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Please.”
    â€œBecause . . .”
    â€œBecause we need someone to help with all the female work around the house.”
    â€œYou need a female.”
    He nodded. “Uh-huh. To do the cooking, especially.” He wrinkled his nose. “And maybe some laundry, too. Neil’s always got a bunch of it.”
    â€œYou need a cook and a maid. And so the first person, the first female you thought about asking was me?” She wasn’t sure whether she was thoroughly irritated, or maybe just thoroughly amazed at the boy’s audacity.
    Or maybe, more likely, she was amazed at herself. Because she wasn’t dismissing his offer out of hand.
    Levi winced. “It wasn’t quite like that. I thought you might want to do it because you know us all.”
    â€œI see.”
    â€œElizabeth, if you don’t want to clean, you wouldn’t have to. I mean, we almost have the cleaning part down good.” He paused. “Well, except for the laundry. But the cooking? Jah , we need you.” He cleared his throat. “And see, Kaylene needs you, too.”
    â€œWhy would you think that?”
    â€œShe was crying last night at the dinner table. Then she ran off. She misses Junior something fierce. And now that Miriam is in the, ah, family way, Kaylene is a little jealous, too. See, for pretty much her whole life my eldest brother has always taken care of her. Plus, she’s nine now,” he added in a rush, saying her age as if the little girl were on the cusp of womanhood. “I don’t think she likes having only us men around.”
    The way he had lifted his chin and the way he was so obviously trying hard to look lofty and mature almost made her smile. Almost. “It’s obvious you’ve put a lot of thought into this.”
    Levi stood up and carried his plate to the sink, his manner far more relaxed now that the cat was out of the bag. “Uh-huh. See, I was talking about everything with Micah early this morning and he suggested that I come out and ask if you’d consider working for us.”
    â€œAre you sure that Randall didn’t put you up to it?”
    â€œOh, nee . He’d get mad if he knew I came over here.”
    â€œIs that right?”
    â€œUh-huh. On account that he used to court you and all,” he explained as he returned to the table and stood behind his chair.
    The “used to” reminder stung. But warring with her impulse to refuse Levi outright was the idea of bringing in some much-needed money.
    And the sight of that half-eaten cherry pie. There had been something so heart-wrenching about watching a hungry teenager gobble it up. A teenager who hadn’t had a mother in almost nine years.
    If she didn’t help them out, who would?
    â€œLevi, I don’t know if I can get away from my responsibilities here,” she said as gently as she could. “I take care of my mommi , you know. She needs me.”
    He winced. “I forgot about your grandmother.” After stewing on that for a second, he brightened. “But maybe you could just help us out a couple of days a week?” he asked after a pause. “Even if you only came over for a couple of hours at a time, it would be real helpful. If, you know, you wouldn’t mind.”
    â€œAh.” Her heart went out to him, it surely did. But what he was asking would open up a barrel of trouble. She would have to cook for four men, one of whom was Randall. And, of course, she’d have to be away from her grandmother.
    But she knew the real reason for her hesitation was Randall. What would she do if she had to be around Randall all the time?
    â€œDon’t forget that we’d pay you,” Levi added in a rush. “Micah told me to make sure I mentioned that.”
    That caught her off guard. “I see. I wonder why.”
    Levi averted his eyes. “Don’t be mad, but some folks have been talking about