He nodded.“I like potatoes anyway you’re willing to make it.Fried, baked, mashed, boiled, or creamed.”
“Creamed?”she asked.She’d never heard of creamed potatoes.
“My dad used to cream potatoes.Basically, it was potatoes in a white sauce.It became one of my favorite ways to eat them.”
“You should write him and get the receipt,” Josie said.“I’d learn to make them.”
“I’ll do that,” he said.
“Oh, I got hide for the mukluks from Belle today.She said if yours turn out well, she will have me make some for Everett.”She stopped and bit her lip.“I should have said Mr.Thompson.I’m so sorry.I didn’t mean to speak so familiarly about another man.”She shrank away from him, worried his fist would soon connect with her.
“I’m sure you called him that because Belle did.”He watched as she moved away from him.“You don’t think I’m going to hit you for using another man’s first name, do you?”
Josie blushed.“It’s what my stepfather would have done.”
“I’m not your stepfather.”He covered her hand with his own.“I firmly believe that men who hurt women deserve to be drawn and quartered.”
She blinked a few times.“Really?”
“Really.I don’t know what you saw with your mother’s second marriage, but I assure you, I am not like your stepfather.”He frowned.“Is that why you start the nights so far away from me?”
She nodded slowly.“I’ve been waiting for you to get angry with me and hit me.”
“It’s not going to happen.I promise.”
She’d heard her stepfather promise to never hit her mother again, only to hit her again a few hours later.She would reserve judgment.
She spent the evening working on the mukluks, realizing they were more work than she’d expected.The hide couldn’t be sewn easily, so she had to make each hole individually, and then she was able to sew the pieces together.She was thankful she’d had her sewing scissors sharpened shortly before leaving Massachusetts.She wasn’t certain she could have cut the hide otherwise.
While she worked, Jack read her the chapters from the Bible they would be studying with the group on Sunday.She was thankful he did so, because she wouldn’t have felt she could take the time to read otherwise.
When he was finished, he watched her work on the boots for a moment.“Those are going to be a lot of work, aren’t they?”
She shrugged.“At least we won’t be spending a lot of money on boots.”
“Very true.”He stood.“I’m ready for bed.”
Josie nodded.“I think I am too.”
When they got into bed, he pulled her toward him, and he kissed her.“No more clinging to that side of the bed.You’re going to end up sleeping in my arms, so why don’t we start out that way?”
“I...”
“I won’t hurt you.”He wrapped both arms around her, holding her close.“Goodnight, Josie.”
She yawned.“Goodnight, Jack.”
*****
Within a few weeks, there was too much snow on the ground to forage, and other than lunches, Josie spent her time in the cabin.She made four pairs of mukluks for her friends’ husbands after she finished Jack’s.
She made him a red scarf, hat, and gloves, thinking people would be able to see him easier, and he would be less likely to have something happen in the cold.He could be spotted if he fell.
After all of those projects were finished, she started knitting for the store.Each time she finished a set of hat, scarf, and gloves, she would show them to her friends, and if no one wanted it for their husband, she took it to the store.
The nights grew longer, and she spent more time alone than she ever had in her life.She became sad as she stared out the window at the darkness.
Finally, she decided she had to stop being alone, or she wouldn’t be able to continue on with a smile on her face.So, after lunch one day, she walked with Myrtle to the store and told her friend how she was feeling.
