Chapter Nine #3
“Suit yourself. I have a room for a cook here on the main floor, but I’ve never gotten around to hiring one.
I like doing the cooking myself, and it isn’t that much work to prepare breakfast and the evening meal, although I don’t serve hot meals on Sunday.
We make do with whatever is left from previous meals.
I do have two housekeepers. They are both are married and live here in town.
They come every morning at eight to clean and tidy the rooms. They are usually finished before noon.
There’s also a woman who comes twice a week to do the laundry.
Her husband lives up at one of the mines, and she only sees him once a month when he comes into town to bring his pay.
She has a baby girl, Lola, who comes along with her. ”
“I look forward to meeting them.”
Gloria stood and gathered their things. “Grab your bag, and I’ll show you to your room.
It’s just off the kitchen, which will be good if you need to disappear quickly when Gunder is here.
I should warn you, he spends quite a bit of time in the kitchen with me before supper, and he’ll likely be here soon. ”
“In that case, I’d better do whatever work I can to help before he arrives.”
Risa picked up her bag, retrieved her coat and scarf, then hurried to the kitchen.
“It’s right through here,” Gloria said, leading Risa through a large butler’s pantry that was open on both ends.
When they came out on the other side of it, there were two doors down a short hallway that opened up near the back door.
The first door opened into a storage room that held everything from vases and table linens to shelves stocked with a colorful array of canned fruits and vegetables.
With no windows in the room, it made a wonderful place to keep the jars of food close to the kitchen.
“You did a lot of canning this year,” Risa said, admiring the rows and rows of preserved food.
“I did do quite a bit.” Gloria nudged her with her elbow. “Your father and Gunder helped me with some of it on the afternoons they were here.”
“I’m glad they did.” Risa was proud of both of her men, then gave herself a mental shake. Gunder wasn’t hers. Not yet. Maybe never.
“Here’s your room, Risa. I hope you’ll be comfortable here.
” Gloria pushed open a door to a beautiful room with lace curtains covering the windows and pale-yellow drapes that could be drawn for privacy.
A yellow-and-white quilt covered the bed that had a white iron headboard.
The wallpaper blooming with yellow roses made Risa feel as though she’d just stepped into a summer garden full of sunshine.
She walked over to the table by the bed and gingerly touched a white hurricane lamp with yellow roses painted on the shade.
A dresser, rocking chair with a dark-green footstool, and a small desk with a ladderback chair, all painted white, added to the room’s appeal.
“There is a small closet here,” Gloria said, opening a narrow door and revealing a space that had several pegs for hanging clothes on the back wall, as well as a shelf on each side.
Risa set her bag on the floor in the closet, then turned and slowly walked around the room before facing the woman who was offering her shelter and friendship. “This is perfect, Gloria. I’ve never been in such a pretty room, let alone been allowed to stay in one.”
Gloria hugged her, and Risa enjoyed the motherly embrace.
“Then I hope you’ll enjoy every moment you are here.
” When Gloria pulled back, she wore a smile.
“I’ll give you a brief tour of the rest of the house, then we’ll need to get started on preparations for the evening meal.
I have chickens roasting, and I baked rolls earlier, but there’s still much to do. ”
Risa followed as Gloria gave her a quick tour, although Risa found it hard not to linger in the bathing room with indoor plumbing. It was a wondrous thing to behold, and Gloria had three of them in her home. Risa could hardly imagine such a thing.
They finished the tour of the beautiful home and then returned to the kitchen. Risa slipped on the apron Gloria gave her and set to work making crusts for the pudding pies Gloria wanted to serve for dessert.
She’d just slid the crusts into the oven when they heard the sound of loud stamping at the back door before it opened.
“I thought I’d bring in wood, Mrs. Franklin,” a familiar voice called as footsteps sounded in the hall.
“Shoo!” Gloria said, motioning for Risa to hide in the pantry.
Risa raced into the pantry and listened, lingering behind the door as Gunder filled the wood box in the kitchen. He greeted Gloria cheerfully and asked if any of the other boxes in the house needed to be filled.
“It would be such a help if you’d check them and fill them, Gunder. Thank you. Do you need to warm up first?” Gloria asked.
“No. I’ll finish this first, then I can warm up.”
Risa heard his footsteps retrace their way down the hall and out the back door. She returned to the kitchen. Gloria raised both eyebrows and shook her head at Risa, but grinned and motioned for her to take over stirring the pudding she was making.
Risa managed to dodge in and out of the pantry while Gunder carried in wood, then went to clean up for the evening.
“He and Lars both take a bath before I serve dinner,” Gloria explained.
They were almost finished with dinner preparations when Gunder returned to the kitchen, and Risa was forced to retreat to her room.
From what she could hear, Gunder had brought along his jewelry tools and the pendant he was finishing for Mr. Goodwin’s daughter.
Gloria commended him on the work he’d done on a friend’s bracelet, then asked him questions about other pieces he was working on. Gunder mentioned something about a ring, but Gloria banged a pot loudly and Risa couldn’t hear the rest of what was said.
Then she realized she was eavesdropping and shouldn’t.
Rather than sit in her room twiddling her thumbs, Risa grabbed her coat and scarf and managed to slip out the back door undetected.
She didn’t go far, just walked around the block.
By the time she returned to the house, she could see through the windows that others had arrived and were gathering for the evening meal.
Risa stood in the snow beneath shadows cast by a maple tree in the yard and watched Gunder help Gloria carry dishes out of the kitchen to the dining room. As soon as Gloria motioned for everyone to be seated, Risa dashed around the house and snuck inside the back door.
She left her coat and scarf in her room, then made her way through the pantry to the kitchen because she was starving.
Gloria, bless her heart, had filled a plate and left it for her on the stove.
Quietly, Risa carried it into the pantry and ate it there, then set the dishes in the sink. She poured a cup of hot coffee from the pot on the stove and took it back to her room.
It seemed hours had passed before there was a light tap on her door.
She opened it to find Gloria standing there, holding a leather-bound book in her hand.
“He’s gone upstairs for the night. If you need anything from the kitchen, or would like to read in the library, you’re welcome to.
Gunder rarely comes back downstairs once he’s in his room.
” Gloria held out the book, along with a pen and an inkwell.
“I find it helps me gain clarity to write things down. This is an empty journal. I hope you’ll take it and use it, Risa. ”
“Thank you, Gloria. I’ve never kept a journal, or considered writing down my thoughts, but I think I’d like to try.”
“Just set your thoughts free. Write whatever you’re feeling and thinking, whatever is weighing on your heart, or filling it with joy.
Write it all down. Somehow in the writing it can give us a changed or improved perspective.
” Gloria gave her one more hug. “And if you want to write in the kitchen, I left a slice of pie for you on the table.”
“I can’t thank you enough for everything, Gloria. I’m truly so grateful for you, and look forward to strengthening our friendship while I’m here.”
“I will love that, darling girl. Sleep well.” Gloria patted her cheek, then disappeared into her room across the hall. It was a room meant for a head housekeeper, with its own sitting area and spacious bedroom.
Risa hurried to the kitchen and found Gloria had left a lamp burning on the table.
She set the journal and ink on the table, poured a glass of milk, and sat down to enjoy the pie.
After eating every last crumb and draining the glass of milk, she opened the journal and wrote her name inside along with the date, then let the thoughts of her heart pour through the pen.