“All right, see you then!”
The next morning, Ella woke up just as Andrew was leaving for work. She heard him in the kitchen moving around. The boys were all still asleep in their beds upstairs. They each had their own room, which they were very proud of. Carl had made a point to show her every inch of his room, all of his wooden horse figurines and soldiers. Peter had also allowed her to look in his room, which he kept immaculate. Neither Freddie nor Raymond invited her to their rooms, and she didn’t push.
She wondered what time they usually got up. Before she could talk to him to ask, Andrew was gone.
She smelled the scent of rich coffee floating down the hallway to her and smiled. At least, he had done that for her. He had been quiet during dinner, letting the boys chatter with each other. She hadn’t spoken much, just listened to what they had to say. They had stories to tell, and she felt like most of them were wild tales of adventure that these four boys had never experienced. She refused to think of them as “lies” because the boys were so young and it was fruitful to encourage their imagination. If the stories had been about damaging another person’s property or well-being, she would have stepped in or talked to Andrew about it. But they were tales of boyhood dreams and competition between the four of them in racing, playing ball, racing their safety bikes around the farm. If they had as many of the adventures as they claimed, Ella was sure they had been left on their own for quite some time.
She made herself a cup of coffee and sat at the table to think for a moment. The house, though dusty, was easy to clean. With the children asleep and the sun just coming over the mountains in the distance, Ella felt comfortable and quiet for the very first time in a long time. She sighed and breathed in the scent of the coffee and enjoyed the steam rising from it on her cool face.
She thought about her brothers and was just beginning to miss them when she heard a knock at the door and someone coming through it. She assumed it was Myrtle and called out, “I’m in the kitchen, Myrtle.”
It was her sister-in-law who came through into the kitchen, smiling at her. “Good morning, Ella. You look very relaxed!”
Ella smiled. “I am. The boys are still asleep. Don’t they go to the schoolhouse?”
Myrtle snorted in a very unladylike fashion, making Ella chuckle. “No. Andrew doesn’t believe in that.” Her tone was very sarcastic, and she rolled her eyes. She set her umbrella down by the door and came to the table, stripping light gloves from her hands. She untied and pulled off her bonnet, as well. “One of the first things you will need to do, my girl,” she said. “Is get yourself some lighter clothing. You’ve got all that Eastern cloth going on, and you are going to overheat quickly. By noon, it will be much too warm to be wearing any kind of layers.”
“That’s what Andrew said, too,” Ella replied. “But I’m not sure how to buy them. I have no money.”
Myrtle fixed herself a cup of water and sat at the table so that she was catty-cornered to Ella. She shook her head. “You don’t worry about that. I will take you to the dressmaker in town, and you can put it on credit. Andrew and I have always had a line of credit there. He will go back and pay it at the end of the week. I’m certain he would not want you wandering around in all those clothes, but you can’t run around in your petticoat! So we will get you better boots and some dresses that will let your body air out and not overheat.”
Ella nodded. “Thank you. That sounds wonderful. You know you can have some coffee, don’t you?”
Myrtle scrunched up her nose and shook her head. “Can’t stand the stuff. I prefer tea all day long.”
“I can make you some tea.” She stood up, but Myrtle held up her hand and placed it on Ella’s arm.
“Now don’t you bother with that, dear. I don’t want you thinking you have to be my host. I want to help you get used to being here and helping these boys because…” She pulled in a sigh and looked at her sympathetically. “…my brother hasn’t been able to find anyone who would stay to help with them. He’s had several women come from town to be housekeepers…not his wife, mind you, and he didn’t take any of them to his bed…but they wouldn’t stay. I think it’s because…well, the boys can be unruly. And I felt you should be warned.”
Ella felt a little uncomfortable with the thought that she needed to be warned. She wondered anxiously what was in store for her. “Surely they can’t be that bad.”
“You just need to watch and be careful. They won’t hurt you, but they will probably pull a few pranks on you that will have you wondering if you made the wrong decision coming here. I don’t want you to think that. I want you to stay. I already like you.” She gave Ella a warm smile.