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“I’ll clear the table,” Betty said.
Together the women made short work of returning the house to its clean state. When it was finished, Constance thanked Judy for the invitation. “I need to head home. I have no idea what I’m making for midnight meal tonight.”
Judy gaped at Constance. “You make Leonard a meal at midnight? You’re spoiling him!”
“With the way I talk to his mother, maybe that’s for the best.” With that, Constance headed out, untying the horse she’d ridden from the tree in the front yard. She wanted to say it was her horse, but she had a feeling Leonard would take exception to that.
All the way home, she thought about her rudeness to her mother-in-law, but she just couldn’t make herself feel badly for it. The woman needed to be stood up to so she would stop treating everyone poorly. And if no one else was going to do it, she was.
*****
Constance had a beef pot pie on the table when Leonard came in from work. “Something smells good!” he called from the front door, where he hung his hat and coat.
“I hope it tastes good,” Constance said, walking to the door and kissing him in greeting.
“Oh, it will,” he said, grinning. “I am thrilled with your cooking. Even when you make something I’m not particularly fond of, it’s still better than other women make.”
“Thank you.” Constance went into the kitchen and served them each a piece of the pot pie. “I’m not sure how you feel about pot pies, but I did make this one with beef.”
“I appreciate that. I hope there are carrots and potatoes too. Those are my favorite pot pies.”
“Yes, they’re both in there.”
Constance watched as he ate his first bite. When he smiled and nodded before saying, “This is delicious. You may make this every night for a month.”
“Oh good. I’m glad you like it.”
“I do enjoy your cooking, I just really don’t enjoy chicken and dumplings very often.”
“I understand,” she said, though she wished things were different. “How was work today?”
“Same as usual. I did my deliveries. All went well. How was tea?”
“It was nice. Judy’s house is beautiful, and my cake went over well. Your mother said it was good enough to feed you, so I can serve dessert tonight. I made two cakes.”
“It must be really good if she said you could feed it to me!”
He obviously didn’t understand sarcasm, but it didn’t matter too terribly much. “Let me know when you’re ready for some. Have you had an angel food cake?”
He shook his head. “No. I haven’t.”
“They’re my favorite, and I’ve won blue ribbons for mine at fairs back east.”
“Then I’m excited to try it.”
“I hope you love it as much as I do.”
Once he was finished eating, she cut the cake, and served them each a piece. It was her second piece of cake that day, and her mother would tell her she was going to be fat if she kept eating that way, but she didn’t care. She never gained an ounce. She was more likely to be too thin.
He took three bites before pausing to take a breath. “This cake is wonderful.” He finished off his piece and looked at the cake setting there on the table. “Would it be too much to ask for another piece or six?”
She laughed. “How about one? That way we’ll have some tomorrow as well.”
“Sounds reasonable. At the moment, I don’t care about reason. I want more cake!”
Putting another piece of cake on his plate, she nodded. “I had two today, so you should get two pieces as well.”
While he devoured his second piece, she cleared the table and started to work on the dishes. It seemed that all she did was clean, but she’d expected that as a wife. Her mother had taught her to be prepared for this life of hers, and she was pleased she knew how to do the important things.
