A Convenient Wife

“You do that well,” he said, sounding pleased. “This idea is gaining ground.” He peered past her to the stove. “Is that coffee I smell?”

Ellie nodded and found a cup for him. “If you have something you need to do, I’ll start the eggs in a few minutes. The biscuits won’t take long.”

He chuckled. “I’m enjoying this, Ellie. No one’s cooked for me since I left home, and that was a long time ago.” He sipped from the cup and placed it on the table. “Did you sleep well?”

“How could anyone not sleep, all cozied up in a feather tick?” she asked. And then remembered the neighbors in their bedroom. “Who lives on the other side of you, the house I see out my window?”

“That’s the sheriff, James Kincaid, and his wife, Kate. She’s been teaching school for a little over a year now. They say she’s a crackerjack. Keeps the big boys in line. The kids all seem to like her. Word is she’s a good teacher.”

“And they’re going to let her keep on teaching after the baby’s born?”

“Yeah, I understand the town council has given permission for her to take the baby to school with her unless she’s decided to get someone to watch it. They’ve really gone overboard to keep the sheriff happy. In fact, school was in session early this year. They figure to let the students out for a couple of weeks when Kate delivers.”

The biscuits were golden and tender, the eggs scrambled and waiting, and Ellie poured a second cup of coffee for Win as he picked up his fork. “Aren’t you eating with me?” he asked. “Get yourself a plate, Ellie. You cooked enough for both of us.”

The intimacy of sitting at a breakfast table with a man was unsettling, Ellie thought. Her father had insisted on her staying by the stove to serve him while he took his meals, and she was left with whatever he chose not to eat. She’d taken to standing at the window with a plate or pot in her hand as a result, and decided quickly that the pleasure of sharing a meal was something she could get used to in a hurry.

“I’m going out on house calls,” Win told her, placing his plate in the dishpan. “I should be back a little after noon. Maybe you can find something in the pantry for a sandwich for me.”

He waved a farewell and vanished through the kitchen door into the long hallway that divided the lower floor into his offices and dwelling place. And then the front door closed and he was gone.

Ellie looked around the kitchen, then walked to the back door to look out upon the sadly neglected grass and flowers in Win’s backyard. She smiled as she considered the joy of plucking back the dead growth, of watering and watching the flowers flourish, of tending the soil. Stepping out onto the stoop, she lifted her face to the morning sun and inhaled deeply, tasting the scent of freedom.

“Is Doc around?” Tess Dillard called through the back screen door and opened it at the same time. “Ellie? Are you here?”

Ellie clattered down the stairway, then hurried through the hallway to the kitchen, almost colliding with Tess in the doorway. “He’s gone on house calls,” she said. “Is something wrong?”

“Cam from over at the saloon asked me to locate Doc. Said one of his girls needs to be patched up.” Tess grimaced. “I think a customer got rough with her. Cam said she’s bleeding.”

“Is she cut?” Ellie asked.

Tess shook her head. “I don’t think that’s what he meant.” She looked past Ellie toward the door leading into the other side of the house, where the office was located. “Did he say how long he’d be?”

“No.” With a shake of her head, Ellie walked into the kitchen. “He’s been gone quite a while. Left right after breakfast. He didn’t say where.”

“Well,” Tess said with a sigh, “I don’t think an hour or so longer will make an awful lot of difference anyway. Just tell him Cilla needs to be looked at.”

“Will he know where to go?” The thought of Winston Gray tending to a saloon girl didn’t appeal to her for some reason, and Ellie swallowed her distaste. “Does he get called over there often?” she asked hesitantly.

“They’re pretty sturdy females,” Tess said with a chuckle. “They take care of themselves most of the time. But once in a while…” She pursed her lips and eyed Ellie thoughtfully. “There’s men who don’t care how they use a woman,” she said.

And whatever that was supposed to mean, Ellie assumed it didn’t bode well for the ailing Cilla. “I’ll tell him when he gets back. He said to have something ready for him to eat at noontime, and the sun’s about overhead already.”

“Are you getting along all right?” Tess asked, looking around the tidy kitchen. “I planned on bringing you a grocery order this morning, but I clean forgot when I set out to find Doc. If you can think of anything you need, write a list for me to take back.”

“He likes eggs, I think. At least he ate three of them for breakfast. And I’ll need some meat to cook for his supper. I don’t know where I should go to get it.”

“There’s a side of beef hanging out back in the shed behind the store,” Tess said. “I’ll have John cut you off a piece for a roast and bring it over. You’ll want some potatoes, and maybe beans or carrots to go with it. John can use the wagon and bring you a burlap sack of spuds and a bucket of carrots. I’ll add everything to Doc’s account.”

“I know how to put stuff up if Doc has canning jars,” Ellie offered. She crossed to the pantry and looked in the lower shelves. “Do you suppose there’s some in the cellar?”

“This place was picked clean when the Chambers family moved out last year,” Tess told her. “I doubt there’s anything left. I’ll scout up some jars and lids and rubber rings for you and send them along.”

“I saw some onions going to seed by the side of the house this morning,” Ellie said. “Maybe they’re still good.”

Tess sat down at the table. “Let’s just make a list. I think this is going to be a long, drawn-out project we got going here.”

Ellie found a tablet Win had left on the kitchen buffet and located a pencil. Her heart raced as she considered the task ahead. “I may have more to do than I thought at first,” she told Tess with a grin. “Here I was, thinking I’d just have to keep things redd up and put meals together. I think I’ll be starting from scratch, won’t I?”

“You’ve run a house before, haven’t you?” Tess asked, scribbling one item after another in a rapid fashion. “Your pa never had a housekeeper, did he?”

Ellie shook her head. “No, and I’ll bet he’s up to his neck in dirty dishes by now. He was never much of a hand at cleaning up behind himself.”

“You wouldn’t go back out there, would you, girl?” Tess’s hand stilled as she looked up, and her eyes narrowed as she waited for Ellie’s reply.

It was quick in coming, a single word uttered with no chance of mistake. “No.” Ellie shivered as she stood abruptly and wrapped her arms around herself. Her jaw was set, her shoulders squared as she paced to the back door and looked out onto the ragged patches of grass. “I’ll never set foot on the place, not so long as I live. If I have to take off down the road and live in a cave up in the mountains, I’ll do just that, rather than let him touch me again.”

“I don’t think that’s going to happen. I’ve got a notion Doc talked to Sheriff Kincaid about you. I doubt your pa would stand a chance of making you go back home.”

“He said I was his property, just like his livestock, and I had to do whatever he said.” She grinned suddenly. “First time I ever enjoyed taking orders was when he said I had to leave by morning. I figured anyplace else was better than living there.”

She turned back toward Tess and approached the table. “I’m going to do a good job for Dr. Gray. He won’t be sorry he took me on.”

“He’s a kind man, Ellie. And you don’t have to worry about him ever taking advantage.” Tess looked down at her list, then nodded briskly. “I think this will do it.” She rose and pushed her chair beneath the edge of the table. “I’ll run on over to the store and get things together. You’re gonna need some clothesline and pins, too. I’ll warrant Doc’s got wash piled up.”

She was gone in a moment, and Ellie took a deep breath. There was so much to consider, things she’d taken for granted, like a scrub board and washtub to be located, and a supply of dish towels to be made. It was almost like having a home of her own, she decided. Almost.

“Eat your dinner first,” Ellie said as Win picked up his bag from the table. It had barely touched its surface when she delivered the news about the saloon girl, Cilla, and his hand had reached for it without pause. “I made you a pot of potato soup. Tess sent over a slab of bacon and I flavored it with that and a good big onion.”

Win hesitated, one hand rubbing his stomach in a distracted motion. “Maybe I’d better,” he said. “It’s hard to say how long I’ll be over at the saloon. And there’ll be folks coming in for afternoon office hours before long.”

He replaced his bag and turned to the sink. “I’ll just wash quick while you dish me up some soup, Ellie.”

She had it on the table in moments, slicing bread to go with it as he sat down and picked up his spoon. “Won’t you eat with me?” he asked, watching as fragrant steam rose from his bowl. His spoon dipped in and he blew on the creamy broth, then bit down on a chunk of potato. His eyes widened as he chewed and swallowed, then dipped again. “You got some secret recipe?” he asked. “This is wonderful.”

She shook her head. “I just scraped a little carrot in it, and thickened it up.” Pleased by his response, she dished up a portion in a second bowl and joined him. “You don’t mind if I eat with you?”

He glanced up, his brow furrowing at her words. “Of course not. I told you at breakfast time to sit down with me.” He ate silently for a moment, watching her. “Didn’t you share meals with your father?”

“He said it was a woman’s place to wait on menfolk.”

“He was wrong, Ellie, and don’t you forget it.” His tone was mild, but the look he bent in her direction was stern. His hand touched her arm, a gentle nudge that made her look up. “Women may get the short end of the stick when it comes to keeping a house in order and providing for the needs of her family, but it’s a man’s obligation to make her life as easy as he can. And that includes those to whom he pays a wage.”

And wasn’t that a different way of looking at things? Ellie thought with a start. That a man should be concerned about a woman’s well-being was a concept she’d never heard voiced. And yet, that seemed to be what Winston Gray was talking about.

She washed up the dinner things after he left for the saloon, his final words of instruction spoken as he walked out the door.

“Prop open the kitchen door and listen for the front door, Ellie. If patients come in, tell them I’ll be back directly. They can wait in the outer office for me.” He stuck his head back in the door. “If you have time, make a list of them as they come in and I’ll take them in order.”