Near midafternoon, Seth stepped into the library to ask Abigail a question about one of the furniture invoices. To be honest, though, he was curious about how things were going.
But the sight that met his eyes stopped him on the threshold. Abigail and Jamie sat on the floor looking very much at home. Abigail held an open book in her lap, and she was reading from it with great dramatic flair, her arms gesticulating broadly and her voice taking on aspects of the characters. Jamie leaned against her, raptly listening to her every word.
It was such a mother-child moment, he didn’t want to intrude.
In the middle of one particularly dramatic flourish, Abigail glanced up and spied him standing there. Rather than being embarrassed at being found in such an unladylike position, she smiled brightly up at him. “Hello. I’m sharing my love of The Swiss Family Robinson with Jamie. Have you ever read it?”
“No, I haven’t.” There hadn’t been much reading material at the orphanage, except for bible tracts and schoolbooks. When he’d gone out on his own, he’d focused on learning what he could to make his way and hadn’t had time for leisure reading.
She shook her head. “My goodness, you must read it. Unless you don’t care for grand adventure stories.”
Was that a challenge?
“It’s really good, Uncle Seth. There’s a shipwreck and everything.”
“Is that so?”
“We’re only one chapter in, so you haven’t missed too much.” Abigail’s smile broadened as if she’d just thought of something wonderful. She made as if to stand and Seth stepped forward to give her a hand, careful to keep a steadying hand on his cane.
She smiled her thanks. “In fact, this is perfect. You can read parts of it at night together as a bedtime story.” She held out the book. “Here, you can take it with you.”
“But what about you?” Jamie sounded disappointed that she was passing the reading time off to Seth.
“Oh, I’ve read it a number of times. And you and I can discuss what you’ve read each day and share our favorite parts.”
She moved to a nearby bookshelf. After a moment she reached over and plucked out a book, then turned and handed it to Jamie with a smile. “In the meantime, I think this one you can enjoy all on your own.”
Seth read the title on the cover and smiled. Aesop’s Fables. A good choice.
Jamie immediately sat back down on the floor and began thumbing through the pages.
Then Abigail turned to him. “Did you come here because you needed something, or were you just checking in on us?”
It took him a moment to remember the invoice. He quickly retrieved it from his pocket. “Yes. I had a question about this statement. Do you have a minute to go over it with me?”
“Of course.” She led the way to her library desk. After a moment of studying the invoice, she looked up with a frown. “This is for some baking pans for the kitchen. What was your concern?”
“I just wondered if you authorized the expenditure. It seems unusual to be purchasing pans when we have fewer-than-normal guests to feed.”
“Of course I authorized it—in fact, I initiated it. I told you I would be working with Della on some new recipes for our menu. These pans are needed to properly prepare some new desserts we’re trying out.”
“Very well. Just checking.”
She studied him and he thought he detected the faintest hint of amusement in her eyes. It had been an admittedly thin excuse to come in here, but he wasn’t about to admit that now.
He retrieved the invoice, then moved toward the door with what dignity he could muster. “Sorry to have interrupted your story time,” he said. “I’ll let you get back to it. I have to get back to my own work.”
“It wasn’t any trouble,” Abigail said. “Feel free to return any time. Whether you have something for me to look at or not.”
Yes, there was a definite ring of amusement in her voice.