“It’s all right.My father died before I was born, and she wanted love.I was in the way.I’m glad she left me rather than take me into a house where I wouldn’t have been loved.”Agnes looked down at the bowl she’d filled.There was plenty for jam and even a pie or two if Sally was careful.
“What happened to your grandmother?”
“She died.She was getting old.After her death, I started working at the hotel.It wasn’t my favorite place to work, but I was able to make enough to survive, and I even have some saved up.I was loved as a child.No one can ask for more than that.My grandparents never made me feel like I was a burden.”
Maggie was silent, not certain what to say.“What are you going to make from your berries?”she finally asked.
“I’m going to turn half into jam and the other half into pies.I’ve never really worked with so many different types of berries at one time, but it sounds like the perfect challenge.”
“I tend to make jam one day and pies the next.It feels like less work that way, though I’m not certain it really is.”
Sally came in then, putting two large baskets on the table.“Oh, good.You each have an empty basket.”She put handfuls of unshelled peas into their baskets.“I tried a few pods, and they were delicious.”
Agnes made a face.“My grandmother would eat them raw as well, but I prefer my peas to be cooked.”
“I do too,” Maggie said.
“Well, they’ll be good cooked as well, I’d imagine,” Sally said.“I need to start supper.Tom is so easy-going, but I try to have supper on the table when he gets home from work.Just one of the ways I tell him I love him every day.”
“What are you having tonight?”Maggie asked her.
“Smoked salmon.I’ve worked so hard to smoke it, and I’ve eaten very little of it, thinking I should save it for winter.But if Agnes will be fishing and smoking salmon as well, there will be enough.”Sally smiled.“I do love smoked salmon.And I will make peas, I think.Baked potatoes.”
“You’re making me hungry!”Agnes protested, just then realizing she’d somehow missed lunch.“I need to get home and start our venison stew.”
“Remember to save any table scraps for my bacon machines,” Sally said as the other two took their baskets and walked toward the door.“Let’s all meet at Agnes’s cabin tomorrow, and she can tell us what Jasper has to say about our plans.Hopefully, he’ll agree.”
“He gave me the impression he’d support whatever I wanted to do,” Agnes said.“We’ll see how he feels about goats.”
“He’ll be happy if you’re happy,” Sally said.
Agnes walked home alone, thinking about everything that had transpired that day.She was excited to talk to Jasper about what her plans were over supper.She only hoped he would agree.
As soon as she got home, she started the stew in a large pot.Then she began the tedious task of laundry.She was wearing her only dress that was clean, and she knew Jasper was out of clean clothes as well.She knew she should have started the laundry earlier in the day, but she’d been jumping into work headfirst.
Jasper arrived as she finished hanging the clothes on the line.He walked to her and kissed her softly.“Thanks for doing the laundry,” he said.
“I meant to have it dry before you got home, but I was out foraging with Maggie most of the day.”
“I don’t mind,” he told her.“What plans do you have going forward?Are you joining the others in their business venture?”
She nodded.“I am.We have two jobs for me to accomplish.Let me get supper on the table, and we’ll talk about them.”
While he washed his hands, she set the table and served the stew.She’d have preferred to put carrots into it, but they weren’t ready to harvest yet, so she made do with some of the peas she’d received.
She put both bowls on the table and sat down, reaching to hold Jasper’s hand during their prayer.After she’d eaten a few bites, she brought up the business again.“They would like me to catch and smoke salmon, and said their husbands would help build me a smokehouse.And they’d like us to raise goats.I know you have one, but we’d get several females and one male.Katie said she could get us yearlings, so we wouldn’t have to wait long for there to be fresh milk.”
He nodded.“What price did she give you for the yearlings?”he asked.
She named the price, and he slowly shook his head.“I don’t have that much saved up.”
“I do,” she said.“I’ve saved every dime I could since I started working at the hotel.I can buy the goats if you’ll build me a barn for them.”
“I can’t let you spend your own money on goats.”
“Why not?”she asked.“I have it.I was saving it for my future.Goats will be our future.I think it’s the smart thing to do.”
“It goes against the grain for you to pay for something.I feel like I should be providing for you, not the other way around.”
“You said you didn’t mind if I joined the others in their business.This is how I join them.I’d really like to do it, and I was planning to use my own money all along.”
He watched her for a moment, trying to wrap his head around the idea.“All right.I’ll help however I can.”
Agnes wanted to jump up and down with joy.Instead, she thanked him.“I’m excited to learn about goats.We can make cheese!”
“I do like cheese...”
