Mail Order Millie (5 page)

Finally he stood. “I guess I’ll go out to the barn. Don’t take too long. I need my bath yet tonight, too.” He stifled a loud yawn as he walked out into the dark toward the barn.

Once he was gone, Millie quickly stripped down and sank into the hot water. Her tired achy muscles all but sang with joy as she quickly washed her hair and her body. She would have loved to spend an hour in there, but didn’t want to risk George coming back before she was finished.

Just as she finished buttoning her nightgown, he came back into the cabin. He stared at her for a moment, his eyes travelling up and down her. Her nightgown covered her from the top of her neck down to her ankles. It was as modest as nightwear could be. This was the first time he’d seen her in her nightgown, though. She’d always changed in the girls’ room, and before she came out, she was wearing her stockings and shoes and everything.

“I..umm…I’ll just go to bed now,” she mumbled. Her face was bright red from embarrassment. It wasn’t as if he’d never seen a woman in her nightgown before, she scolded herself.

He nodded. “It makes sense to skip our Bible study on bath night.” His fingers went to his shirt buttons, and she ran from the room. Climbing into bed with Patience, she rubbed her hands across her red cheeks. She had no idea she could get so embarrassed.

She lay awake a long time that night thinking about the look in George’s eyes when he’d come in from the barn. Maybe, when he finally forgave her for lying to him, they might be able to have a real marriage. She was still mad at him for the way he’d talked to her, but through the anger, she could see that she wanted a real marriage with George. She would love to have some more babies of her own.

When Millie woke on Sunday morning, she seriously considered feigning illness. She had no desire to go and be stared at by a bunch of people she didn’t know. The wedding was bad enough, but she didn’t want to have to meet them all at once like this. It wasn’t that she was shy, she wasn’t. She just didn’t like big groups of people surrounding her, and she knew that’s how it would be at church.

She rolled out of bed, putting on one of her work dresses and her apron. She’d wait to put on her church dress until after breakfast.

She went out to the hen house and gathered eggs as she did every morning, yawning as she went. She’d decided to make pancakes this morning, and hurried as she went about her work, knowing she wanted everything ready before the others woke up.

She slipped into the house and put her big griddle into the center of the stove with a spoonful of the butter. She pulled the large mixing bowl off the shelf, mixing up the ingredients quickly.

Before Millie dropped the pancakes, she knocked on George’s door. “Breakfast in twenty minutes!” she called through the closed door.

She went back into the kitchen and poured the first of the pancakes onto the griddle. George yawned as he stepped into the kitchen. “I’ll go milk the cow,” he told her sleepily, pulling his suspenders up over his shoulders as he walked through the kitchen.

“What time is church?” she asked.

“Nine.” He glanced at the clock. It was six-thirty. “We need to leave around eight, so we have plenty of time.” He left and went out to the barn.

She nodded, flipping the pancakes expertly. She’d made pancakes several times, so this was easy for her. Once she had the first twelve done, she woke Patience and told her to bring Grace to the table in her nightgown. She didn’t want them to get food on their church clothes. She called up to the boys to have them come down.

She cooked for another few minutes while the children took care of their necessities and came to the table. She’d just put the last of the pancakes on the platter when George came back in with the fresh milk. He put the bucket on the work table for her and she poured out milk into their tin cups.

Slipping into her seat, Millie bowed her head for George’s blessing on their food. They put raspberry preserves on their pancakes with the butter, and George’s eyes rounded with surprise. “These are good, Millie!” he praised.

She smiled. She’d known they’d love this for breakfast. She couldn’t do it every day, but before church on Sundays, this would be their special breakfast. Everyone ate their fill, and she and Patience made quick work of the dishes. Next week she’d bring up some of the molasses she’d seen down in the cellar for the pancakes. She’d try to find new ways to fix them to make them more of a treat.

She braided the girls’ hair and made sure their dresses were on just right. She helped the boys tuck in their shirts. She smiled. Her children looked just as good as they could until George would let her buy some fabric for more clothes for them.

They all piled into the wagon. Millie sat on the seat with George and held Grace. The boys and Patience sat in the back of the wagon talking excitedly. The children had all told her they loved going to church. No, they didn’t love sitting through the long sermons, but they loved seeing the others from their community. Millie wished there was a school near enough for them to go to, but there wasn’t, so they’d just have to enjoy their time with the other children at church.

Millie had carefully folded the veil loaned to her by Agnes, and planned to give that back to the other woman at church. All of the clean dishes were under a blanket at the back of the wagon waiting to be returned to their rightful owners. She still wasn’t looking forward to meeting the other women, but she knew she’d done everything she could to make a good first impression.

When they pulled into the churchyard, all of the children piled out of the wagon and ran to their friends. Millie clutched Grace to her almost as if she were a shield. What if everyone realized she’d lied to George? They’d all look down on her forever.

She didn’t need to worry. George stood by her side, introducing her to all the ladies over and over. George whispered to her each time one of them was one who had helped with their food over the months since Martha died, and she explained she had their clean dishes in the back of the wagon.

When she saw Agnes, she smiled, and handed her the veil. “Thanks for loaning this to me. I have your dishes in the back of the wagon as well.”

Agnes raised an eyebrow. “Clean I hope?”

Millie nodded. “Yes, of course.”

“I’ll get them from you after service then. Thank you for returning them.”

It was time for service to start, so Millie followed George into the church. She sat next to him, holding Grace, and the two boys sat beside George. Then Patience sat beside Millie.

Millie did her best to pay attention during the long sermon, but to her, church was for daydreaming. She paid enough attention that she’d be able to tell George the sermon was about women obeying their husbands, and went back to staring off into the distance. It was the first time she’d had to just sit since coming to Minnesota, and she wasn’t going to waste it listening to some old man talk about the Bible.

After the service, Millie made sure the women picked up their things from the back of the wagon, and waited for the family to be ready to go. She’d met a few women she could like, but they all seemed to be under Agnes’s thumb, and she didn’t find Agnes very pleasant. She’d rather get to know them all individually anyway.

One young woman, around Millie’s age, walked over as she stood looking around her holding Grace. “Hi. We haven’t met yet. I’m Elizabeth, but everyone just calls me Bess.”

Millie smiled. “I’m Mildred, but everyone just calls me Millie. It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to see another young married woman around here. How old are you?”

“I just turned eighteen. You?”

“I’ll be nineteen next week.” Bess grinned, obviously excited at the idea of having another young woman in the area. “You married George Stevens, right?”

“I did. Where in the area do you live?” Millie hoped she lived close enough for afternoon visits during the week when her chores were caught up. It would be so nice to spend some time with another young woman.

“I’m about a mile from you. Easily close enough to come by some afternoon. I’m sure you could use some company.”

Millie nodded emphatically. “I have a lot to do, so if you can talk while I mend or cook, I’d be happy to have you any time.” It was as if the other young woman had read her mind suggesting afternoon visits. She loved the idea and hoped they’d happen soon.

Bess’s face lit up. “I can do better than that. I can help you with whatever chore you’re doing and get it done in half the time, then we can sit and chat for a bit.”

Millie smiled. “I’d love that. Let me know what day works for you, and I’ll make some sugar cookies, and we can have cookies and milk. Or tea if you’d prefer.” Her family would be thrilled if she baked a treat like that as well. She was always amazed at how happily they ate up any baked goods she made.

“Cookies and milk sound wonderful. How about Tuesday? After lunch maybe?”

“That would be wonderful. I’d love to have someone to talk to.” She thought ahead to what she had planned for the week and mentally re-arranged a couple of things. “The two youngest will be napping then. I’ll get the baking done in the morning, and we’ll just sit and have ourselves a nice chat.”

Bess hugged her quickly. “I’d like that. I’ll be there.”

Millie could hardly contain her excitement. The children were piling into the back of the wagon, so she handed Grace to her father and climbed onto the seat, holding her arms out for the child. George climbed in beside her.

“I’m glad you and Bess are getting along. She’s been really lonely since she married John last year. It’ll be nice for her to have a friend.”

“It’ll be nice for me, too. I miss being around other young women.” She smiled as she thought of the opportunity for friendship with the girl.

He smiled over at her. “I hope you two will find time to spend together then.”

“She’s coming over Tuesday afternoon.” She hoped George wouldn’t mind she’d invited the woman over without talking to him first, but it was her house, too.

George nodded. “Sounds nice. You’ve worked hard this week and should take some time to sit down and get to know some of the other ladies.”

Millie felt as if he’d given her the best compliment in the world. “You don’t mind if I sit with her and don’t work while she’s here?”

“Of course not. As long as everyone’s fed, I see no problem with that at all.”

When they got home, Millie fixed a quick lunch and they all sat down to eat. “Will you work this afternoon?” she asked George.

He shook his head. “Not on Sunday.”

“What will you do this afternoon, then?” she asked. She knew that a lot of men took Sundays off, but she had no idea how they kept themselves busy. The men she knew tended to work all the time.

“I thought we could all take a walk. Would you enjoy that?”

She nodded. “What about the little ones, though? They need their nap.”

“I can carry Gracie, and Jacob will be happy to skip his nap for one day, won’t you, Jake?”

Jacob nodded. “I don’t need a nap. I’m not a baby.”

Millie smiled at him. “I know you’re not a baby.” She looked across the table to George. “I’d like that.” She was practically giddy at the idea of a day with no chores other than cooking and dishes. Spending a day just getting to know her new family sounded like heaven to her.

After the lunch dishes were done, they all changed into their everyday clothes and went outside. George headed west from the farm, not following any particular road, just ambling along. He pointed out different types of plants and trees for the children. At one point they stopped and looked at the nest a robin was building on the low branches of a tree. “They always say a robin is the first sign of spring. Awfully early for spring to really be here, but I’m not complaining,” he told them.

Millie was amazed at what a good father George was. She hadn’t thought he was a bad father, but he’d been so busy with farming and with the state the house had been in, it was hard to picture the man she knew taking the time to point out all the things in nature he was pointing out. She felt her heart flutter a bit at the idea of him doing those things with a child of theirs.

“When will you be able to plant?” Millie asked.

“I’ll probably hold out another week, just to make sure there isn’t another frost, but then Michael and I will plant.”

“When should I put in my vegetable garden?” She had no idea about the growing season in Minnesota or about what things would grow there. She needed to follow his lead on things like that.

He shrugged. “As soon as I get the planting done, I’ll plow your plot for you. Probably in another few weeks.”

They walked along in silence for a while, the children playing as they walked. Millie frowned as she saw how short the girls’ dresses were again. She wished she could make them new ones now.

Grace got sleepy and started to whine, so George hefted her into his arms. She put her head on his shoulder and fell asleep with her thumb in her mouth.

“We should probably turn back,” George suggested after an hour or so.

Millie nodded, hating the idea of their fun day ending, but she knew she still needed to fix dinner. On the way back, George pointed off into the distance. “That’s where Bess and her husband, John, live.”

Millie looked over at the small lean-to on the property. There was no dirt path or road or anything, but she could picture bringing the children and having a picnic with her new friend between the two houses. It wasn’t a long walk, and if each of them met in the middle, it would be even shorter. That would be something fun to do with the children during the summer months.

“Thanks for showing me where she lives. I think it would be fun to have picnics between the two properties.”

George nodded. “I was thinking the same thing. The children would enjoy it.”

Millie smiled over at George. He wasn’t as gruff or hard as he’d first seemed. Yes, he liked things to be a certain way, but he was never unkind or cruel to her. Maybe eventually, they’d be able to live together as a real husband and wife.

When they arrived back at the house, Millie peeled potatoes and fried them up. She did the same with the salt pork, carefully washing the extra salt off, and seasoning them sparingly. She fried them in some water she could use to make gravy.

While she cooked, George sat with the children, talking about the morning’s sermon and adding to it, going over the points for the children to make certain they’d grasped it all. Then he told them the story of Job, and all the trials that had befallen him. It was obvious from the way the children listened this was a regular Sunday occurrence in their home.

She made gravy with the salt pork, carefully mixing flour with water and adding it to the water at the bottom of the pan. Once she was done, she shrugged, hoping it would turn out okay.