Aaron was thrilled to hear that she’d already begun to pay Katie for the stove.“I thought it would take you months of having the new stove to make a payment.”
“I’ve decided to pay Katie whatever the men pay me on my way to the store.That way, I’ll pay it off faster, but we’ll still get some pocket money from all the work we’re doing.” Myrtle gripped her apron and used it to pull the meat pies from the oven.“I’m making donuts tomorrow, but I think I’m going to make meat pies as well.I want you to tell me how they are.”
She put two pies the size of his hands on his plate, but only one on her own.“I need your honest thoughts.”
Aaron nodded.“I’m getting used to telling you what I think.”He carefully cut off a bite with the side of his fork and plopped it into his mouth, chewing slowly.“I think it needs just a little more pepper, but it’s good!”
“Thank you.I’ll add more for the ones I sell tomorrow.And I want you to tell me if any of the men tell you what they like or don’t like about them.”
“I will.The men loved the fry bread.Some said they would have liked jam or jelly on them.Or maple syrup or honey.They liked the way you did it, but they would have liked jelly best.”
Myrtle nodded.“I’ll think on how I can make that happen.
“I think it’s perfect the way you did it, of course.”
She laughed.“Now you can’t go telling me everything’s perfect when you know of a way to improve it.I want to serve only the best when I open my bakery.”
Aaron raised an eyebrow.“So now it’s when you open and not if?”
Myrtle nodded emphatically.“Yes, it is.Honestly, I’d like to open in spring.I could spend the winter deciding what to bake based on how quickly it sells and the feedback I get.Then I’d open in spring.I’d have a soup or stew every day, so the men could come for lunch if they wanted to.”
He frowned.“And would you still be open at supper time?”
“I think I’d open for breakfast and lunch, but I wouldn’t stay open past four in the afternoon.Then if men wanted to get some soup for supper, they’d have to be there with their plate by then.”
“My only request is that you don’t let the bakery take away from our time together.”He shook his head.“I sent for a wife so I could have her around, not so the town would get a bakery.”
“I understand.And I’ll do everything I can to make that happen.I’m hoping to have a partner who wants to work with me by spring, but I don’t want to have to wait if no one is interested.”
He sighed, leaning back in his chair.“I guess it’s all right then.”
She smiled at him.“How about some blueberry cobbler for dessert?”
“I don’t get to try the donuts before you sell them?Now I’m sad.”
She laughed.“I’ll make certain you have some for breakfast.”
“That’s my girl!”
*****
Myrtle was up wellbefore dawn the following day to make the donuts.She’d often made them with her mother, so she knew well the time they took.She had the first batch out of the pot of oil before she woke Aaron.“You never sleep this late!I have your breakfast ready.”
He grunted.“All right.I’m getting up.”
A few minutes later he was at the table, ready for his coffee and breakfast.“It’s crazy, but I think I’m still recovering from the trip to Skagway and back.”
Myrtle smiled.“I understand completely.That was a difficult journey, and I only had to go one way.”
“But you’d already crossed the country and taken a boat up to Alaska.”
“That’s true.Let’s just say it was hard on both of us.”
She sat down across from him with her own coffee and donuts.As she took the first bite, she remembered why she’d begged her mother for donuts every chance she got.They were delicious!
Aaron took a bite of his own and grinned.“These are fabulous.Don’t change a thing!”
“I was hoping you’d feel that way.I also make them with a sugar glaze, but this is my favorite way to eat them.”
