NaNoWriMo 5

While it was still early in the day to worry about a midday meal, Abbey was concerned Tom had eaten nothing for his breakfast as there was no sign in the kitchen he had even bothered with coffee before he went to the store. She surmised he most likely made coffee in the backroom and had bread or cheese as it seemed he had a habit of opening a tin of something or cutting a wedge of cold meat or cheese and making do with a meal in that fashion. Not that there was anything wrong with bologna and cheese with crackers in the back of the store. It was just that Tom was thin and should have a good meal to energize him through his day. As his wife she would be mortified if the woman who came into his store thought she wasn’t or couldn’t provide properly for her husband. She set about in her no nonsense fashion to preparing items for a midday meal. Nothing heavy or extravagant but filling items just the same. It wasn’t long before she had a fancy deviled egg salad resting on a plate, chopped apple salad with nuts and raisins filled a small dish, a simple quick bread made with cream, butter and flour was now in the stove and would be ready in no time at all. She used an old pickle jar that was clean to mix up a jar of sweet tea. Adding those items to a serviceable tray along with a small jar of sweet pickles. When the bread was baked she placed those on a small plate, covered the whole tray with a large cloth and took it down to the cellar where it was cool. Mixed salads were always better when they were cool and had rested for the flavors to mingle. Once she had her kitchen cleaned again she set out to the front of the house with a bucket of steaming hot water and ammonia. The floors were in no way dirty. They were dusty and needed a good polishing. It took only a few minutes to sweep both front rooms and the central hall. By the time she washed all three floors and waxed them to a golden shine it was time for tom to be coming up for lunch. As she turned to head toward the kitchen with her bucket which would require more hot water to complete the other two downstairs rooms the front door open. Before tom could take one booted step onto her floors she was nearly shouting at him to “Go back! Go back!� Poor Tom was so confused he backed up, the door slammed shut and was suddenly on the outside looking in to his own house. Waving her arms and talking loudly she motioned for him to come around to the side porch at the back of the house to come in through the kitchen. She met him in the kitchen mop and bucket in hand and the realization that he had almost muddied her newly cleaned and waxed floors occurred to him. “I had no idea what you hollering about,� he laughed. “You just be glad you didn’t track those dirty boots all over my freshly waxed floor!� While she set about gathering tableware she sent Tom to the cellar to bring up the luncheon tray she had prepared earlier. She filled the light quick breads with heavy spoons full of deviled egg salad, spooned out apple salad, pickles, pouring a tall glass of tea she set them in front of Tom. She fixed herself a smaller portion and sat at his right hand at the table. She bowed her head and Tom took this as a prompt for the blessing and asked the grace on their meal, their home and their future. Abbey added a final ‘amen’ before looking up with a lovely smile at Tom. That Tom had bowed his head and prayed over their noon meal the same as they had as children pleased her to the very bottom of her heart. She watched as Tom ate a healthy portion of the items she had made and swallowed down not one but two glass of her tea. He sat back in his chair and rubbed his full stomach and grinned like a small boy. “That was the best lunch I have had in years.� “I would say you are teasing me but I suspect you have been eating crackers and cheese or a tin of something for so long now anything fresh would taste good.� She laughed. “That might well be true,� he conceded, “but no one ever made egg salad like you did. I used to hope every week you would bring egg salad sandwiches to school for lunch and would offer me half.� “I make egg salad the way it is written in my grandmother’s recipe book. I like to think after all the years I have been making it that I have managed to excel at least in its endeavor.� “Oh, you have done more than excel. I would think you make egg salad better than your grandmother.� He laughed. It was not an unnoticed compliment. Shifting the topic away from herself she brought up another that she had been mulling over while she cleaned the floors. “If you have a bit longer before you have to get back to the store I’d like to talk to you about a bit of a business proposal.� “Of course, what would you like to discuss,� It didn’t pass him lightly that she was ready to talk to him about business and in a round about way money. Money was a touchy subject for Abbey and he knew it well. “You have the barn out back and I see you have a wagon and team of horses but I was wondering about a milk cow and a few chickens, maybe even a pig or two. We should be raising our own eggs and drinking our own milk instead of taking things from the store.� She went to explain what she had in mind, the number chickens and larger livestock to include a few goats and how those could add to the items for sale in the store and meet their needs in the household. Tom had been thinking about a cow and a few chickens but with everything the way it was so far he just had not had the time to bring in the animals. The barn had only been finished in the last few months along with the house. Before then had been sleeping in the back of the store and it was warm weather and horses had simply been kept in the field at the back. They discussed the buildings needed, feed, water, also her idea of starting a garden in the spring and the possibility of plant fruit and nut trees. Tom agreed it would be a sound investment to supplement the store with produce and items they could provide with the excess from the house. They decided that after their evening meal they would sit down and plan out what would be required and the cost and how to go about accomplishing each task. Abbey fixed a quick lunch plate for Carl and sent tom back off to the store. She was excited that he liked her idea and pleased that he found it to be sound and a wise investment for their future. She spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning and waxing the empty rooms in the house. She then set a pot of bite sized cubes of beef on to cook slowly with onions and seasonings. She opened her one trunk that had all of her clothing in it, which wasn’t much beyond a Sunday dress, heavier winter undergarments and serviceable day dresses. She took out a clean dress and underclothes as well as a nice piece of scented soap. In the kitchen she hung a towel over the window, wedged a chair against the door and proceeded to heat enough water so that she could bathe. Afterward she took a bucket of warm out to the side porch and used it to wash her hair. Towel drying it she left it down around her shoulders and sat near the stove to brush it and to let it dry. By the time Tom came in for his supper the house smelled deliciously of beef stew and corn bread. When she came in close contact with Tom he caught a fleeting whiff of lemons from her hair. He tried not to show it be when she leaned over to serve his supper he inhaled deeply of her scent. After supper as they washed dishes and put the kitchen to rights again he would inhale trying not to expand his chest so that she would notice he was entranced by her scent.