” David said.
“Jah, and it’s not even Grischtdaag,” Elizabeth chimed in.
Sadie gave each of them a kiss atop their heads. “I couldn’t have asked for a more wunderbaar Thanksgiving myself.”
Levi knew what all three of them meant. “Me, neither,” he said.
Chapter Six
I can’t get my hopes up, Sadie wrote in her diary after she returned home from Levi’s house. But it didn’t matter; her hopes were already up. And why wouldn’t she be hopeful after the way Levi treated her all day, cooking for her, enveloping her in his coat, even pretending to enjoy her pie? Not to mention calling her a schnickelfritz when they bantered in the kitchen.
That’s not the kind of thing an employer says to an employee; it’s the kind of thing a man says when he’s being flirtatious with a woman. Sadie chewed the end of her pen before continuing. I’m not suggesting he wants to begin a courtship with me, but who knows what might happen the more time we spend together? For now, it’s just fun being around him. I can’t wait for tomorrow!
Courting the Amish Nanny Page 8