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Unfortunately, Jessica knew the little voice in her head was correct. George had no use for her other than the work she did. He didn’t see her as a wife at all. Instead, he saw her as a servant he’d made a mistake with. How on earth was she going to be able to go on feeling as she did?
She decided to write her mother the following morning and get the advice of the person she trusted most. In all her letters, she’d glazed over how George felt, and instead, she’d talked about the children and everything she was doing to keep busy. It was time to tell her mother everything.
Chapter Nine
When Jessica woke the following morning, she was in a very different frame of mind than when she’d gone to bed. She no longer wanted to tell her mother about everything that was going on in her life and decided it was best to play it safe and keep up the pretense of a good marriage with everyone. George would be the only one who knew the truth. Well, George and Mary Sue, but she would tell Mary Sue all was well. There was no reason to tell her any differently.
When she went down to fix breakfast, she acted as if everything was fine, and she knew she needed to continue acting that way. Now that she was expecting, there was no way she could leave her marriage, not that she could have with as much as she loved George’s children.
She made a breakfast casserole using up the last of the bread she’d made two days before. It was a trick her mother had taught her, and she preferred the casseroles to French toast, which always tasted just a bit too sweet for breakfast to her.
When she served the casserole, George eyed it suspiciously. “What’s in that?”
Jessica shook her head. “All the things you eat for breakfast every day. Eggs, bread, sausage, and I topped it with a little country gravy.”
George looked unsure about the food, but he waited for her to finish serving it before praying and trying a bite. The children seemed to be watching his reaction to see if they should even try the strange concoction.
“This is really good!” he finally said.
Then the children began eating their own. Jessica fed the baby a bite, and she seemed happy as well. “You all need to start trusting my cooking,” she said softly.
George nodded. “I agree. I’m sorry.”
Jessica spent most of the day baking. She made bread, cookies, and a cake. There was a church social that evening, and she wanted to take something that would be eaten quickly.
She finally decided to make her roast beef with gravy and a separate helping of mashed potatoes to eat it over. Who didn’t love roast beef with mashed potatoes? Nancy assisted her in the kitchen, the two of them making sure everything was just right.
There was to be a short auction at the church to raise money for a new roof. There had been some leaks, and it badly needed to be fixed before snow settled on the roof and made everything harder.
Meanwhile, George went through his daily chores thinking about the baby Jessica carried. Every time Heather had been pregnant, they’d rejoiced in a new life on the way. Jessica had been certain he would be angry with her, as if she’d somehow gotten into the family way on her own.
He spent the whole day thinking of her, and how he’d treated her as if she was less important, simply because he’d loved another first.
By the time he was done with the second milking of the day, George knew he had to make some changes. He had a mental conversation with Heather as he milked the cows, knowing he couldn’t speak to a dead woman with his hired hands right there.
Heather, I’ve loved you since we were both children, and I’ve kept your memory alive for both myself and our children. But little Sally is eight months old now, and I’ve married again.
I married Jessica because I needed a mother for the children and someone to keep house. I was certain I would be able to live with her and have no feelings at all, but things have changed.
Jessica is a good woman who loves our children as if they were her own. I’ve never seen a woman take to her husband’s children as Jessica has.
I must confess we had one night together. She was making the children so happy, and she’s such a pleasant woman…well, I’m sure you understand what that led to. She’s expecting now, and she’s still sleeping in the baby’s room with her, as if she’s a servant.
I can’t continue to treat her as a servant, though. Even if it means betraying your memory, I have to start treating her as a wife. Tonight, I’ll be moving her into our bedroom, and I will treat her as I should have treated her all along.
You’ve always been such a generous and kind woman yourself that I know you would be disappointed in the way I’ve treated Jessica, but all that ends now. She will be treated as a wife, the same as I treated you.
I love you more than I could ever express, but I do believe it’s time for me to move on, and allow Jessica to be a real wife to me, not a servant. I hope you won’t mind that she is sleeping in our bed and taking care of our babies.
When he heard the words, “Love her as you did me,” behind him, he was certain he was imagining things, but it sounded just like his beloved Heather. Suddenly he felt free. Free to love his new wife. Free to get to know her. And free to have her in his bed.
He whispered a soft, “Thank you.”
When he went into the house after hitching up the wagon, Jessica was waiting with the children all in their Sunday best. He hurried upstairs to change, and then carried the baby out to the wagon for Jessica, not wanting her to have to put any undo strain on her body while she was expecting.
He knew it was silly, but it made him feel better to help her the little he could, knowing she would be holding the baby through the day every day.
He helped Jessica into the wagon and tucked the blanket around her and Sally to make certain they stayed warm. Nancy and Bertie had carried their offerings for the church social outside, and he was just climbing up onto his seat when she said. “I almost forgot! I have a crate of jams, jellies, and applesauce on the kitchen table to be auctioned off.”
