by Lisa Cooke
“It wasn’t a problem for you. I was the one doing all the work.” She couldn’t believe she’d said that, but it was the gospel truth. It was also the last straw.
Untying her apron, she slammed it on the cupboard. “Fix your own supper,” she said, wishing she’d had the courage to add the word “damn” like John had done.
She stormed from the kitchen to the front porch and fresh air, realizing when she dropped into the rocker that she’d fried enough eggs for them. She was the one that wouldn’t have anything to eat.
Her stomach growled when she thought of the beef roast with potatoes and carrots John and Julia were having for dinner. She didn’t remember the last time she’d had a beef roast. If it weren’t for the deer meat some of the people she doctored occasionally gave her, chicken was the only meat she’d ever get.
The cabin door squeaked loudly as Grandma came out to the porch, clutching her shawl around her shoulders. “Are you cold?”
“No,” Katie answered. Anger had a way of keeping the chill away.
Grandma hobbled over to the other rocker and set it in motion before she began the speech Katie knew was coming.
“Things was much easier when you wasn’t working in town.”
Katie didn’t bother with a response. It would save time just to wait until Grandma was finished, and Grandma was nowhere near making her point yet.
“I seen you with the doc at the barn raisin’. You fancy yourself in love with him, don’t you?”
Katie stopped her rocker. In love with John? “Of course not.”
Grandma’s rocker didn’t miss a beat. “That’s good, ’cause you know that’d never work out.”
Katie forced her legs to set her rocker back to rocking.
“He’s not like us, Katie. He lives in a big fancy house and wears fancy store-bought clothes.”
“That doesn’t make him bad.”
“No,” Grandma agreed, “just different. You’re a good woman, Katie, and you need to stick to your kind. Dr. Keffer will never fit in with your people, and you will never fit in with his. In his mind, you’re just the hired help.”
“I don’t believe he thinks of me that way.”
“He pays you, don’t he?”
With that, Grandma left the porch and her point behind. And what a dandy point it was.
John placed the last of his Henry David Thoreau books on his library shelf with a grin of satisfaction. Now that Katie had taken over for Mrs. Adkins, there was no longer a need to leave his house in shambles. Another day should have his library restored to its original immaculate and boring state.
“Mornin’.” He heard Katie’s voice echo in the downstairs hallway, announcing her arrival, and not a moment too soon.
He’d done his best getting Julia ready for the day, but her hair had left him in a quandary. Every time he ran the brush through the curls, they seemed to expand until finally he gave up for fear they would gobble up his daughter completely. Katie would know what to do.
“Oh, Julia,” Katie said as he walked down the stairs for the kitchen. “What has happened to your hair?”
“Daddy,” Julia replied simply, leaving Katie to fill in the rest.
John chuckled, looking forward to the morning. A new development and one that never ceased to surprise him. He stepped into the kitchen, warmed at the sight of Katie attempting to tame Julia’s curls.
“Good morning, Katie,” he said, with a smile.
Katie looked up at him and for the first time since they’d met, a wall fell between them. “Good morning, Dr. Keffer.”
“Doctor?”
She returned her attention immediately to Julia’s hair. “I think that since I’m here so much now, that would be a little more appropriate, don’t you?”
Hell no, he didn’t. But getting to the bottom of this wasn’t possible with Julia in the room. Luckily Julia took a nap right after lunch. If John could make it until then, he’d find out what was going on and fix it.
Was it the kiss? It didn’t seem likely. That had happened more than a week ago, and they had been together every day since. Whatever had caused this change happened yesterday, and things that change that quickly can be changed back. He hoped.
Maybe she needed another kiss.
Maybe he needed to have his head examined.
Katie stoked the fire in the cook stove, then added a glob of bacon grease to the skillet, relieved when John left the kitchen. She’d thought long and hard about what Grandma had said, trying to decide if it was true.
Not that it mattered.
She already had three fiancés. Wasn’t that enough? But then again, he had kissed her. Of course he’d only done that once, and he’d done it out of anger. Though several times since then she’d gotten the distinct impression he wanted to kiss her again.
Maybe she needed another kiss.
Maybe she needed to have her head examined.
Katie started to add an egg to the hot skillet but stopped when the door chime jingled. Wiping her hands on her apron, she headed toward the front door only to find John had reached it first.
“John!” A beautiful woman in a fawn-colored traveling outfit rushed through the front door and into his arms.
Heart dropping, Katie stepped back. Unable to tear herself away, she watched from the end of the hallway as John returned the hug.
“Caroline?” he said, clearly surprised, but not disappointed, by the woman’s arrival.
Caroline cupped John’s face with her gloved hands. “It’s so good to see you. I’ve worried myself sick ever since you left New York.”
She lowered her hands and looked about her. “This house is lovely, but the town leaves much to be desired. There’s nothing here, John. Why on earth won’t you come home?”
Caroline didn’t give John a chance to answer before she gestured toward the open door and front porch. “Oh! Would you mind paying the boy for bringing me here from Huntington? I thought sure you’d pick me up at the train station or send a coach.” The tone of her voice was only slightly admonishing, and the look she gave John was teasing if not downright flirting.
“I didn’t know you were coming.”
“You didn’t? I sent a letter. Didn’t you receive it?”
John shook his head. “I’m sorry. I would have arranged to meet you had I known.” He reached into his pocket and stepped onto the porch to pay whoever it was that had delivered Caroline to his door.
“Oh well,” she said, with a flutter of her hand. “I’m here now and that’s all that matters. Can you get your manservant to bring in my luggage?”
“I don’t have a manservant,” John said as he returned inside and closed the door. “I’ll get your bags later.”
She gasped. “How on earth do you survive without a servant?”
“Things are different here,” he said, as though he’d been listening to Grandma too.
“Well, hopefully you won’t be here much longer anyway.” She flashed a brilliant smile that made her eyes glisten before she looped her arm through John’s and said, “Where is your parlor? We have so much catching up to do.” With that, she and John strode into the parlor and out of Katie’s eyesight.
It was as though a whirlwind had swooshed into the house in perfectly tailored clothing with matching bonnet and gloves. Katie looked down at her brown calico day dress, her white apron smudged with this morning’s breakfast. She didn’t own a corset or a bustle, which no doubt had helped Caroline’s figure look so perfect.
Absently, Katie patted her brown hair tucked into its simple braided bun and thought about the lush beauty of Caroline’s upswept blonde curls. Even the way she spoke clearly placed her in John’s world.
God had sent Katie a message. Had she been falling for John? Probably, but Caroline had snapped Katie out of her delusion faster than a slap in the face. And Caroline didn’t even know Katie existed. By this time tomorrow, John wouldn’t remember that fact either.
“Katie?” Julia tugged on her sleev
e. “I set the table in the kitchen for breakfast.”
Katie looked down at Julia and held back a tear. “We’re going to need to set things up in the dining room.”
“But we always eat breakfast in the kitchen.”
Katie doubted Caroline had ever even seen a kitchen. “I suspect things are going to be different from now on.”
“Why?”
“A friend of your pa’s just came here from New York.”
“Really?” Julia’s face lit up with the news and, as usual, the excitement sent her to bouncing. “Who is it? Did you meet him?”
“No,” Katie said, ushering Julia back into the kitchen. “It was a woman your pa called ‘Caroline.’”
Suddenly the bounce stopped, and the light in Julia’s face went out. “Aunt Caroline?”
“Well,” Katie said cautiously, “I don’t know if she’s your aunt, but she was a beautiful woman with blonde hair.”
“Oh.” Julia walked over to the table and began collecting plates to carry to the dining room. Katie waited, hoping she’d explain her odd reaction and trying to decide if she should pry more out of her.
But Julia remained silent while she took three place settings to the dining room, moping as she went. She returned to the kitchen and set a plate and silverware on the kitchen table. Katie knew that setting was for her.
Help eats in the kitchen.
Maybe that was what had Julia upset. It had Katie a little upset too, but it wasn’t Julia’s fault. It was just the way polite society did things.
Finally Katie could take no more of Julia’s sadness. “Julia?”
Julia stopped and looked up at Katie as if her heart were breaking.
“Eating in the kitchen isn’t that bad. I kind of like it out here.”
Julia’s lip pouted as a tear slipped out of the corner of her eye. “But I want to eat with Daddy.”
“You are going to eat with Daddy.”
Head shaking with the gravest expression, Julia wiped at her tear. “Aunt Caroline doesn’t think children should eat at the big table. I always had to eat in the kitchen when we went to her house.”
That changed things entirely. It was one thing to send the help to the kitchen, quite another to exclude Julia. “This isn’t Aunt Caroline’s house,” Katie said with more bravado than she had a right. She was counting on John standing his ground, though based on his greeting of Caroline, Katie wasn’t sure where he was going to stand.
Deciding to take a chance, she patted Julia on the head and said, “Why don’t you go to the parlor and tell your pa and your Aunt Caroline it’s time to come for breakfast?”
“But—”
“Then you,” Katie interrupted, “are going to eat with your pa just like you always do.”
After scooting Julia out the door, Katie dished up the gravy and eggs to carry to the dining room. John and his houseguest entered just as Katie set the food on the table.
“Katie?” John said, ushering Caroline in her direction. “I’d like you to meet Lois’s sister, Caroline. She’s just arrived from New York, and she’s going to be staying for a while.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Katie said, wishing her apron weren’t smudged.
But Caroline didn’t look at her long enough to notice smudged aprons or even if Katie had an extra arm. She gave a quick nod, then turned her attention to John. Katie knew a dismissal when she saw one, and she wasted no time leaving the dining room, hesitating only for a second when she heard Caroline ask, “Really, John, don’t you think Julie would be more comfortable in the kitchen where she could visit with the cook?”
Katie didn’t hear John’s reply, but since Julia didn’t soon return to the kitchen, she assumed he’d defended his daughter’s right to eat at the big table. She supposed she should be offended by Caroline referring to her as the cook, but considering she couldn’t even get her own niece’s name right, being called “cook” seemed like a mild offense.
Cleaning the kitchen with more zeal than usual, Katie failed to hear John enter the room until his voice startled her from behind. “Katie?”
She spun from the sink to face him, relieved that Caroline was not in company. “Yes?”
“Why didn’t you eat with us?”
“I already ate.” Which wasn’t entirely a lie. She’d eaten many times in the last twenty-nine years.
“Oh,” he said, apparently accepting her explanation.
“Did you get enough?”
“Yes, but I’m afraid I’m faced with another dilemma that I need your help with.”
“What’s that?”
“I didn’t receive Caroline’s letter that she was coming, and I have no arrangements for her lodging. Not that it would matter, as there’s no place else for her to stay anyway.”
Katie nodded, wondering what he was trying to say, but decided to wait patiently until he got around to it.
“Anyway,” he said again, “Caroline is a young, single woman and I’m a widower.” He waited as though he thought she understood what he was talking about. He was wrong.
Sighing, he filled in the rest. “I’m afraid in order for her to stay here, I need a chaperone. Do you think you could move in until Caroline leaves?”
Katie felt her face flush. He didn’t trust himself alone with the woman, and he thought Katie’s presence would protect her.
“I’ll pay you well,” he added when Katie hesitated, and he couldn’t have driven home Grandma’s point more if he’d tried.
Packing up all her worldly possessions didn’t take nearly as long as John evidently thought it would. He’d insisted she leave for home right after lunch as though it would take all afternoon to pack. Two everyday dresses, one Sunday dress, two pairs of stockings—one of which was still pristine white and in its tissue paper—a hairbrush, a coat, a cloak, and two chemises were all Katie had to her name. Considering some of the items were on her body, the bundle wrapped in her quilt wasn’t very impressive.
She’d been given an assortment of quilts and shawls throughout the years, but had given most to her family. Besides, it wasn’t like she was moving to John’s for good. As soon as Mrs. Adkins returned, Katie would be coming home, bundle and all.
Leaving the way she had was probably cowardly. After packing, she’d fixed dinner and done her chores before finally announcing her new position and heading for the door. Grandma was livid, Grandpa just knew he was going to starve to death, and Pa still wasn’t sure what was going on when she darted from the cabin, declaring she’d probably be back before Christmas.
It was exciting and daring and more than a little frightening. For the life of her, she couldn’t remember ever sleeping in any bed other than the one she had in the loft of their log cabin.
Her fears vanished in a flash, however, when Julia greeted her with a fierce hug as soon as she stepped into the house.
“I’m glad you’re back,” she said to Katie’s skirts.
“I wasn’t gone all that long.”
“It was long enough,” Julia answered with a roll of her big blue eyes.
Before Katie had the chance to find out what Julia meant, John stepped into the foyer. “You’re back.” He flashed a smile and started for the door. “I’ll get your things from the wagon.”
“I have them,” she blurted before he managed to open the door.
With a frown, he looked at the bundle clutched in her arms. “Is that all you brought?”
It was all she had, but he didn’t need to know that. “It’s plenty.”
He chuckled. “Well, I must say, I’ve never known a woman to travel so lightly. I think Caroline brought half of New York with her.”
“John?” Caroline called to him from the parlor.
He glanced over his shoulder. “Why don’t you go on upstairs and get settled in while I check on Caroline? I’ll be up in a minute.”
Katie nodded, but it was a wasted gesture. John scurried to Caroline’s bidding without waiting for Katie’s response. She sighed and started
up the stairs. Julia talked a mile a minute, which helped fill the emptiness John had left behind.
Julia followed Katie as she walked past the occupied bedrooms to the empty one at the end of the hall. She stepped into the room, immediately feeling overwhelmed. An ornately carved four-poster bed sat against the far wall. A walnut washstand, with its marble top, was next to the bed, a porcelain bowl and pitcher ready for use. Another walnut dresser had been placed across the room and a pair of velvet-covered chairs flanked a marble-topped table near the window. Thick oriental rugs covered most of the hardwood floor including the area in front of the hearth. A fire had been laid.
Katie sighed. She couldn’t stay in here. It wasn’t real, and staying in it might make her forget who she was. Turning from the room, she headed for the small chamber at the top of the back stairs leading to the kitchen.
No more than a quarter the size of the other room, this one had only a tiny bed, one wooden chair, and a trunk for her clothing. A scarred table with a plain pitcher and bowl sat next to the bed and would be a perfect spot for her brush. Much better.
“Daddy said you were going to stay in the front room,” Julia said, bouncing on the little bed.
“I think I’d rather stay in here.”
“Why?”
Because it was where she belonged. “It’ll be easier to keep clean.”
Katie assumed Julia accepted her explanation, but when she darted from the room and John appeared moments later, she assumed her assumption was wrong.
“Why are you moving in here?” he asked.
“It’s plenty big enough.” She continued to put away her things while she talked; that way she didn’t have to look at him. Looking at him was hard today. It hurt, for some reason.
“Well, if this is what you want.” He sounded forlorn, if not confused, as his footsteps told her he’d left the room. She still hadn’t looked at him. At this point, she planned never to again.
Preparing dinner took most of the afternoon. Katie wanted it to be the best, and that called for chicken and dumplings. Julia added biscuits, of course, and buttery mashed potatoes and green beans finished the meal. Katie was proud. She might not own a corset, but she could cook.
