“For sure, and not just the ones that come into our yard. I plan to go into some of the areas mentioned in the magazine and look for certain birds.” He set the magazine down and moved over to the side of the bed. “You should come with me sometime, Sylvia. Ya might wanna take up birding too.”
Sylvia tugged on one of her apron straps. “It sounds like it could be interesting, and maybe even fun, but not in this cold weather. Just the short walk I took outside a few hours ago nearly chilled me to the bones.”
“You could either bundle up with extra clothes or wait till the weather warms up. In the spring there’ll be lots more birds to look at anyway.”
“I might consider that, but it’ll have to be when I can get someone to watch the kinner. Tromping through the woods or some meadow is no place for two little ones, who would no doubt get fussy and scare away the birds.”
Henry nodded. “Well, let me know when you’re ready to try it, and then we can plan which day we want to go out.”
“All right, I will.” Sylvia started for the door, but turned back to face him. “You coming back down to join the others?”
He shook his head vigorously. “Nope. Not unless Monroe is gone.”
“Sorry, but he’s still here, playing Uno with the rest of our family.”
“Figures!” Henry crossed his arms and gave a huff. “That man irritates me more than the bees I’m stuck takin’ care of.”
Sylvia waited to see if Henry would say more, but he only sat with a grim expression, staring straight ahead.
“Monroe’s not one of my favorite people, either, but he is a friend of Mom’s, so I think we should at least be manierlich.”
“I was as polite as I could be while we ate our dessert, but watchin’ the puppy-dog looks he kept giving our mamm made me feel like I was gonna kotze.”
Sylvia lifted her gaze to the ceiling. “I think you’re exaggerating a bit, Brother. I doubt that you felt like you were going to vomit.”
“Did so. My stomach started to curdle, the minute that man came into the dining room. He’s after our mamm. Can’t ya see that, Sister?”
Sylvia gave a slow nod.
“So what are we gonna do about it?”
“I’m not sure there’s anything we can do other than hope Mom doesn’t get sucked in by all the compliments and offers of help Monroe shoots her way.”
“How about this—I’ll ask Ezekiel to put the man in his place, and you can have a little talk with Mom. In case she’s not seeing it, she needs to be made aware that Mr. Esh is trying to worm his way into her life.”
“I suppose I could bring up the topic to her, but I’ll have to do it with care. I don’t want Mom to think I’m meddling or trying to control her life.”
“Makes sense.” Henry rubbed his chin. “Maybe if Ezekiel sets the man straight, that’ll be the end of it, and we can go back to the way it was before Monroe started hangin’ around.”
Sylvia hoped Henry was right, but she had a feeling it might take more than Ezekiel talking to Monroe to get him to back off. What really needed to happen was for Mom to tell the man she wasn’t interested in a relationship with him. She’d done it once before, during their youth, and he’d accepted it and left Strasburg. Perhaps if she told him that again, he’d leave the area for good and move on with his life.
The following morning while Ezekiel helped Henry do chores in the barn, he decided to pose a question that had been on his mind since yesterday. “So Henry, I’ve been wondering…what do you think of Monroe Esh?”
Henry’s brows furrowed. “Let’s see now… Where do I begin? Mr. Esh started comin’ by during the latter part of summer, and then it became more often and he stayed longer. He’d wait around to see our mother after she closed up the greenhouse, and poor Sylvia would have to make conversation with him till Mom came up to the house. Sylvia mentioned once that Monroe often commented how there should be a man around here to keep an eye on things.” Henry’s forehead wrinkled. “He’d chat with Mom and bring up about doin’ some work in the barn or around the house.”
“Did she let him do either?”
“Nope.” Henry leaned forward with one hand on his knee. “I’ve always thought the fellow seemed pushy, and I don’t like the way he looks at Mom with this phony lookin’ grin.” He paused a few seconds. “I personally think Monroe’s a bit odd, not to mention that I’m almost sure he’s waitin’ for the right opportunity to ask our mamm to marry him.” Henry reached down to pet one of the cats that had been rubbing his leg. “I’m glad you brought up the topic, because I was plannin’ to talk to you about Monroe this morning.”
Ezekiel forked some hay into Mom’s horse’s stall and leaned on the handle of the pitchfork. “And so you have. Is there anything else you wanted to say?”
“Yeah. I was hopin’ you might have a talk with Monroe and let him know that Mom has no interest in getting married again, so he should quit comin’ around.”
Ezekiel chuckled. “That’d be pretty direct, wouldn’t you say?”
Henry’s head moved up and down. “That’s what Monroe needs, ’cause I don’t think he’s good at takin’ hints.”
“Have you talked to Mom about this—asked if she has any feelings for Mr. Esh?”
Henry shook his head. “Sylvia’s gonna talk to her though. She doesn’t care much for Monroe either, and from what Amy has said to me in the past, she also doesn’t appreciate him coming around all the time.”
“Neither do I.” Ezekiel tossed another clump of hay into the stall. “But I don’t feel right about neimische either.”
“You have every right to meddle. You’re the oldest brother, and it’s your responsibility to look out for our mamm. It’s the least you can do since you’re not here anymore to help out with other things.”
Oh boy…Henry’s still upset with me for not moving back here. Ezekiel was taken aback by his brother’s harsh tone and pointed stare. He’d thought by now that Henry would have accepted how Mom had said many times that she wanted Ezekiel and his family to remain in New York. In fact, she’d insisted upon it, stating that she could manage the greenhouse with the help of Amy, Henry, and Sylvia—although from what Ezekiel understood, Sylvia helped more with household chores than anything related to the greenhouse.
Ezekiel didn’t want to return home without trying to do something helpful, though. He thought it would be good to mention the things Henry had told him about Monroe and get Mom’s input as to how he might bridge the gap between him and Henry. If only my brother would try to understand why my family and I have remained in New York.
“Listen, Henry, if I thought it was the right thing to do, I’d borrow your horse and buggy right now and head over to Monroe’s furniture store for a little chat.” Ezekiel paused to sort out his thoughts. “And I’m not saying I won’t talk to Monroe, but I think I should speak to Mom about it first, and see how she’s feeling in regards to Monroe hanging around. If she’s not happy about it, and wants me to intercede, then I’ll seek the man out. Otherwise…”