Page 23 of Mail Order Moose

Ella looked at him sharply, then saw the corner of his mouth. It was almost a joke. She almost smiled at it.

“Please do,” she said.

*****

Saturday arrived clear and cruelly cold. Ella rose before dawn because sleeping after remembering the gathering was impossible. She stirred the coals, set water to heat, and began cutting a chunk of beef into small cubes for the stew she planned to serve. Then she checked her list.

She checked it again after breakfast.

By noon, David had brought in the bench, the crate, two stools, and one extra lantern. He did each task she asked and none she did not. When she asked that the bench be three inches to the left, he moved it without comment. When she changed her mind and moved it back, he only lifted one end and waited for her direction.

“You may tell me if I am being foolish,” she said at last.

David set the stool down. “You are making a small room hold more people than it was built for. That takes measuring.”

She threw her entire body at him, holding him close. David didn’t hesitate as he wrapped his arms around her. “Thank you for understanding me,” she whispered.

He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers for the first time, and though startled, she realized she liked kissing David. After a moment, she pulled back and looked up at him, seeing a new twinkle in his eyes.

“We have too much to do for this.”

“We can continue later, if you’d like,” he offered, giving no indication if he wanted to or didn’t.

Her lips twitched at that. “I’ll think about it.” She knew he’d slept on the hearth for much too long. It was time to invite him to share the bed with her. But that had to wait until later. First, the cabin needed to be readied for their guests.

*****

The first guests arrived before she was ready, which was probably how guests worked everywhere. Lula came in with Sebastian and enough laughter for three cabins. Belle followed with Maggie, both of them carrying their babies wrapped so completely that only one small fist showed between them. Myrtle and Josie arrived together, their husbands lagging behind them. Agnes hurried in, looking ready for a fun evening, Jasper at her side. Mrs. Peabody came in, looking skeptical, a baby on one shoulder and two small children at her sides. Sally arrived last with an extra pot of coffee, saying nothing about the crowding and everything else. Albert, a friend of Jasper's, came as well, looking slightly uncomfortable.

The cabin filled at once.

Coats hung from pegs, chair backs, and David’s arm before he found places for them. Boots lined the threshold in rows that would not remain rows long. Sebastian bumped his shoulder against the shelf and caught a tin before it fell. Lula declared the cabin cozy, which was a generous word for crowded and warm and smelling of stew.

Ella stood near the stove with the ladle in her hand and felt every sound press against her skin. Voices overlapped. The babies fussed. Someone laughed too close to her ear. A child asked whether there were apples. The kettle hissed because she had pushed it too near the hottest part of the stove.

For a moment, the whole evening seemed to tilt beneath her feet.

David appeared beside the door with two coats over his arm and lifted his gaze to hers. He did not come take the ladle. He did not call for quiet. He only pointed, barely, toward the corner she had prepared.

Ella looked there. The quiet corner still existed. A blanket folded on the bed. A small stool beside it. A place to breathe if anyone needed it. If she needed it.

She drew in one careful breath. Then another.

“Bowls first,” she said.

It was not loud, but it was clear enough. Lula heard and began passing bowls. Belle took spoons from the shelf without being asked. David guided Sebastian toward the bench before he could block the only path between stove and table.

Mrs. Peabody watched everything from a chair, her children flanking her. When she was handed her portion of stew, she said, “Thank you so much for including us. Being widowed has left me alone with the children all the time.”

Ella smiled. “I’m glad you are here,” and to her surprise, she found she meant it.

*****

The evening did not go perfectly.

Ella would remember that first, perhaps because remembering it made the rest more believable.

The bread was too dark at the edges. Myrtle apologized. Sebastian ate two slices and said he preferred bread with character, which made Lula accuse him of having none himself. One of Mrs. Peabody’s children tipped a bowl of stew onto the floor, and for three heartbeats Ella saw only disaster—wasted food, wet boards, a child’s trembling lip, everyone watching.