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Levi had quickly realized Jonas would have been smarter to hire someone who already knew the business rather than an untried teenager.
    When he mentioned his thoughts on the subject, Jonas had laid a hand on Levi’s shoulder and said, “I want to work with someone I respect and enjoy being around. You and I are a good fit. Besides, if I teach you how to do a thing, I know it will be done right.”
    Levi never forgot that moment. He became determined to learn everything Jonas had to teach so that his respect was not misplaced. In that, Levi believed he had succeeded.
    Sarah had followed Levi to the counter. She asked, “Do you mind my helping out until Grace returns?”
    “Not much choice,” he conceded gruffly.
    “I’m sorry that my advice to Grace sent her racing off so quickly. I honestly thought she would talk it over with you and the two of you could decide when a good time for her visit would be. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
    “Grace can be impulsive.” To his surprise, it wasn’t all that difficult to talk to Sarah. His throat didn’t close around the words and keep them prisoner as it usually did.
    She laughed aloud at his comment. “That’s an understatement.”
    Levi cringed and felt the heat rush to his face. Was she laughing at him or with him? Did it matter?
    Sarah said, “I’m at your beck and call, so put me to work. What needs doing in here today that Grace would normally do?”
    What he wanted was for her to go home. The workshop was his sanctuary. How could it be a place of peace with Sarah in it? She disrupted everything, including his thinking.
    He said, “Nothing I can’t handle.” Now maybe she would leave.
    “I can at least clean up.” She turned around, grabbed a red rag from the box he kept them in and began straightening his workbench, moving his tools around and brushing at the bits of loose wood on the countertop.
    He didn’t like people touching his stuff. “Don’t mess with my tools.”
    She paid him no mind. “I’m not messing with them, I’m cleaning off your workspace.”
    “Stop,” he pleaded.
    She held up a lone drill bit. “Where does this go?”
    “Take it home with you,” he snapped abruptly.
    He shut his mouth in horror. He’d never spoken harshly to anyone.
    Sarah stared at him for the longest moment and then chuckled with delight. “You are so amusing, Levi. And Grace told me you don’t have a sense of humor. Take it home with me, how funny. I’ll find where it goes. You get back to work and pretend I’m not even here.”
    Like that was possible. He turned away before he said something he would surely regret.
    She kept dusting. “I’ll have this cleaned up in no time. I remember how to do inventory, too. It won’t be long before the end of the year. Might as well get a jump on it. I’ll start on that when I’m done with this.”
    “No need.” Inventory would take days. Days with Sarah underfoot wasn’t something he wanted to endure. He needed to be able to concentrate. She didn’t take the hint.
    “I don’t mind. I’d forgotten how much I enjoy being out here. Don’t you love the smell of leather and wood? It’s comforting knowing that each piece on the walls around me has a place and a function. I’m glad I told Grace I would help. This place could use some sprucing up, though.”
    Jonas had often said that Sarah had a one-track mind when she wanted to do something. Levi didn’t know how true that statement was until three hours later when she was using a long-handled broom and an overturned bucket to reach cobwebs that had hung from the rafters longer than she had been alive.
    Unless he took her by the arm, led her to the door and locked it behind her, he was going to be stuck with Sarah until Grace returned.
    Please, Lord, let Grace’s visit be a short one.
    Levi drew a deep breath. It was almost lunchtime, and he hadn’t gotten nearly enough done. His eyes were constantly drawn to where Sarah was working.
    He had orders