Upon a Spring Breeze by Kelly Irvin

Author:Kelly Irvin
Language: spa
Format: epub
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2017-03-07T05:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-ONE

BESS DROPPED THE TROWEL AND WIPED HER SHAKING hands on her apron, waiting for the buggy that held the bishop to come to a complete stop. Along with everything else in her life. “Guder mariye.”

“Guder mariye.” Freeman shoved his hat back. He wasn’t smiling. “We’d like a word.”

Bess studied his expression. It would not be a word to her liking. “Here, or would you like to go inside?”

Freeman stared at Dusty, who had stopped the mower and stood watching with undisguised interest. “Who is this?”

“Dusty is the son of Minerva and Gavin Lake, the new owners of the B and B.”

“You work with him, then.” He nodded at the flowers. “Out here.”

“Nee, I clean in the house mostly, but he said I was good at this and he just wanted help.” The words came out in a stuttered mess she couldn’t seem to corral. They ran about willy-nilly. “We’re only gardening, that’s all.”

“Hello, hello.”

She turned to see Gavin barge through the screen door. He wore his usual long-sleeved white shirt, crisp and starched looking, punctuated by a red bow tie and suspenders that held up his baggy beige linen pants. His bald pate glistened in the sun as he clattered down the steps, his red-and-white wing-tipped shoes beating a brisk rhythm on the wood. He smiled broadly and ran his chubby fingers over his head, making the sparse tufts of auburn hair that decorated the space above his ears stand straight up. He looked like the ringmaster she’d seen at the circus that came to the Daviess County Fairgrounds many years ago.

“I’m Gavin Lake. You must be friends of Bess’s.” He trotted past her, in a beeline to Freeman, hand held out, fingers stretched as if he absolutely could not wait to greet this guest in his home. “I must tell you we have been so blessed to have her here, working with us as we start this new endeavor. We couldn’t do it without her.”

After a week and a half? Freeman frowned on exaggeration, as did her father-in-law. Bess glanced at Dusty. He shrugged and winked. She could hardly wink back, with Solomon and the bishop standing there, but she managed a tiny jerk of a nod.

“We came by to talk with Bess.” Freeman extricated his hand from Gavin’s. “It’s a private matter.”

“I understand, I understand.” Gavin held his ground. “I simply wanted to take the opportunity to let you know what a stellar worker she is. We understand that you don’t take lightly having your young folks—especially young women—working in English establishments. Just to put your minds at rest, she’s never alone with our customers. She is supervised at all times. My wife works with her when the rooms are cleaned. We’re very strict about these things.”

Bess hadn’t given it a thought, but she found herself nodding. She worked in the kitchen until the customers left for the day and then Minerva was always nearby when she worked upstairs. Now she knew why.

“This is between her and us.”

“Understood, but I do pay her wages and she is on the clock, so to speak.

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