Mail Order Love (Sweet Mail Order Bride Historical Romance Novel) (Oregon Mail Order Brides) (10 page)

Jared led the horses into a trot, completing a wide circle, whooping as they went. “Think you can do it, Ellie? Don’t fall off now, I’m not gonna catch you!”

Ellie’s giggles bubbled up as they swung around together under the bright spring sun, and the dogs chased the buggy, barking excitedly. Jared watched Ellie as she drove, admiration in his eyes. Not only had she picked that up quicker than a boy would, she was a whole lot of fun into the bargain. Now here was a woman he could tease and make fun of, and she gave as good as she got.

Chapter 19

With her new life in the country, Ellie started to heal. The last vestiges of her illness were blown away.

She soaked up the sunshine for hours each day, absorbing it deep into her bones and letting it heat up her face and hair. The air here was the freshest she had ever known, and every breath she took was fragrant with the scent of the prairie.

She slept the sleep of the angels each night on her feathery regal bed. At mealtimes, she packed away incredible amounts of nourishing food, egged on by Grammy and Jared.

Her new found health showed through. She had the energy to work a full day without tiring. Muscles grew where there had been none visible. Her skin radiated a peachy tan. Even her hair looked thicker and shinier, blown about by the prairie winds.

The days and weeks passed quickly in a flurry of activity. Ellie survived on very little sleep. She was making good on her resolution to make her employers glad they had taken a chance on her.

Looking through the rooms in the house, Ellie could see she had a mountain of work to do. While she couldn’t finish it all in four weeks, she decided to make the best start she could. So Ellie swept and tidied every corner, she dusted, she mopped the floors, and she polished and cleaned the windows until they were as clear as spring water.

There were pigs and chickens to muck out and feed. Hoeing, weeding and gardening to be done. Butter to be churned. The tasks were hard and never-ending, but Ellie was glad to have something worthwhile to throw herself into.

She made a start on clearing each room of old unwanted things. She began to sort through the clothes, curtains and bed linen, checking them for holes and mending them. She laundered each item in turn and once they were dry, she pressed them to starchy perfection.

Then, under the direction of Grammy, she started to work through each of the outbuildings in sequence, clearing years of dust and sorting through broken tools. She aimed to scrub each of those outbuildings until it was clean enough to live and sleep in.

Grammy hauled out four large trunks packed with every kind of item a woman could want to wear: dresses, petticoats, corsets, coats, shoes, bonnets, and jackets. Grammy explained that this was her collection she had saved over the years from her interest in sewing and clothes.

Many of the items were not suitable for an old lady, so Grammy pushed Ellie to choose from them and wear what she liked. Together they laundered, mended and adjusted the garments. By the time they had finished, Ellie had all kinds of new and colorful additions to her wardrobe.

Ellie loved every moment of her new life and learned quickly from Grammy. Ellie was often clumsy and dropped things, so there were more incidents of breakages for Grammy to laugh at. Ellie’s dizzy spells were a chance for her to be made fun of and teased, but it was all from the kindest humor. And when she fell over, one or other of the puppies would be sure to gambol over and lick her face.

Ellie was working for good honest people and she was earning board and a little money. She had chosen to be here of her own free will and she was free to choose whether she would stay or go. She was not being used as an unpaid servant any more. At last Ellie could hold her head up high and feel proud.

Ellie felt as if she was waking up to real life. Never before had hard work felt so good. She had almost forgotten what it felt like to be accepted for who she was. Being around decent people nourished her soul.

One morning Ellie was scattering feed for the chickens, humming to herself as the red and orange light of dawn burst forth over the distant hills. She threw handfuls of feed and watched the chickens run to it. She was starting to recognize the different birds by the patterns of their feathers.

She made little clucking sounds and spoke gently to the birds. “What shall I call you then? You can be Josie … You Daisy … Now let me see -” She heard the sound of the front door of the house opening and she stopped speaking.

Jared strode out into the yard, swinging a metal pail and looking purposeful. He caught sight of Ellie and grinned at her.

“How’s it going, Ellie? Those chickens behaving themselves?”

“Yes, pretty well, thanks.” Ellie smiled a shy smile. Her mind seemed to go blank sometimes when he spoke to her.

“I’m going to milk the cows, Ellie. It might be a task you could take on if you are willing. Want me to show you how?”

His eyes showed up the color of fresh green leaves in the bright morning light. Ellie could see the ring around his irises was a dark forest green.

“Sure, I’d be happy to.”

They walked along to the cowshed in easy silence.

“This one’s Mabel.” A mild-looking cow was in front of them. She was patched in russet and white, her long eyelashes drooping over mild brown eyes. “She’s pretty easy and gentle so let’s practice with her.”

Jared sat on the low three-legged milking stool and leaned his cheek against the cow’s flank. He showed Ellie how to wrap her thumb and forefinger to capture the milk, loosen it slightly and gently squeeze. The milk shot out and zinged into the pail.

“See? Now you try.”

Ellie politely stepped forward to sit on the stool, neat in her red and blue checked poplin dress with petticoats underneath and her spotless brown work boots. Her hair was braided and coiled into a shiny braid behind each ear. She mimicked Jared’s position and hands, and she pulled on the udders as he had done. The milk was not flowing out.

“Did I not squeeze right?” Ellie wondered aloud.

Before Ellie had time to think another thought, Jared had crouched down behind her and put his hands over hers. He wrapped his fingers over her fingers, showing her where to loosen and where to squeeze.

Ellie’s heart beat quickly as she felt his warmth envelope her. She wondered if he could feel her heart fluttering through his chest. A warm smell of leather and salty water came from his skin as he leaned over her.

Ellie’s head began to swim. With an effort she concentrated on what he was showing her and she got the knack of milking. She turned around on her stool to look at him.

Ellie saw him pull back as she turned toward him. There was no expression on his face.

“You got it. Good. Continue on like that, I’ll get the other pails.”

As Jared strode off Ellie turned back to the cow and carried on milking.

Well, I guess I might admire him. Not that it would do me any good.

Ellie dropped the thought from her mind as she milked. She knew he had no interest in her in any case. She wouldn’t insult him by harboring an affection. That would be unwelcome and not correct toward an employer.

Even her position as a housekeeper was far from sure. After all, she was here because of a mistake. Grammy had ordered a mail order bride for Jared as a surprise, and he had made it clear he didn’t want her as a bride.

They had not planned to get a housekeeper in the first place. So why were they even keeping her on now? Ellie hoped it was not from a sense of duty after having dragged her out here from Boston. Or even worse, charity toward a poor sickly girl.

She sighed to herself. It was not productive to think that way. No good would come of it. Better that she kept her head down and kept on working. Better to prove to them she was a good housekeeper and not to be pitied.

Chapter 20

Of all the tasks she had, Ellie’s favorite was to hunt in the vast vegetable garden. She would rummage through the leaves, delicately folding them back as she searched for the choicest items.

Once Ellie found a good looking vegetable, herb, fruit, squash or root, she would add it to her collection. Then she would bring her haul back to the front room and pore over the recipe book. She combined inspiration from years gone by with her own creativity to come up with new recipes.

The extensive garden plot had already been sown some years back, and it was perfectly situated on the sunny side of the house. The soil was richly dark and moist, bursting with nutrition and ready to nurture anything grown in it.

There were special beds for herbs such as rosemary, lavender, sheep sorrel, thyme, chives, and mint. Row upon row of root vegetables grew, with parsnips, turnips, potatoes and beetroot. There were racks for rows of runner beans, peas and tomatoes to run up. Sprouting from the ground were squashes such as pumpkin and other plants Ellie had never seen before such as okra.

Much of the garden had been allowed to run wild. It had been too much for Grammy to take care of in recent years.

Ellie took delight in plunging her fingers deep into the fertile dark soil. She pulled out weeds and debris, lovingly molding the garden back to its former glory. Every day she would return to the garden at sunset when the sun was no longer hot on the leaves and she would water every inch.

Any plants she did not know she looked up in the old agricultural manual in the front room. She made a point of learning to identify the seeds, leaves, and fruits of every plant in the garden and she memorized how best to raise them.

Even though her stay at the Ford household was still temporary, she dug and hoed and worked on that stretch of soil for all she was worth. She planned a bountiful garden that would serve Jared’s family well for years to come. She poured her gratitude into the soil, not noticing how roughened and tanned her skin was becoming in the process.

Many new and delicious morsels found their way into the Ford family meals. Today she had discovered a juicy crop of sweet, dark-red wild strawberries nestled behind spiky leaves. She had gone back to the front room, stewed the tiny berries in honey, and scattered them throughout a fluffy cake-like bread made with buttermilk.

Ellie liked to have something delicious waiting for Jared when he came back around four o’clock for a quick refreshment before heading out again to make use of the rest of the daylight. Whereas before he would scarf down a cold mug of tea and some leftover biscuits, now he came back to a full spread.

Today a red and white checked table cloth covered the large oak table. In the center Ellie had set a jug of fresh prairie wildflowers she had gathered that morning. Pots of hot aromatic coffee and tea steamed, and there was cold creamy milk in a jug. Her newest strawberry bread creation sat temptingly in front of the flowers, with cold golden butter, a juicy blueberry jam, and thick cream to serve with it.

Grammy and Ellie were both seated when Jared wound his way back to the front room sniffing the air hungrily. Once Jared had sat down, Grammy poured tea for them all and they polished off the first slice of bread in no time.

“It’s a good way to grow me a big fine gut.” Jared leaned back and rubbed his slim stomach with both hands before eagerly accepting a second slice of the flaky steaming loaf.

Grammy helped herself to another slice, served Ellie, and passed Jared the cream.

“You have the height to hold it, young man, and you expend enough vigor out on those fields to burn the food of five men. But don’t worry, I’ll announce to the world if you turn stout.”

“We don’t want to scare the ladies with a jelly belly now.” Grammy added quietly to Ellie, who smothered a giggle.

Jared looked up from his snack.

“Ellie, what’s that you have in the oven there? You’re cooking up something else too?”

“I made up a new recipe. I wanted to use what’s growing in the garden to make a spring dessert pie.”

Grammy’s eyes lit up.

“Give us a taste, you know we love your creations.”

“I’ll be happy to, though I’m not sure about it. I hope it’ll be all right.” Ellie whipped the freshly baked golden pie out of the oven and it wafted scents of tartness and sweetness at them. She served Grammy, Jared and herself a piece of the pie and poured cream over each slice.

Jared and Grammy dug in happily while Ellie ate more slowly, watching for their reactions.

Jared was the first to speak.

“It’s, uh, interesting Ellie.” He chewed some more and picked out a small green orb from the pie with his fingers. “Is this a pea right here? … And can I taste mint in this pie?”

“That’s right.”

“Ooof.”

“It’s a cranberry, apple, pea and mint pie. I was picking the tiniest new green peas this morning, and I thought they are sweet, they could be good in a pie. So I didn’t cook them but popped them in tender and raw so they didn’t break down. I put in some mint to complement the tartness of the cranberry, and … do you think it works?”

Jared paused.

“Eric? Fairy? You hungry boys?” Jared ducked as Grammy flicked a kitchen cloth at his head.

“It’s interesting, that’s for sure.” Jared acquiesced. “I’m not going to turn down a good helping of food, and I sure do enjoy trying out your recipes, Ellie.”