Page 8 of Mail Order Mittens (Brides of Alaska #2 | Brides of Beckham #68)

M aggie started a big pot of soup as soon as she got home. Once it was simmering she baked James a cake. She worried a bit about James coming home in the snow, but she knew he was used to Alaska winters, even when they started in the fall.

It was several hours later when James arrived home, covered in snow from head to toe. She hurried to him when he came in, taking his coat and hat to dry them in front of the fireplace. “Did you get the order done today?” she asked.

He nodded, looking more tired than she’d ever seen him. “We did. I’m pretty sure we won’t be working tomorrow with this storm, but we’ll see. It seems to be getting worse by the minute.”

“What do you do when you can’t work?” she asked.

“I usually do more whittling,” he said. “I enjoy working with my hands.’

“The soup is ready, and I put a pot of coffee on, thinking you may need it to warm up.”

“I appreciate it,” he said, washing his hands. He sat down at the table, and she took him coffee and a big bowl of soup along with some of the bread she’d made that morning. “I’ve been thinking about coming home to hot soup all day.”

She sat down across from him, and he took her hand before saying grace.

He’d finished two bowls of soup before he felt ready to say anything else.

“We really pushed to get the job done today. Everett and I worked in the mill while the men cut trees. We were very efficient, and I think Everett’s mind is at ease now. What did you do today?”

“I did my baking this morning and spent the rest of the day with Belle. She wasn’t feeling well so we stayed in.

” She omitted taking things to the store to sell because she knew he didn’t like to hear about that part of her days.

“I took a walk in the snow just as it started coming down, and it was so beautiful. I do love snow.”

“I’m glad you took a little time to walk in it then. I have a feeling this is going to be a bad storm. I didn’t see a single critter outside today as I walked home. That’s usually a sign of just how bad a storm will be.”

“Tomorrow’s Friday,” she said. “If it turns ugly, we don’t have to be anywhere for a couple of days. There’s enough food in the house to last until Monday. It should be just fine.”

“Do we have enough firewood inside?” he asked.

“I carried several armloads in while the soup cooked. I thought we might need them if the storm kept going.”

“Good,” he said. “I’ll go out and get more as we need it, but it sounds like you did what you could to prepare us.”

“I tried.”

“What will you do if the storm won’t let us leave tomorrow?” he asked.

“I’m working on a gown for Belle’s baby. I have the fabric for two more as well. And I’ve purchased some flannel for diapers for her. If we’re stuck inside, I won’t run out of things to do.”

“Good. There’s nothing worse than sitting and watching the snowfall, wondering if you’ll ever be able to leave your house again.”

“I agree. We had hard winters in Massachusetts too.” Maggie looked at James with a twinkle in her eye. “I suppose there are other things the two of us could get up to together as well.”

He laughed. “I like the way you think...”

“I hope you also like cake. Your birthday can’t pass without a piece of cake.”

As soon as the supper dishes were washed and put away, they retired for the night. Before falling asleep, Maggie said a silent prayer that the storm wouldn’t be as bad as they were thinking it would be.

*****

I T WAS QUIET WHEN MAGGIE woke the following morning. The wind was no longer howling as it had been. She reached for James’s arm and realized he was already out of bed. “Is everything all right?” she asked.

“I think so. It’s still snowing, but the winds have died down.”

“Do you think you can work?”

He shook his head. “No, I don’t think it’s safe to go out in it. Even with the winds lower, it’s hard to see with the sheer amount of snow still falling. It’ll be better if we stay inside and keep warm.”

“All right,” she said. She would miss the income she’d have made that day, but it was all right. She’d make it up another day.

She got up and dressed, immediately starting breakfast while James sat at the table whittling by lamp light. “Did you ever decide what you are making?” she asked.

He looked down at the wood in his hands. “It’s a rabbit in mid-hop.”

“I can’t wait to see it when it’s done!”

“I can’t either. I never know exactly how something will look until I’ve finished it.”

“We need to find a way to display your animals. You are truly gifted.”

He shrugged. “I never thought so, but thank you.”

“I wonder if there’s somewhere we could sell them.”

“No one would want to buy them. Besides, I like to have them all here. I feel like Noah, surrounded by animals.”

She laughed. “Imagine how big that boat must have been.”

“I’m not sure I even want to think about it.”

They passed the day with him carving his rabbit, and her working on the gown for Belle’s baby. When she grew tired of sewing, she worked on crocheting a hat. With winter upon them, she was certain some of the men around town would need new hats.

“I have some rabbit for supper tonight,” she said when it was time to start supper. “I can fry it or make it into stew.”

“Stew sounds better. With as cold as it is outside, I like to have soups and stews a lot.”

“Stew it is.” She got up and started supper. While she was working, he checked the wood pile and decided to bring in a few more armloads of wood. It would have to dry before they could burn it, so it would be best if it was in the house for a while.

When supper was ready, he carried his own bowl of stew to the table. “I don’t think I realized how much I missed good home cooking until you started cooking for me. It’s nice to have a break from hardtack and jerky.”

“If I live to be a hundred, I don’t ever want to have to eat hardtack and jerky again,” she said. “I had more than enough of it on our journey here. If I hadn’t been so hungry, I would have stopped eating altogether.”

He laughed. “It’s been my main diet for years.”

“And I don’t know how it didn’t make you crazy,” she said. “I must confess to being spoiled. We had someone to cook for us at the hotel, and we had a good variety of meals.”

“Are you glad you don’t work there anymore?” he asked.

She nodded. “I don’t think I would have left if I hadn’t been fired, but I’m so glad I did. I’d rather be married to you than work for that place any day.”

“But I think you must still work as hard as you did there.”

“I do. But...I get to choose what I’ll do each day. I bake in the mornings, and then I have the rest of the day free to forage, or cook, or clean, or sew... I feel truly free in a way I never felt free at the hotel.”

“I can understand that. I work hard all week, and then I work on the weekends as well, but on the weekends, I do the work that I want to do. It’s nice to have choices.”

“I feel bad that I wasn’t able to take anything to the store today. The men count on the food Belle and I provide.”

“They can have hardtack and jerky for a few days. It won’t hurt them one bit.”

“I guess not,” she said. “I shouldn’t feel responsible for all the men in town.”

“No, you really shouldn’t. You’re responsible for feeding me and no one else.”

She smiled at him. “You are my first priority. The other men don’t matter at all when I compare them with you.”

“Then why do you work so hard to feed them?” he asked.

“Because I need to always be productive. I’ve been employed for a number of years, and I don’t think I’d be satisfied not working. And there’s a need here. I feel like I’m doing something good for people.”

“And doing good makes you feel better about yourself?” he asked, knowing that’s how he’d always been.

“Yes!”

“All right then.” He looked at the rabbit he’d been carving which was still on the table near his plate. “Do you really think my carvings are good enough to sell?”

“I do! Not here, but sending them back to the states would make them easy to sell, I think. People love things like that.”

He nodded. “Maybe I’ll look into it.”

“Would you let me send a letter or two about it? I knew a few people back in Beckham that may know how to sell them, or at least be able to find out.”

“That would be fine,” he said. He wanted to give her everything she could ever want, and making more money would be key.

After supper, she spent some time crocheting a hat to sell to the store while he worked more on the rabbit. It was already taking shape, and it was easy to tell what it would be when he finished.

“What did you do on days when you were snowed in before I came here?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I carved mostly. It’s something I’m very passionate about.”

“I can see why. You are very talented.”

“You know what? You’re good for me. You make me feel better about myself than I have in years.”

“Why would you feel bad about yourself?” she asked.

“I feel like I was stupid to go off and try to make it as a prospector. I should have stayed with Everett, and then I would still be part owner. I just feel like I made the biggest mistake of my life, and I’ll always be trying to make up for it.”

“I can understand that. But I don’t think it was a mistake. If you hadn’t gone, would you still wonder what would have happened if you did?”

“I never thought of that. Yes, I would probably still be dreaming of going off and making my fortune.” He set his knife down. “I took a chance, and though it didn’t work out, I think it was good for me.”

“See? It wasn’t the biggest mistake of your life. You needed to go to become the man you are now. And I like the man you are now a great deal.”

“I thought you would think I was less of a man for missing out on the lumber operation. But you think more of me?” He had never considered she would understand his need to go find gold.

“I’m glad you got it out of your system. I wouldn’t want to wake up in a month or two and find out you wanted to leave. Now you know what it’s like to be a prospector and it’s not a life you want.”

“I like the way you think,” he said, reaching for her hand.

She put down her crocheting and walked around the table to sit on his lap, kissing him passionately. “I like everything about you.”

It took only a few moments for them to realize they no longer wanted to be at the table together. Soon, they were on their way to bed, taking each other’s clothes off as they walked.

“I think I like having a wife,” he said much later as she lay snuggled in his arms.

“I know I like having a husband,” she said. “It’s so much better than dreading my work every day and worrying about who would come in that I would have to serve. I truly liked cleaning rooms so much more because I didn’t have to deal with people as much. It was simply cleaning and moving on.”

“I understand. I don’t mind having to talk to people, but I think I would be intimidated in your position. Especially since the men would touch you and you couldn’t do anything about it.” He kissed the top of her head. “I wouldn’t mind traveling to Massachusetts and punching that man in the face.”

“It wouldn’t do any good. I’m away from there now, and I barely even think about it anymore. And maybe you should thank him. I wouldn’t have ever found the courage to leave my job if I hadn’t been forced.”

He pursed his lips, thinking about it. “Perhaps you’re right. But I’m not going to travel that far to thank him and not also hit him. I would need to hit him for touching my wife.”

“I suppose you would.”

“If the snow lets up tomorrow, I’ll go out hunting. It would be good to have another deer or two in the cold house for winter. I don’t intend to go hungry. Though, we could always fall back on—”

“Hardtack and jerky? No. I’m never eating it again!”

He chuckled. “What a finicky woman you are.”

“Finicky? For not wanting to eat tasteless hardtack for every meal? At least I enjoyed the jerky. Having a break from it is just what I need.”

“If I go hunting tomorrow, will you bake for the store?”

She nodded. “I will. Does that bother you?”

“I don’t think it does. I’m not sure why.” But he knew. It didn’t bother him that she wanted to make money because she didn’t blame him for going off to be a prospector for a year. She didn’t think less of him for not having more money, so he wouldn’t complain when she earned some herself.

He hugged her tightly for a moment. “Goodnight, sweetheart.”

“Goodnight,” she whispered, the word ‘sweetheart’ rolling over and over in her mind. She was someone’s sweetheart.