Mail Order Mommy

Garrett’s head spun as Pearl continued her instructions. It didn’t help that Roland was snickering the whole time. As for Amanda, she looked even more confused and embarrassed than he was. For the first time since the fire, he felt for her. Clearly, Pearl had roped her into this without saying a word. Roland’s chortles meant he’d known exactly what his fiancée had been up to, yet he’d failed to mention that Pearl was bringing Amanda along. There was no doubt about it. He and Amanda had been thoroughly set up.

“Of course you will need curtains. With ruffles, don’t you think?” Pearl addressed that last to her friend, who stared dumbfounded.

“No ruffles,” Garrett snapped. A man had his limits.

Pearl ignored him. “Roland says you can have any of the scraps and discarded fabrics from the store. I saw some pretty lace in the bin.”

“No lace, either,” Garrett added.

Again Pearl charged ahead without seeming to hear him. “With Mrs. Calloway’s sewing machine, it won’t take any time at all to make curtains for all the windows.” She looked around. “There aren’t that many. Two in front and this one in the kitchen. I assume those are bedrooms.” She headed to each, poked her head in and came back with the report that each bedroom contained one window. “That’s only five windows, and these front ones are the largest. What color would go best?”

Considering the walls were a dingy, unplastered gray, the color didn’t much matter. Unless it was too bright.

“No bright colors,” Garrett stated.

Amanda finally found her voice. “I think that Mr. Decker and the children must approve the colors and design.”

Garrett was warming more to Amanda Porter by the minute.

Pearl blazed right ahead. “Of course. Perhaps you and Garrett should go through the available fabrics now.”

Garrett coughed. This was getting out of hand. “I have repairs to make on the house before we move in tomorrow. I don’t have time for curtains. That can wait.”

“You’ll think differently when the cold wind off the lake blows through those loose panes,” Pearl pointed out.

Garrett had already noted the gaps between the glass panes and the frame, not to mention the windows and the siding. He’d have to caulk those before the snow began in earnest, or they’d wake up to drifts across the floor.

“That’s why I have to get working on this place now,” Garrett stated firmly. “There’s a lot to do.”

“Like cleaning out the firebox,” Pearl pointed out.

Roland didn’t even attempt to hide his snicker.

That drew Pearl’s attention toward her fiancé. “We will make a work bee of this. Roland, you round up as many of the men as you can. I’ll get together the ladies. Garrett and Amanda can get the supplies and materials they need from the mercantile.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Roland answered crisply.

To Garrett’s surprise, Pearl’s take-charge attitude melted into laughter.

“But Pearl,” Amanda said, so softly that Garrett figured her friend wouldn’t hear her, especially since Pearl’s attention was fixed entirely on Roland. “You promised to help me...at the boardinghouse.” Every bit of rosiness had drained from her cheeks.

“Later,” Pearl assured her. “I won’t forget.”

Amanda nibbled on her lip, a girlish gesture that made her even more endearing. “But...”

“I promise.” Pearl linked her arm around Roland’s. “All right, we’ll get everyone together and meet back here in thirty minutes. We can turn this house into the perfect home for Isaac and Sadie.”

Garrett caught Amanda blinking back tears. Roland was right. She did care about his children. That made him feel a bit better about leaving them in her care for a few hours each day, but an instant later, those warm sentiments turned to annoyance. Pearl and Roland left, leaving him alone with Amanda.

She gave him an apologetic look. “I’m sorry. Sometimes Pearl gets caught up in an idea, and nothing can make her change course.”

Amanda looked as uncomfortable as he felt. They’d both gotten caught in the web of Pearl’s plans.

He cleared his throat and shoved his hands into his coat pockets. For some reason he got tongue-tied around Amanda. He had to get out of here and into a public place. “I suppose we’d better get what we need before everyone shows up.”

Her face bloomed pink. “I suppose.” She glanced up at him. “I won’t make anything for the house that you wouldn’t approve.”

The tremble in her voice undid him. Amanda was nothing like Eva. His late wife would have begged and demanded until she got her way. Amanda only sought to please. Perhaps Roland was right, and Garrett had badly misjudged her.

He drew in a deep breath. “As long as there’s no ruffles or lace, I don’t care.” An idea crossed his mind. “Have Sadie pick out what she likes.”

Amanda visibly brightened, the hesitancy gone. “What a wonderful idea! She has an artist’s eye for color.”

Garrett couldn’t help it. Amanda’s obvious affection for his daughter melted the coldness in his heart.

He smiled.

Chapter Three

Since cleaning the Cherry Street house took all day, Amanda never got her cooking lesson. She’d counted on helping Mrs. Calloway prepare Sunday dinner, until Louise Smythe invited Pearl, Fiona and her to join the Elders. Fiona had other plans, but Pearl accepted for herself and Amanda.

“But I’m needed to help with dinner,” Amanda had protested.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Calloway overheard and put an end to that thought. “Go. It’s only brisket and cabbage. Simple as can be.”

Nothing was simple when it came to cooking, but with Pearl and Mrs. Calloway insisting she accept the invitation, once again the opportunity to learn slipped away.

Louise expressed such gratitude that Amanda felt badly for wishing she could be elsewhere. “Captain and Mrs. Elder are desperate for company. She is too frail to go out-of-doors anymore, and he won’t leave her side.” Her friend blinked back a tear. “He’s so devoted to her. I wish...well, I can only hope to find someone like that.”

Poor Louise had lost her first husband in the War Between the States. Widowed and poverty-stricken, she had spent everything she had hoping that Garrett Decker would marry her. So had Amanda. As for Fiona, no one quite knew if the concerts were given from financial necessity or to hone her talents.

When Louise learned Garrett did not want to marry, she took the position caring for Mrs. Elder in their home and found a perfect match for her love of books in Mr. Elder’s extensive library.

That afternoon they gathered around the Elders’ dinner table and listened to Captain Elder’s tales from when he’d captained a ship on the Great Lakes. Mrs. Elder smiled at each story, though she must have heard them a thousand times, and encouraged her husband to continue.

He said with a twinkle in his eye, “Adeline indulges me.” He leaned over and pecked her on the temple, drawing a playful scolding. “That’s why I married her, that and her walnut tarts.”

Mrs. Elder giggled like a young girl, her adoration wiping away the years for a moment. “Billy is such a tease.”

Amanda’s heart ached for such a close relationship, one that weathered the trials of time. Once she had dreamed of it with Hugh. He had been so attentive. Compliments flowed from his lips each time they met, and she began to believe his professions of love in spite of the vast difference between them. He was a man of society, and she an orphan who was little better than a maid in her foster family’s home. He told her she was more beautiful than her foster sister, Lena, whom the Chatsworths believed he would soon court. When Hugh said that he would rather marry Amanda, she took it as a proposal, only to discover that his real purpose was to ruin her so she would become his mistress.

She shuddered at the memory of that day and the liberties he had taken in spite of her protests, tears and struggles. If not for Mrs. Brighton’s timely intervention...

“Are you warm enough, dear?” Mrs. Elder asked. “I have plenty of shawls if you need one.”

Amanda pulled her thoughts from the terrible past. “Oh! No, thank you. I am quite warm.”

By the time she and Pearl left, daylight was slipping away. Soon darkness would shroud the landscape, just as memory had darkened Amanda’s spirits.

“What’s wrong?” Pearl asked. “You’ve been quiet since dessert was served.”

Amanda sighed. She could not reveal to anyone the depth of humiliation and shame she’d endured at Hugh’s hands, so she focused on the other disappointment of the day. “It’s too late to learn to cook.”

“Nonsense. I can still show you the basics.”

“But Mrs. Calloway said anything we make had to be available for the guests at the boardinghouse. There aren’t any more meals today. You know that.”

“We could make rolls for tomorrow morning.”

Amanda shook her head. “Garrett asked me to make supper, not breakfast. No one eats sweet rolls for supper.”

Pearl hugged her around the shoulders as they approached the boardinghouse, with its cheery pine wreath on the front door and glowing windows. “Then I will help you fix supper tomorrow. A stew will be simple enough.”

“Will there be enough time after school?”

“Of course. Do you know what food he has on hand?”

“How would I know that?” Amanda’s mouth went dry. “Oh, dear, I’m going to fail on the very first day.”

Pearl laughed. “No, you won’t. I’ll be right there helping you. Besides, there’s more to keeping house than cooking. As soon as you finish the curtains, he’ll see how talented you are with a needle.”

“He already knows I can sew. I made the dress and matching doll dress for Sadie’s birthday.”

“That’s right. I forgot.” Pearl slowed her step for just a moment. “I’m sure he hasn’t forgotten, though. Sadie wouldn’t let him. She’s so excited that you’re going to take care of their new house. Trust me. Her approval will go a long way toward winning over Garrett’s heart.”

Amanda wasn’t so sure. Garrett Decker was a practical man. Like Captain Elder, he would appreciate a woman who could cook, especially since he’d listed that as one of her duties.

Pearl climbed the boardinghouse steps.

Amanda followed her friend. “Don’t let me down.”

Pearl smiled. “Don’t worry.”

Amanda couldn’t help but worry. Her whole future depended on satisfying Garrett’s expectations.

* * *

With all that help, Garrett got the house ready one day and moved into it the next. On Monday, he set to work preparing to build the ship. Stockton had left plans with him. Garrett called the best millwrights to his side and laid out the plans on the worktable that he used to repair broken saws and machinery.

“Mr. Stockton wants a new schooner.” Garrett explained each element of the plans, especially the length, breadth and draft of the vessel.

Sawyer Evans squinted at the drawings. Even near the window, the light wasn’t good, thanks to the thick coating of sawdust on the panes. “He thinks we can build that? I’ve never built a ship before.”

“I have.”

That brought Garrett the men’s respect. After answering a dozen questions about how and when and where, he outlined his plan to build the launching ways and cradle near the dock that had been built for the glassworks that Roland had planned. First Garrett had to secure his brother’s permission. That shouldn’t be a problem. November’s fire had destroyed the stockpiled building materials and chased away the investors for the glassworks, setting the project back indefinitely.

“The river is deep there,” Garrett explained. “There’s plenty of room for a broadside launch. We’ll build the hull on a launching cradle that can be pulled away with the steam tractor when the schooner is ready.”

He sketched his ideas on a blank sheet of paper. The men had a lot more questions and a bit of skepticism. Garrett answered them all, and soon the group seemed less apprehensive.

“With decent weather, we can launch it by early summer, after the first logging rush of the spring.”

Sawyer whistled and shook his head. “That’ll be a stretch. How many of us is Stockton planning to employ?”

Garrett eyed the men. Many workers had left already, now that the fall rush was tailing off. These would soon follow, returning in late winter for the spring rush. “Any who will stay.”

That livened up the discussion and the desire to get started. By nightfall, they’d selected the timbers for the ways and keel blocks. There were enough stout posts on hand to begin driving them into the ground for the ways the next day.

“The ground’s at about the right slope,” Garrett said at the workday’s end, “but we’ll need to clear away the brush and do a little leveling at the water’s edge. We can take the tractor up there tomorrow.”

On the walk home, he mentally went through the checklist of what needed to be done next. He tromped up the inner staircase behind the store, barely noticing that the cookstove was cool. The apartment upstairs was dark as night and dead quiet.

“What’s going on? Sadie? Isaac?”

The echo in the room sent a chill down his spine until Garrett recalled that he and his children didn’t live here anymore. He growled with frustration at himself as he walked back outside. At least Roland hadn’t caught him going to the wrong house. He’d never hear the end of it.

That’s what he got for thinking about work when he should be directing his energies toward his children. It was time to forget work and find out how Amanda had fared in her first day on the job.

Garrett heard the giggling before he got to the front door. It felt strange walking here, and it had been even stranger using his old furniture last night when they’d moved in. Pearl had instructed the men from the mill to drag the stuff in Saturday. Even though Garrett was their supervisor, they wouldn’t go against Miss Pearl. Roland was going to have his hands full with that woman.

Garrett had stared at the sofa and chairs last night, unwilling to sit on them. Sadie and Isaac had no trouble. They’d run around the house, exploring every nook and cranny. Sadie’s cat, Cocoa, had clawed its way into the beds and the chests of clothing that still needed to be unpacked. The wind picked up overnight, and it didn’t take long to find the holes he’d missed when trying to shore up the gaps Saturday. Tonight he’d attempt to caulk those he could find in the dark, if he could get the children to settle down.

Judging from the shrieks and giggles coming from indoors, that wouldn’t be easy.

He climbed the single step to the stoop and sniffed the air. He should smell supper. Hmm. The wind must be blowing from the wrong direction.

Another giggle gave him an idea. Through the window he could see Sadie and Isaac bent over something in the middle of the table. He waited until all was quiet and then sprang through the door.

“Surprise!”

Sadie shrieked before realizing it was her pa. Cocoa scooted off the table and disappeared into the children’s bedroom. Sadie then ran to him, arms outstretched. Garrett scooped her up and she clung to his neck, laughing. “You scared me, Papa.”

Though Isaac had yelped, he soon put on the stoic expression of a little boy trying to be a man. “Not me. I knew it was you all along.”

“Sure you did.” Garrett ruffled his son’s hair. “You’re always in control.”

He glanced down at the table, where a big, black beetle was crawling around. That’s what they’d been so entranced by? Or maybe Cocoa had been curious, and they were watching to see what the kitten would do next.

“You brought a bug in the house?” he asked.

“We found it crawling on the boardwalk,” Sadie said.

“It came out ’cause of the sun,” Isaac informed him as he scooped up the bug. “Beetles and flies like it warm.”

Garrett couldn’t deny that, but this biological experiment was bound to upset a grown woman. “You’ll have to put it back outside, son.”

Isaac grudgingly obeyed, setting it just off the stoop before coming back inside.

“You could have taken it farther from the house,” Garrett said.

Isaac stuck out his chin. “Maybe he wants to be warm, too.”

Garrett could only sigh. His son was growing an independent streak. At least his daughter still depended on him. Speaking of which, one housekeeper should have appeared by now. He looked around the room. Nothing was on the stove, though it was clearly lit. He sniffed. No smell of food. “Where is Miss Amanda?”

“Miss Mana went to get supper,” Sadie informed him.

“Shh! You weren’t supposed to tell.” Isaac’s frown etched deep lines in his young forehead. “It’s supposed to be a secret.”

Sadie started to cry and pressed her face against Garrett’s shoulder.

“There now,” he managed to say, though he was steaming mad. Amanda had left the children alone? The only reason he’d hired a housekeeper was so someone would be at home to watch Sadie and Isaac. First, Amanda had lost track of Sadie during the fire last month that had destroyed the school building. Now, she’d left both of them alone in a house with a lit stove and a black beetle.

The door cracked open, and Amanda backed into the room, carrying a large basket in both hands. “I’m back. I hope I’m not too late.”

Garrett unclenched his jaw and set down Sadie. “It’s time we had a talk, Miss Porter.”

* * *

Amanda nearly lost her grip on the basket. Her knees wobbled as she recalled what Pearl had told her to say if Garrett reached the house before she returned.

She hefted the basket onto the table, the delicious smells of beef stew and fresh-baked rolls emanating from inside. “I brought supper.”

She did feel a bit guilty about not making the meal. Thankfully, Mrs. Calloway had enough left from supper there to send this pot of stew with her.

“Sadie, could you set the table? Isaac, please wash up.”

Garrett cleared his throat. “Wipe the tabletop, too.”

“Why?” Amanda eyed her employer, trying to figure out if his anger had diminished.

Instead of answering her, Garrett turned to his son.

Isaac shrugged. “We found a huge beetle.”

“A beetle?” she gasped. “Where is it?”

“Outdoors,” Garrett informed her.

She pressed a hand to her midsection. “What a relief.”

“Don’t you like bugs, Miss Amanda?” Isaac asked.

She shuddered. “Not so much.” The outbreaks of fleas and chiggers at the orphanage had kept her itching and scratching. “They belong outside.”

Isaac fetched a rag from the dry sink and ran it quickly over the center of the table, while Sadie set the cups and plates in place.

“Are you eating with us, Miss Mana?” the little girl asked.

“No,” Garrett answered for her.

Amanda held her breath. The stew the family shared tonight was her portion, plus the little bit left after the boardinghouse guests finished.

Garrett looked her in the eye. “Miss Amanda needs to return home.” He motioned toward the door.

Her stomach rumbled. She hoped no one heard. No matter how strong Pearl said she must be, Amanda could not seem to stop the trembling that began deep inside and ended up in her hands. She clenched them tightly so Garrett wouldn’t notice. “Let me at least serve supper.”

“That’s not necessary.” Garrett’s gaze, darker than his brother’s, never left her face.

She could not breathe, could not think, could not move.

“I would like a word with you outside, Miss Porter. Children, you can begin.”

“But we haven’t blessed the food,” Amanda cried out.

He stiffened. After getting the children in their chairs, he said a quick blessing and then ushered her out into the cold.

Amanda’s heart pounded so hard it felt like it would leap out of her chest.

“I asked you to look after the children,” he said.

“I was only gone a few minutes, and they were quite safe. I told them to stay in the house.”

Even before she finished, she could tell he wasn’t hearing a word she said. Garrett Decker had already made up his mind.

“I’m not interested in excuses.”

That eliminated telling him about the lack of food in the house. He would probably insist she ought to have taken the children with her to the mercantile while she purchased what was needed. The truth wouldn’t help. Even if the larder had been full, she couldn’t have cooked anything. Pearl had failed to gain Mrs. Calloway’s permission to give lessons last night, and the boardinghouse proprietress’s brief instructions this morning had left Amanda even more mystified.

She swallowed the last shreds of pride she had left. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“No, it won’t.” He went back into the house and shut the door in her face.

Chapter Four

“Did Garrett say you were dismissed?” Pearl asked Amanda as they dressed the following morning.

“Not in so many words.” Amanda glanced in the mirror. Her color was pale after a night of hunger and tearful prayer, and the plum coloring of the dress did little to hide that fact. “But he did say I wouldn’t have a chance to make the same mistake again. Was it really so awful leaving Isaac and Sadie alone for ten minutes? Isaac said his papa and uncle leave him in charge all the time.”

“Mmm-hmm. There can be different standards for relatives.”

Amanda thought of the Chatsworths. The lines of distinction were clearly marked. Their daughter stood at the top. Amanda ranked a distant second or even third. At times the housekeeper and butler seemed to carry more weight than she did. That’s why she’d begged Mrs. Brighton never to divulge what had happened that night with Hugh. The kindly housekeeper promised to hold it in confidence, but watching Hugh announce his engagement to Lena still hurt. He had never seen Amanda as an equal. None of them had.

“I suppose you’re right,” she admitted, pulling her thoughts back to last night’s painful events, “but what was I to do? The children were hungry, and there was only oatmeal and crackers in the house.”

“Did you tell Garrett that?”

“He didn’t give me a chance.” His refusal to listen still churned her stomach. “He said he didn’t want to hear any excuses.”

“Completely unreasonable.” Pearl tied a length of ribbon into a bow around the high collar of her dress. “And not like Garrett. He’s generally quite practical and slow to speak. He must have been upset about something else and took it out on you.”

Amanda sank to the bed. She could never win him over, least of all get the job back, if he was disposed to dislike her. “Then what do I do?”

“You march right back to the house after school and carry on as if nothing happened.”

“I do?” Even after all these years, Amanda was stunned by her friend’s audacity. “But he dismissed me.”

“No, he didn’t. You said yourself that he simply told you that you wouldn’t make the same mistake, which of course you won’t, since you’re going to stock the larder and learn to cook something simple.”

Pearl made it sound so simple, but she wasn’t taking into account Garrett’s animosity toward Amanda.

“What if he shouts at me? What if he tells me to leave and never come back?”

“Then you’ll have your answer.” Pearl jabbed a hairpin into her topknot. “His loss, if you ask me. He’ll have a difficult time finding anyone else for the job, and there’s no one in all of Singapore who can compare to you when it comes to keeping house.”

“But I still don’t know how to cook.”

“That’s why you are going to stay here through the midday meal so you can learn from Mrs. Calloway. She’s promised to take more time showing you how to do everything.”

“Don’t you need me at school?”

Pearl laughed. “I think I can manage for half a day.”

“I’m sorry.” Amanda blanched. “I didn’t mean to imply that I’m indispensable.”

“But you are.” Pearl gently tugged her to her feet. “I couldn’t manage more than a few hours without your help.” She grinned. “Don’t tell the school committee members, though, or they’ll hire you instead of me next year.”