Christine Johnson - Mail Order Mommy

Nothing was simple when it came to cooking, but with Pearl and Mrs. Calloway insisting she accept the invitation, once again the opportunity to learn slipped away.

Louise expressed such gratitude that Amanda felt badly for wishing she could be elsewhere. “Captain and Mrs. Elder are desperate for company. She is too frail to go out-of-doors anymore, and he won’t leave her side.” Her friend blinked back a tear. “He’s so devoted to her. I wish...well, I can only hope to find someone like that.”

Poor Louise had lost her first husband in the War Between the States. Widowed and poverty-stricken, she had spent everything she had hoping that Garrett Decker would marry her. So had Amanda. As for Fiona, no one quite knew if the concerts were given from financial necessity or to hone her talents.

When Louise learned Garrett did not want to marry, she took the position caring for Mrs. Elder in their home and found a perfect match for her love of books in Mr. Elder’s extensive library.

That afternoon they gathered around the Elders’ dinner table and listened to Captain Elder’s tales from when he’d captained a ship on the Great Lakes. Mrs. Elder smiled at each story, though she must have heard them a thousand times, and encouraged her husband to continue.

He said with a twinkle in his eye, “Adeline indulges me.” He leaned over and pecked her on the temple, drawing a playful scolding. “That’s why I married her, that and her walnut tarts.”

Mrs. Elder giggled like a young girl, her adoration wiping away the years for a moment. “Billy is such a tease.”

Amanda’s heart ached for such a close relationship, one that weathered the trials of time. Once she had dreamed of it with Hugh. He had been so attentive. Compliments flowed from his lips each time they met, and she began to believe his professions of love in spite of the vast difference between them. He was a man of society, and she an orphan who was little better than a maid in her foster family’s home. He told her she was more beautiful than her foster sister, Lena, whom the Chatsworths believed he would soon court. When Hugh said that he would rather marry Amanda, she took it as a proposal, only to discover that his real purpose was to ruin her so she would become his mistress.

She shuddered at the memory of that day and the liberties he had taken in spite of her protests, tears and struggles. If not for Mrs. Brighton’s timely intervention...

“Are you warm enough, dear?” Mrs. Elder asked. “I have plenty of shawls if you need one.”

Amanda pulled her thoughts from the terrible past. “Oh! No, thank you. I am quite warm.”

By the time she and Pearl left, daylight was slipping away. Soon darkness would shroud the landscape, just as memory had darkened Amanda’s spirits.

“What’s wrong?” Pearl asked. “You’ve been quiet since dessert was served.”

Amanda sighed. She could not reveal to anyone the depth of humiliation and shame she’d endured at Hugh’s hands, so she focused on the other disappointment of the day. “It’s too late to learn to cook.”

“Nonsense. I can still show you the basics.”

“But Mrs. Calloway said anything we make had to be available for the guests at the boardinghouse. There aren’t any more meals today. You know that.”

“We could make rolls for tomorrow morning.”

Amanda shook her head. “Garrett asked me to make supper, not breakfast. No one eats sweet rolls for supper.”

Pearl hugged her around the shoulders as they approached the boardinghouse, with its cheery pine wreath on the front door and glowing windows. “Then I will help you fix supper tomorrow. A stew will be simple enough.”

“Will there be enough time after school?”

“Of course. Do you know what food he has on hand?”

“How would I know that?” Amanda’s mouth went dry. “Oh, dear, I’m going to fail on the very first day.”

Pearl laughed. “No, you won’t. I’ll be right there helping you. Besides, there’s more to keeping house than cooking. As soon as you finish the curtains, he’ll see how talented you are with a needle.”

“He already knows I can sew. I made the dress and matching doll dress for Sadie’s birthday.”

“That’s right. I forgot.” Pearl slowed her step for just a moment. “I’m sure he hasn’t forgotten, though. Sadie wouldn’t let him. She’s so excited that you’re going to take care of their new house. Trust me. Her approval will go a long way toward winning over Garrett’s heart.”

Amanda wasn’t so sure. Garrett Decker was a practical man. Like Captain Elder, he would appreciate a woman who could cook, especially since he’d listed that as one of her duties.

Pearl climbed the boardinghouse steps.

Amanda followed her friend. “Don’t let me down.”

Pearl smiled. “Don’t worry.”

Amanda couldn’t help but worry. Her whole future depended on satisfying Garrett’s expectations.

* * *

With all that help, Garrett got the house ready one day and moved into it the next. On Monday, he set to work preparing to build the ship. Stockton had left plans with him. Garrett called the best millwrights to his side and laid out the plans on the worktable that he used to repair broken saws and machinery.

“Mr. Stockton wants a new schooner.” Garrett explained each element of the plans, especially the length, breadth and draft of the vessel.

Sawyer Evans squinted at the drawings. Even near the window, the light wasn’t good, thanks to the thick coating of sawdust on the panes. “He thinks we can build that? I’ve never built a ship before.”

“I have.”

That brought Garrett the men’s respect. After answering a dozen questions about how and when and where, he outlined his plan to build the launching ways and cradle near the dock that had been built for the glassworks that Roland had planned. First Garrett had to secure his brother’s permission. That shouldn’t be a problem. November’s fire had destroyed the stockpiled building materials and chased away the investors for the glassworks, setting the project back indefinitely.

“The river is deep there,” Garrett explained. “There’s plenty of room for a broadside launch. We’ll build the hull on a launching cradle that can be pulled away with the steam tractor when the schooner is ready.”

He sketched his ideas on a blank sheet of paper. The men had a lot more questions and a bit of skepticism. Garrett answered them all, and soon the group seemed less apprehensive.

“With decent weather, we can launch it by early summer, after the first logging rush of the spring.”

Sawyer whistled and shook his head. “That’ll be a stretch. How many of us is Stockton planning to employ?”

Garrett eyed the men. Many workers had left already, now that the fall rush was tailing off. These would soon follow, returning in late winter for the spring rush. “Any who will stay.”

That livened up the discussion and the desire to get started. By nightfall, they’d selected the timbers for the ways and keel blocks. There were enough stout posts on hand to begin driving them into the ground for the ways the next day.

“The ground’s at about the right slope,” Garrett said at the workday’s end, “but we’ll need to clear away the brush and do a little leveling at the water’s edge. We can take the tractor up there tomorrow.”

On the walk home, he mentally went through the checklist of what needed to be done next. He tromped up the inner staircase behind the store, barely noticing that the cookstove was cool. The apartment upstairs was dark as night and dead quiet.

“What’s going on? Sadie? Isaac?”

The echo in the room sent a chill down his spine until Garrett recalled that he and his children didn’t live here anymore. He growled with frustration at himself as he walked back outside. At least Roland hadn’t caught him going to the wrong house. He’d never hear the end of it.