“All right.Just know we’re willing to pay for them if that’s what you want.”
“It’s not.I think Tom would agree with me.”
“Talk to him, and if he wants money for our share, we’re happy to pay,” Belle said.“Maggie tries not to spend money on anything, but Katie could easily transfer some of her balance from the work she does to you.”
“Sounds good.I’ve never even asked what my balance is at the store.I simply buy things with it, and Katie never protests!”Sally said.“Never in my life have I been able to buy something I wanted and didn’t need, but now I can.”She frowned.“I don’t know what I’ll do all winter though.I can’t grow crops.”
“You’ll take care of your pigs.We’ll sew together.I still want to make some quilts together.We can sew and knit for the store.The men are always losing their mittens with the work they do,” Belle said.
“And we can bake.I promise, there are never enough baked goods at that store.You could bake a dozen loaves of bread every day and add it to what we make, and it still wouldn’t be enough.The men try to get their lunches when we drop off our baked goods at the store each morning.There’s almost always a line.”Maggie shook her head.“I can’t imagine how it was when it was just Katie baking.She said she would occasionally bake extra bread to sell, and it would be gone before it touched the shelves.”
“It’s still that way most of the time!”Belle said.
“I’ll think about it.I took my rhubarb pies in, and Katie said they sold out immediately as well.These men need wives!”Sally said.
“No, they don’t,” Maggie told her.“If they had wives, our little enterprise would be useless.”
“Very true...”Sally knew what Belle said was right.“Should we stop telling our friends to come?”
Belle shook her head.“Not at all.All of our friends could come, and there would still be lots more men than women.”
“All right.I think I’m just glad that I have friends here, and another one on the way.I hope she wants to join us in what we’re doing.”
“I hope so too,” Belle said.“We’ll find out soon enough.”
The smokehouse was finished quicker than Sally had expected, and all three women went out to investigate.Sally nodded as she looked at it, opening the flap and poking her head inside.“That’s going to work perfectly.We’ve finished the traps.”
“Let’s see them,” Tom said.“I haven’t felt the need to fish with traps here, but on the scale Sally feels the need to do everything, we’ll need them.”
“Do I start too big?”Sally asked.
Everett laughed.“All of you ladies from Beckham are the same.You come here and look for a way to make money.Aren’t there any women in Beckham who just want to be wives and take care of their homes?”
Though Sally knew the men were joking, she worried that she had come there and changed everything in Tom’s life.It wasn’t enough he’d had to adjust to a new wife, but she was constantly suggesting new things for them to do.New things to try.She knew she’d need to speak with him once the others had left.
She loved the man too much to make him uncomfortable.As soon as the words passed through her mind, she realized they were true.She did love him.It hadn’t happened all at once as she’d imagined, with their eyes meeting, and them instantly knowing they were destined to be in love.
It had come slowly.Every little thing that had happened had added to how she felt.When he’d been willing to plow a huge plot of land and fence it.When he’d agreed to raising pigs.Everything he did had added to how she felt.And she’d never told him.What kind of wife didn’t tell a man as sweet and considerate as Tom that she was in love with him?
They went inside and ate the stew she’d prepared.“We should have smoked salmon within a week.I wish I’d started earlier in the year.”
“It’s my fault we didn’t.I told you I didn’t think we needed to include fish.We should have been fishing all along,” Belle said, shaking her head.
As they ate, Sally couldn’t stop thinking about her feelings for Tom and feeling more than a little guilty for not sharing those feelings with him.She wanted to tell everyone to leave so she could talk to her husband, but she knew that wasn’t a good idea either.No, she’d wait.
After the meal, they sat at the table and visited.Normally, they were so busy with projects that they simply worked side by side instead of talking much.
“Someone needs to raise cattle,” Everett said.
“I think goats or reindeer would be a better bet.They were bred for the colder climates,” James said.“I prefer cow milk and beef, but I don’t think they’re practical here.Think of how much hay it takes to feed a cow through the winter.It’s ridiculous.”
“A friend of mine that I’m in touch with started a herd of reindeer near Seward,” James said.“He’s always telling me we should raise them because they dig through the snow and eat lichens.They do well in the Alaska climate.”
“I’d say we should raise reindeer,” Maggie said, “but I wouldn’t be able to butcher them.”
James covered her hand with his.“You’re too soft.”
“I know I am.It just feels so barbaric to me.”
