Rhonda Gibson - The Texan's Twin Blessings

Emily Jane nodded. “I’m going to pick up a few spices, too.” She noticed a small wagon sitting beside the door. It had tall railings on each side and the back. Emily Jane pointed at it. “Carolyn, may we use that wagon?”

“Oh, yes. Of course.”

She carried Rose to the wagon and set her inside. “Look, Rose. Want to ride?”

The little girl giggled and kicked her small legs. Emily Jane picked up the long handle and pulled Rose to William and Ruby.

“What a great idea.” He put Ruby down beside her sister. The two girls laughed and banged against the wagon’s sides. He dug inside the bag he had flung over his shoulder and gave both the girls their stuffed animals.

“Those should keep them busy while we get our shopping done.” William made his way to the sugar and flour barrels. He pulled a sack from the pile and began filling it with sugar.

She heard him humming as he scooped the white granules into the bag. Emily Jane looked back at the girls, who seemed content to slap at each other with their toys and giggle. Experience with her siblings told her the girls wouldn’t be content long. She hurried to help William complete his shopping so that she could get on with her own.

For the next thirty minutes, Emily Jane and William piled merchandise on the front counter while the children played in the wagon. She helped him pick out canned goods that the girls could eat, as well as breakfast foods such as eggs and salt pork.

Emily Jane looked at the mountain of supplies and decided that his basic shopping was complete. William had moved to the men’s department, which consisted of ready-made shirts, pants and boots.

Happy to have his shopping done, she turned her attention to the fabric and ribbons. Emily Jane chose yellow and green ribbons to replace the girls’ bows. Impulsively, she added matching yellow and green fabric. The girls needed new dresses, and since she was good friends with Susanna Marsh, the local dressmaker, Emily Jane decided to add those to William’s pile.

Next, Emily Jane walked to the wall of spices. She needed baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and ginger to resupply her baking cabinet at home. Thankfully, Levi Westland, the owner of The Bakery, had agreed to let her have a running tab at the general store so that she could practice making various sweet breads, tarts, pies, cakes and cookies for the eatery or she would not have been able to afford all the wonderful seasonings.

Someday she’d have her own bakery. It would be as big as The Bakery and would have round tables with blue-checkered tablecloths. She’d pay extra for a large glass window so that people passing by could see inside. And she’d also find a way for the smell of her freshly baked goods to vent outside and entice passersby to come inside.

The recipes she created each day and passed on to The Bakery were hers, and someday she’d be making them in her own store. She’d need to move from Granite, so that she wouldn’t be in competition with Mr. Westland and Violet. Moving was not something she looked forward to doing. Emily Jane frowned, as she wondered once again where she would go.

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