A Convenient Wife. Carolyn Davidson

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СКАЧАТЬ oven held a whole roasting hen and from the looks of it, it only needed potatoes and vegetables added to complete the meal. Ellie explored the pantry, finding a bucket of new potatoes, and a bunch of carrots. Cooking gave her a sense of accomplishment, and she scouted out a paring knife, her capable hands readying the vegetables for the oven. A pan of stale bread, cut up into cubes, told her that Tess had plans for chicken stuffing, and in minutes, Ellie had cut up an onion and found spices to complete that dish.

      She drained broth from the roasting hen into the bread pan and mixed the stuffing quickly, placing it in a greased tin to bake. Outside the back door, two little girls played in the afternoon sunshine, and waved in her direction when they saw her in the doorway.

      “Mama said to let you sleep. She told us we wasn’t to disturb you,” the tallest of the two said cheerfully. “This here is my friend Alice. And I’m June-bug. At least that’s what my papa calls me. And sometimes he calls me an afterthought.” She grinned widely. “I don’t know what it means, but he always laughs and hugs me when he says it.”

      June-bug. Ellie smiled, even as a sadness descended over her. Imagine having a father who would designate his daughter as such, who would tease the little girl with a nickname, bringing smiles to her freckled face.

      “June-bug sounds like a wonderful name,” Ellie said. “I’m just Ellie.”

      “My mama told me. Is that what your papa calls you?”

      Ellie nodded. But not lately, she thought, the memory of those hated appellations he’d shouted in her direction coming to mind. Not lately.

      “Are you cookin’ our supper?” June-bug asked. “I can smell chicken.”

      “Your mama had it in the oven. I’m just putting some potatoes and carrots in with it.”

      “She’ll be glad,” the child said with a sharp nod. “She’s kinda tired when she gets home. And when my sisters got married last year, there wasn’t nobody left to cook dinner, but me and Mama. And she won’t let me touch the stove without her bein’ here to watch.”

      Tess was more than glad, her words joyous as she followed John into the house less than an hour later. “You didn’t have to cook for us,” she exclaimed, eyeing the pan Ellie had just taken from the oven. “But I surely do appreciate it, Ellie. June said you were making biscuits when she looked in the door a while ago.”

      “We may just keep you,” John teased, up to his elbows in soapsuds as he washed up at the sink.

      Ellie smiled, forcing a pleasant look, as she caught sight of Tess’s sympathetic glance in her direction. She’d looked in the mirror herself; knew the sight of a swollen eye and cheek would be causing talk around the town should she appear in public. It was enough that she’d paraded down the road with her head bowed, finding her way to the back door of the mercantile in order to see if Tess could use any help.

      “You’ve got no need for me,” Ellie said bluntly. “But I’ll find something to do. Maybe I can get a job at one of the ranches.”

      “I may have something in mind,” Tess told her. “I stopped by to see Doc Gray earlier. He might have need of you. Man never eats right, and he’s having to send out his washing to be done. I’ll warrant his floors haven’t seen a scrub rag in a month, since he had Eula Peters in to clean up things.”

      “Dr. Gray? You want me to go clean his house and cook his meals?” Ellie closed her mouth with a snap of her jaw. “He can’t afford to have a woman like me hanging around his neck. Folks would talk if I were to work for him.”

      “Just go and see what he has to say,” Tess told her soothingly. “I suggested it and he didn’t seem to take it poorly. In fact, he told me to send you over. He wants to talk to you.”

      Ellie gritted her teeth. “I’m going to need a place to stay. I don’t think it’ll work, Mrs. Dillard.”

      “Let’s eat first,” Tess suggested. “And then you can go talk to him.”

      Ellie wavered. “I’ll walk over there a little later on. I don’t want any more folks to see me than have to, with me looking like this.” She bent to take the stuffing pan from the oven. “I hope you don’t mind that I made this. I saw the bread all cut up and I thought it was what you intended.”

      “You’re a gem, Ellie.” Tess’s praise was heartfelt as she sank into a chair at the table. “I’m not usually one to take advantage, but I’ve had a long day. I thought I was doing well to come home long enough to stick a chicken in the oven. Hadn’t even gotten as far as what we’d have with it.”

      “Well, if I can’t do much else, I’m a good cook. At least my pa never had any complaints,” Ellie said stoically. Her gaze scanned the table, where plates and silverware awaited. “I guess you can eat now.”

      “Aren’t you going to join us, Ellie?” John asked, glancing at his wife with a puzzled look.

      “I’m not hungry,” Ellie admitted, sidling toward the door. “If you don’t mind, I think I’ll take a walk around the back way to the doctor’s house. If he’s willing to give me work, I can’t afford to turn it down.”

      “Take some of this chicken with you,” Tess offered, rising quickly and bustling to the cupboard for a container. “We’ve got more than enough. Unless I miss my guess, Doc will be thankful for a decent meal.” She darted a look at Ellie, and smiled widely. “Maybe he’ll be impressed if you tell him you did the cooking.”

      The bread was moldy and the milk had gone sour. All in all, supper looked to be a complete disaster, Win decided. Scrambled eggs didn’t taste like much without a piece of bread alongside, and he’d lost his appetite for them anyway. With a shrug, he left the kitchen to stalk through the living room, and sat down on the front stoop, reaching to pet the stray cat who’d been hanging around lately.

      “I’d give you the milk, cat, but you’d turn your nose up at it,” he murmured. He glanced toward the hotel, where the dining room offered a decent meal. Somehow, it seemed to require too much effort, and he decided to settle for a can of peaches from the pantry.

      A movement caught his eye and he turned his head to where a woman’s slight form approached from around the corner of the house. “You weren’t in the kitchen,” Ellie said, “so I came around, hoping to find you.” She carried a pie tin, covered with a bleached dish towel, and his hopes for a decent meal rose from the depths to a more palatable level.

      “What’s that you’ve got?” he asked, aware of an optimistic note in his voice.

      “Mrs. Dillard sent over some of their supper, in case you’re hungry,” Ellie said. “I’d hand it over, but the pan’s hot, and you don’t want to burn your fingers. I suspect your patients would admire you more without blisters.”

      He grinned at her dry remark and hastened to open the screen door. “Come on in, Ellie. Go on through to the kitchen and put it on the stove.” He followed her, lured by the scent of chicken, and watched as she lowered the tin plate to the back burner. Placing the dish towel she’d used for padding aside, she removed the covering.

      “I made stuffing to go with Mrs. Dillard’s roasting hen, and I brought plenty for you. I must have thought I was gonna feed an army, with the big panful I put together.”

      “Tell СКАЧАТЬ