Chapter Five
Aaron was thrilledwith the stew for supper, and Myrtle couldn’t help but grin at his compliments.“I hope someone’s raising rabbits,” he said as he pushed away his fourth bowl of the stew.“I want to eat that all the time.”
“I was talking to Agnes about that today.I love rabbit stew as well.We think Lula might be willing, but we’ll need to talk to her about it, and then figure out how to trap rabbits without hurting them.”
“If someone will agree to raise them, I’ll go out and catch the rabbits with my bare hands.”He patted his stomach.“I can’t remember ever being so full, and it feels great.I wanted to eat another six bowls.”
“I’ll put a container of it in your lunch pail tomorrow.And some fresh-baked bread of course.”
He eyed what was left of the loaf she’d served for their supper.One heel and nothing else.“I think I’m going to get fat being married to you.”
She laughed.“I enjoy cooking and baking.”
“You should start a restaurant.”
“I’m thinking about it.It would be a bakery, and I’d have a different soup every day of the week.Then people could come in to buy a whole pie, or sit and eat one slice.I could do a special of soup, bread, and a slice of pie every day.”She sighed.“They’re lofty dreams.It won’t happen overnight.”
“Just so you keep feeding me, I’ll be thrilled to help with trapping rabbits, building a bakery and restaurant, or just making pens for someone to keep the rabbits.But I think I will need rabbit stew every day for the rest of my life.”
She grinned.“Wait until you taste my jelly rolls.”
He smiled.“Soon, I hope?”
“Absolutely!”She frowned for a moment.“That reminds me.I need a wagon.Preferably one that I can switch out wheels for runners so I can use it year-round.”She pushed the drawing she’d made across the table to him.“I want different sections for different types of baked goods.One big section for bread, and smaller sections for pies and cakes.I’m not an architect, but I drew up something I think would work really well.”
He glanced down at her drawing, studying it carefully.“I could build that this weekend if I can find the wheels.Runners I can do easily.I’ll talk to the others at work and see if anyone has some old wheels lying around.”
“I don’t know if there will be other building projects this weekend, but this needs to be my top priority.I had to make three trips to the store and one to Belle’s today.If I could just put everything in the wagon all at once, I’d have more time to bake.And cook.I won’t forget to cook.”
“I’ll do everything I can to make it happen,” he promised, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes.
“Thank you.”She stood and poured the pot of water she’d heated for the dishes into the basin.“After I finish the dishes, I’ll serve the pie.”
He opened one eye.“Pie?You made pie?”
“Sure did.Do you have room left?”
“I’ll manage somehow...”He smiled.“You know, when I first saw you with your friends in Skagway, I was certain things weren’t going to work out between us.If I’d let you cook on the trip here, I would have known you were my soul mate much sooner.”
Myrtle put her hands on her hips and spun around to look at her husband.“Oh really?So, you only care about me because I cook for you?”
He chuckled.“You have some good attributes other than your ability to cook...”
“I’d better!”She had a smile on her face as she washed the dishes though.Her ma had always told her the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach.Based on Aaron’s reaction to her supper, he’d be following her around like a lost puppy dog in a week.
*****
Myrtle met with theother women in Maggie’s cabin for lunch the following day.She took the loaves of bread along with her, and plopped one in the middle of the table to go along with their meal.
“I’ve decided to make desserts for half of us one day, and the other half the next day,” she announced.“That way, I’ll have a steady stream of treats for the store as well.”She briefly explained that Aaron would be making her a wagon to make deliveries easier.
“And I’ll help with your deliveries today,” Agnes said.
“Agnes and I talked yesterday, and we have another idea.Would anyone be willing to raise rabbits?We thought it would be good to breed and butcher them.I love rabbit stew!”
Agnes nodded emphatically.“Myrtle’s rabbit stew is delicious.”
“I actually brought some of what I made for supper last night.I hope you all love it as much as Agnes and I do, and you’ll want to raise rabbits.”
