Chapter 29

“I have a proposal I’d like you to consider,” he said. “In light of the situation at home, I think it would be best if you worked a few less hours here. What I am proposing is that instead of getting here so early, you should have breakfast with your own family. After you know the children are in school, you could be here by say, nine. Then if you’ll started dinner, you could leave one—”

Joy washed across Mrs. Dawson’s face, but as quickly, defeat took over. “Will I need to clean up the kitchen in the morning when I get here?”

“No,” Emil said. “We both know our way around the kitchen sink. We’ll take care of the dishes, at night and in the morning.”

“It would do no good to reduce your hours if we piled the same amount of work into them,” Leander explained.

“Does that mean the pay will be reduced?” she asked next.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “The fact of the matter is you need the money and I need the help, but not at the expense of your family.”