CHAPTER
16
I really appreciate the ride,” Lena told Mimi a week later on the way to clean James Zook’s house. It was convenient that Mimi was headed to see her oldest son and family, who lived a mile or so past the widower.
“I’m glad to get out right away this morning. I’d like to be home later when Tessa stops by.”
Lena had noticed that Tessa was coming to see Mimi each Saturday here lately, and Harley had been coming in from the barn to welcome her, too. They seem to be bending over backward to make Tessa feel at home, Lena thought as she waved good-bye to Mimi and made her way up the walkway to James’s back door.
She knocked, and quickly James ushered her inside, his bushy white beard the first thing Lena saw as he welcomed her in. He looked tired, she thought, and once he showed her where the mop and cleaning things were kept, she urged him to sit and relax. “I’ll make you a cup of tea first, if you’d like,” she offered.
“Ach now, tea’s for womenfolk,” he shot back, waving his wrinkled hand and cracking a smile. “Well, I shouldn’t say that, really. Some folk think it helps make things better. In fact, there’s a woman in Hickory Hollow who makes peppermint tea for her friends who need a listening ear. Ever hear of such a thing?”
“Coffee and hot cocoa have the same effect, if ya ask me.” Lena Rose glanced around the room and wondered if he’d eaten any breakfast. She was relieved to see a few dishes in the sink. “Can I get you anything else?”
James shrugged. “Just feelin’ low today. Woke up like this.”
“My Dawdi Schwartz is rarely ever energetic in the morning.”
Leaning his head into his hand, James sighed, his lips chapped. “I sometimes take forty winks before getting up the willpower to do the dishes. Other times, I just take a nap and hope the urge to do anything passes right quick.”
Lena felt better . . . surely he was pulling her leg now. Or was he? “You certain you’re all right?” she asked. “Sometimes a small glass of orange juice can perk a body up.”
He rose just then and sauntered over to the icebox and opened it. Out he took a pitcher of orange juice and set it down on the counter, then reached up to grab a small glass from the cupboard. He poured some of the juice; then with one of his mischievous smiles, he turned and handed it to Lena. “Here you are, young lady.”
“Nee, I meant for you!” She offered the glass back, and he accepted it with a nod of his head, taking the glass with him to the table, where he sat down.
“I’ll get started in the front room,” she said, knowing she’d better get busy, since it would be too easy to just sit and talk with him.
“No need to clean upstairs, really,” he said. “No one’s ever up there.”
“Then it might need a gut dusting,” she suggested.
“Jah, gut riddance to the dust bunny population.” James gave a short laugh.
Lena headed to the front room and began to clean as her mother had taught her, removing all the rag rugs and taking them out to shake. Next came the dusting and dry mopping, and last of all, she mopped the floor. She had also noticed the windows were in need of a good shining, but she let them be today, planning on giving the place a spring cleaning come the thaw.
Now and then as she worked through the rooms, she could hear James either talking to himself or humming. This made her smile—perhaps he wasn’t as low as he’d indicated earlier.
By the time she was ready to wash the kitchen floor, James had wandered into the front room, where he sat by the coal stove, warming himself into a nice nap. She could see him from where she stood in the kitchen, his chin resting on his cushion of a beard against his chest. He was tired, she realized, thinking that a nap and the orange juice should help.
Lena finished up a little before eleven, right around the time Mimi was coming into the lane. “I’ll be goin’ now,” she said, making her way into the front room.
“Not without pay, ya ain’t.” James yawned and pushed himself out of his chair. He went with her to the kitchen, where he opened the cookie jar, reached in, and handed her a wad of bills. “This is so you’ll come back. I’m mighty grateful.”
She accepted the money and wondered why he hadn’t bothered to count it out. Then, as she went to put on her coat and outer bonnet, she asked when he’d like her to come again. “I’m goin’ home for Christmas, so I won’t be around to clean till New Year’s Eve morning. Will that suit ya?”
“Ah, wunnerbaar . . . a spotless house to start the New Year.” James grinned. “That’s right fine,” he said, standing there with his bony hands on his hips.
“Oh, and be sure to watch for the Stoltzfuses Christmas mornin’. They’ll pick you up for Preaching.”
He nodded repeatedly. “ ’Tis gut of you to remind me.” The man followed her like a puppy dog to the back door and even out onto the screened-in porch. “Have yourself a nice day.”
“You too!” Knowing how helpful this cleaning was to the old man, she felt happy. He has to be around Dawdi Schwartz’s age, she thought as she walked to the waiting carriage and to Mimi, who smiled when she spotted her.
It wasn’t until Lena returned home that she took the wad of bills out of her pocketbook and counted it. Forty dollars! She knew she had been overpaid. The next time she returned to clean, Lena would speak with James and let him know of his mistake.
One thing she knew for sure:
