Christine Johnson - Mail Order Mommy

“We’ll get the men from the mill to lend a hand and have it fixed by the end of the day.”

Roland was right, but Garrett hated to admit that he’d made this deal without checking out the house first. Thankfully, Roland didn’t point out that error.

“What about that project that Pearl wanted me to do?” Garrett prodded.

Roland’s future wife wanted a stable built for a nativity play she had planned for the children.

“That can wait until you move in.” Roland grinned. “Or you could stay put for another week.”

Garrett couldn’t. “I hired Miss Porter starting Monday.”

“Don’t you mean Amanda?”

Garrett scowled. “This is a business arrangement, not personal. ‘Miss Porter’ will do.”

If anything, Roland’s grin grew wider. “Good decision. She loves Sadie and Isaac and will be perfect for the job.”

Garrett bristled, the memory of nearly losing Sadie still raw. “There wasn’t anyone else.”

“Then God made sure it worked out for Amanda to get the job.”

Garrett still couldn’t wrap his mind around Roland’s newfound faith. “Maybe God didn’t have anything to do with it. Maybe it was just circumstances.”

“Maybe.” Roland’s grin said otherwise. “Either way, it ended up the best way possible.”

Garrett didn’t quite see it that way. “How can I can trust her?”

“She’s as trustworthy as Pearl.”

They’d had this argument before, but Garrett couldn’t forget what happened during the fire. “Thanks to her inattention, Sadie almost died.”

“She didn’t die.” Roland’s jaw set. “And you’re forgetting that Amanda led eleven children to safety, including Isaac.”

Garrett knew he was being unfair. After all, Pearl was the schoolteacher in charge of the children. Amanda had volunteered to help. He shouldn’t hold her to a higher standard, but Sadie’s brush with death had shaken him. It hadn’t been that long since his wife, Eva, died. Less than two years. He couldn’t bear losing anyone else.

Since this argument was leading nowhere, he put an end to the inspection. “Guess I’ll head back to the mill and round up some help.”

“Can you wait a minute? Pearl’s on her way here.”

“Why?” Garrett asked warily.

“You’ll need a woman’s opinion on what needs to be done to get the place ready.”

“I don’t need anyone else’s opinion. A woman will want to change everything.” Garrett thought back to his late wife’s demands. Nothing was ever good enough for Eva. Garrett had bought her everything he could afford, but it was never enough.

Roland walked back into the main room, which combined the kitchen and sitting area with a table for meals, study and anything else the children needed to do.

“The sideboard can go there, and the sofa would fit in that corner.” Roland pointed to various spots as he listed off the pieces of furniture that Garrett had put into storage after Eva’s death. “The china cabinet would fit in the corner.”

“Stop!” Garrett couldn’t bear another word. “None of that furniture is coming here. You use it, and I’ll haul over the things we’re using now.”

“Not a chance. Pearl would never stand for it.”

“Why? Eva’s things are a lot nicer than what we’re using now.”

“That doesn’t matter to someone like Pearl.”

That’s what bothered Garrett about Amanda. Pearl might not care about worldly things, but Amanda obviously did. Her gowns were stunning. Her hair was always fixed just so. Nothing was ever out of place. She was the very picture of the delicate female. Too much like Eva. No, his late wife’s furniture would never do.

“I can’t look at that furniture each day,” Garrett insisted.

“Pearl feels the children need to be around their mother’s things, that they won’t get past her death until they can see and touch what’s left behind. I happen to agree.”

“Stop it. First Miss Porter and now this. Stop pushing me.”

“It’ll be two years come April. You need to let go.”

“Don’t tell me what to do until you’re in my shoes.” Garrett didn’t point out that Pearl had nearly died rescuing Sadie in last month’s fire.

Judging from Roland’s expression, he didn’t need to.

* * *

“First help me out,” Pearl told Amanda as she donned her cloak in the front hallway of the boardinghouse, “and then I’ll show you how to cook some basic things, like eggs and biscuits.”

“That won’t help me for supper. He said I’d need to cook supper.”

“All right, then I’ll teach you how to make hash and stew and that sort of thing.”

“But...”

Amanda had hoped to get started early. Mrs. Calloway had approved, as long as whatever they made could be served to the boardinghouse guests. Given Amanda’s current lack of knowledge, the guests were going to suffer. The very thought of cooking something terrified her. Aside from boiling water and collecting serving platters, she steered clear of the big cookstove.

Pearl held out Amanda’s coat. “It will only take a few minutes.”

“Then you will teach me to cook?”

Pearl nodded.

Amanda conceded defeat and threw on her coat. The hat took longer, since the pins refused to hold it in the proper place. Every time she thought she had it just right, she’d take a step, and the hat would slide to the side.

“You don’t need to look perfect,” Pearl complained. “At this rate we will never get there. Here.” Pearl tied the ribbons under Amanda’s chin.

“You know I hate to have anything tied under my chin.” Amanda tugged on the ribbons, but Pearl had knotted them.

“If we don’t go now and get this taken care of, there won’t be any time left to cook.”

“Then we can forget this little errand that you refuse to divulge and go straight into cooking lessons.”

Pearl laughed. “You can’t wriggle out of this that easily.” She opened the front door. “Come along.”

Amanda gave up and followed her friend. Instead of heading to the store, Pearl took off in the opposite direction, toward the dunes. Amanda hurried and caught up.

“Where are you going?” Her words came out in gasps.

“It’s a surprise. Don’t you love surprises?”

“It depends. Some of your surprises didn’t turn out all that well. Like the excursions you proposed back at the orphanage.”

“They would have been highly educational if Miss Hornswoggle could have overlooked that one little problem at the cathedral.”

“The boys claimed we locked them in that room with all the robes, when they should never have gone in there in the first place. And you made me go tell Miss Hornswoggle, so she could fetch someone to unlock the door.”

Pearl shrugged. “She always forgave you anything. I would have had to clean the floors for two months.”

Amanda laughed at the memory. “She did have a soft spot for me.”

“And no wonder. You are the sweetest, prettiest girl on earth.”

Pearl’s words sent a shiver down Amanda’s spine. Hugh had said the very same thing, but he hadn’t meant it. “No surprises, please.”

Pearl laughed. “This isn’t bad. I promise. And I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do.”

Amanda wasn’t certain she believed her. “Then tell me where we’re going and what we’re going to do there.”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

Amanda sighed. She would have to guess. “Does it have something to do with that project you asked me to work on?”

“Perhaps. In a roundabout way.”

Amanda hated when Pearl acted like this. It meant she had come up with some grand idea that involved her. When Pearl had approached her about coming to Singapore, she’d held back all the details until Amanda agreed to consider it. By then Pearl had purchased the train ticket to Chicago for her. If Amanda hadn’t suffered such humiliation at Hugh’s hands, she might have asked more questions, but she was eager to leave. Only after they were settled on the train, carpetbags safely stowed, had Pearl shown her the advertisement. At first Amanda had rejected the idea of marrying a stranger. The memory of Hugh’s cruel treatment of her still stung. She couldn’t imagine allowing another man to touch her, but as the train ride wore on she began to realize the advantages. A man advertising for a wife would not expect a great deal. He wouldn’t care about her past. He must be desperate and could not possibly reject her.