The Word Game Read Online Free PDF Page B

breath.
    “What’s the matter with you now?” Gordon poured himself a coffee.
    “Etwas ist los, und ich bin nicht glücklich.” Something is going on, and I’m not happy. Her husband gave her a look telling her to be quiet with the kids around.
    “Grandma!” Gord Jr. popped up from the other side of the counter and wiggled his finger at her. “No German. We can’t understand what you’re saying.” He admonished her.
    “I know, I know.” She shook her head in disgust. Why Tricia didn’t teach her children to speak the mother tongue, she’d never understand. “Vielleicht sollten Sie dann etwas Deutsche lernen.”
    “Grandma.” This time it was Elijah who huffed at her from the kitchen table. “What did you say?”
    “That maybe you should learn a little German then, no?” She used to speak to her grandchildren in German until Alyson asked her to stop. She’d assumed Tricia felt the same way.
    “How?” Elijah seemed interested, which made Ida happy.
    “We could teach you.” Gordon stood there, his arms crossed over his massive puffed out chest.
    “I used to sing lullabies to you as babies. Do you remember?” Ida smiled, the memory warming her heart. Gordon had built a rocking chair for the baby room, and she’d sit there, rocking the little ones to sleep to give Tricia a breather, and she’d sing the songs her own Mutter would sing.
    “What would you sing?” Elijah left his seat and came to stand by the counter.
    Gordon winked at her before he placed his arm around his grandson’s shoulder. “You don’t want to remember. Trust me. Your Oma has the voice of a dying cat.”
    Elijah’s eyes grew round, while Ida tried not to laugh. “Your Opa doesn’t sound any better.”
    “Can I”—Elijah lowered his voice—“can I call you Oma and Opa instead of Grandma and Grandpa?”
    Tears pricked at Ida’s eyes at her grandson’s question. “You used to call us that, you know?” She wasn’t sure when it stopped, probably around the same time they stopped speaking in German to them.
    “Us too?”
    Ida turned toward her girls, who stood there with their arms around each other. She went over and gave them both a hug. “Of course.” She said.
    Katy struggled to get out of her embrace. “Can we make cookies now? Please?”
    “Pretty please?” Lyla snuggled in closer to Ida and sighed with happiness.
    Ida couldn’t get over how different the girls were. As cousins, they’d been inseparable from the time they were born, and now as young girls, they continued to be the best of friends, even if so very different in nature. Lyla was prim and proper, the perfect little girl, whereas Katy could be a little hellion masquerading as an angel when she wanted to be.
    “How do you say cookies in German, Oma?” Elijah asked.
    “ Kekse . And your Oma here makes the best ones I’ve ever tasted. Even better than my own Mutter.” Gordon smiled.
    “And that means ‘mother,’ right?”
    “Ja.”
    “Why are you speaking in German?” Katy’s face was scrunched up, and Ida shook her head.
    “Monster cookies, Lyla?” She dropped a kiss onto her granddaughter’s head.
    “Can we? Please?”
    “Katherine, let’s get all the ingredients out, shall we?” Ida clapped her hands and then went to grab an apron out of the drawer. Things could get messy, but messy was okay when it was created with love.
    “While the women work, how about we challenge your brothers to a new game on that fancy machine you have.” Gordon steered Elijah out of the kitchen and back into the living room. “The winner gets extra cookies fresh from the oven.”
    Ida turned her attention back to the kitchen where the girls were gathering supplies out of the pantry.
    “Sounds like we’re going to need to make a lot,” Lyla said as she grabbed a large mixing bowl and wooden spoons.
    “Should we make extra for you to take home?”
    At her question, Lyla shook her head. “Mom won’t let me eat them if I do.”
    “What about