Mail Order Mistake (15 page)

Malinda thought about it for a moment, mentally calculating the amount of money that
had gone into the ingredients for the cookies.  “I could make them for a dollar a
dozen.”  She knew she was charging a lot, but if Elizabeth really wanted her cookies,
she’d readily agree.

“That sounds fair.  I’ll need about three dozen.  Is that okay?” 

Malinda’s eyes widened in surprise.  She was going to pay her the same amount for
baking three dozen cookies as she would for sewing a dress?  She felt like she was
taking advantage.  “Well, if you’re doing three dozen, it’ll be a dollar and a half. 
Most of that was just for my time.”

“Oh, thank you.  That sounds good.”  Elizabeth ate one more cookie and drained her
cup.  “I need to get home.  My little girl will be waking up any minute, and I spend
the afternoons with her while the nanny has some time off.”  She stood
and headed toward the door.

Malinda walked her to the door smiling happily.  She’d almost doubled the amount of
money she could spend in a month.  Maybe she could make some curtains and matching
pillows
for the sofa
like she’d seen at Mrs. Pickering’s house.

She slipped some pork chops into the oven to bake and hurried into the spare room. 
She wanted the dress cut out and at least basted together before she had to finish
fixing dinner.  While she cut, she decided she was going to wait a while before telling
Wesley about making extra money.  She didn’t want him to feel like she didn’t think
he was a good enough provider.

She was a little ahead of schedule on the sewing when she realized she needed to get
dinner finished.  She hurriedly closed the door to the spare room and rushed to the
kitchen.  She had to make potato
es and biscuits yet, and Wesley would
be home in less than twenty minutes.  She could make some of the canned carrots for
a vegetable, and they wouldn’t take
more than
a minute
or two
to heat up.

She rushed down the stairs to the cellar and gathered up enough potatoes for the two
of them, and then climbed back up as fast as she could.  She cut one of her fingers
peeling the potatoes because she was trying to go too fast.  She forced herself to
slow down, hoping Wesley wouldn’t be upset that dinner was late.  Of course, she could
always just give him a couple of cookies with milk
to tide him over until she had everything ready.

She was just putting the biscuits into the oven when Wesley got home.  He looked at
the table in surprise.  She always had dinner waiting when he got there. 

“I’m sorry.  I los
t track of time.”  Malinda said
truthfully, although she felt a pang of guilt over not telling him the full truth. 
“Do you want a couple of cookies and some milk before dinner?”

Wesley perked up.  “Dessert first?  You always make me wait until after dinner for
dessert.”  He took the cookies she offered him and poured a glass of milk.  “Lose
track of time every day, would you?”

She laughed.  “I don’t think that would be a good idea, but I’m glad you’re not mad
it happened this once.”  She watched as he sat at his regular spot at the table, putting
the plate his cookies were on atop the plate she’d set for him.

She put the carrots into a pot to cook, and mashed the potatoes.  By the time she
was finished, the biscuits were done.  She could serve the potatoes with just butter
this time.  They didn’t need to have gravy every night.

Wesley didn’t say a word about the lack of gravy.  He happily ate every bite.  When
he was finished, he gave her his best little boy smile.  “More cookies now?”

She stood and got him more cookies.  “You’re going to turn into a giant sugar cube
if you’re not careful.”  She couldn’t imagine how the man stayed so slim.  He ate
everything he could get his hands on.  “How did you eat before I got here?”  She knew
he hadn’t gone to the restaurant every night with his budget.

Wesley shrugged.  “I ate at Patrick’s house a lot.  He didn’t mind, and it was free
and already prepared.”

Malinda seemed to consider that.  “We should do that now.  Less cooking for me!” 
She was only half joking as she said it
, loving the idea of spending more time with her sister and less time in the kitchen
.

“I like your cooking,” he protested.

“Even that burnt casserole from the other night?”  She knew he couldn’t claim to like
that.

“The cake washed the taste right out of my mouth.”

She laughed out loud.  “You’re a silly man.”  She stood up and made shooing motions
with her hands.  “Get out of my kitchen.  I need to do the dishes.”  She wished she
could get some more sewing done after the dishes but knew it would be better if she
waited until he was at work again. 

Once the dishes were done, she snuggled against him on the sofa as had become their
habit in the evenings.  He talked about his day, and she told him about her trip to
the mercantile. 

She felt  a slight qualm about keeping her new ‘job’ from him while she lay in bed
watching him sleep, but reasoned it would hel
p them, spare his pride
and she could do it all without inconveniencing him.  Where was the problem in that?

*****

When Elizabeth came for her fitting on Thursday, Malinda was thrilled to see that
the dress fit perfectly.  Now she only had to hem it and do the embroidery on the
collar and the dress would be ready.  She was thrilled.  Three dollars was a lot of
money to be able to tuck away for a rainy day, and she’d done it all in her spare
time. 

As soon as Wesley left for work on Friday, she hurriedly finished the embroidery. 
Elizabeth had asked if she could pick up the dress at eleven in the morning, instead
of waiting until two as they’d originally planned.  Malinda didn’t like her getting
there so close to lunchtime for fear Elizabeth and Wesley would cross paths and he’d
find out what she was doing, but she didn’t have much choice.  Elizabeth said she
had plans for the afternoon and wanted to wear the dress, so she’d just have to make
sure they didn’t see each other.

Lunch was just leftovers, so she put them in the oven with just a small fire, so they
would heat up and stay hot without burning while she met with Elizabeth.  She had
everything planned out perfectly.

At half past eleven, Malinda started to worry.  Elizabeth wasn’t there yet, and she’d
need to try on the dress. 
She finally arrived at fifteen minutes before twelve, and Malinda knew she was sunk. 
She knew she’d have to come clean with Wesley, and hoped he wouldn’t be angry.

“I’m so sorry I was late, but the baby was fussy.  I think she’s cutting teeth. 
I wanted to get her down for her nap myself.”   Elizabeth hurried in.
  “She only wants me when she’s upset for any reason.”

“I understand.  I just hope it’s what you want.”  Malinda tried not to look panicked
and calmly held the dress up for Elizabeth to see.

“Oh, my!  It’s beautiful.  I can’t believe you did this in just a few days.”
  Elizabeth picked the dress up from the bed and held it at arm’s length inspecting
it.

Malinda helped Elizabeth into the dress and stepped back to make sure the hem was
even.  “How does it feel?”
  She studied the way the dress conformed to Elizabeth’s curves, knowing it was
good
.

The dress fit beautifully, and Elizabeth was thrilled. 
“Perfect.  I couldn’t have asked for a better fit.”  She quickly hugged Malinda. 
“Thank you so much.”  Elizabeth picked up her string purse from the bed where she’d
put it with the dress she’d come over in.  “I want to wear this to the party, so I’m
not going to change out of it.”  She pulled three dollar coins from the purse.  “Are
you sure this is enough?”

Malinda accepted the money with a smile.  “I’m positive.  You were easy to work with.” 
She laid the money on the dresser, happy to have something she could save. 

“I’d like a couple more dresses if you don’t mind doing more for me.”  Elizabeth looked
hesitant to ask, but Malinda nodded eagerly.

“I’d love to.  Do you have anything in mind?”
  She hated the thought of looking for more people to sew for, but now that she’d
earned some money, she wasn’t sure she ever wanted to stop.

“I actually already ordered a couple of patterns from the mercantile on the chance
you’d say yes.”

Malinda laughed.  “I’m glad you did.  I’ll get started as soon as they’re in.”

“Thank you again.  I’ll come by when they’re in with the fabric I want.  Will three
dollars be the regular fee?”

“Unless the dress is extremely complicated, that should be fine.”

“Are you willing to do baby dresses as well?”

“Of course.  Anything I can do to help.”

“I’m so glad you moved to town!”  She walked toward the front door, carrying her dress
under her arm.  “I’ll be by Monday.  I already have a pattern for my baby’s dress.”

“That sounds good.  I should be here.”

Wesley came in the back door while she was saying goodbye to Elizabeth at the front. 
Malinda glanced at the clock.  He was fifteen minutes later than usual.  “I’ll see
you Monday,” she told Elizabeth.

“Thank you!”  Elizabeth hurried to the buggy waiting on the street.

Wesley stood for a moment looking at Malinda as if waiting for an explanation.  When
she simply hurried to get his food, he asked, “What was that about?”

Malinda bit her lip as she pulled the food out of the oven and served it onto the
two plates.  “I made her a dress.”  What was the best way to tell him?

“When?”

“I’ve been working on it all week.”  She sat down opposite him after their plates
were fixed.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”  He looked genuinely perplexed by her silence on the matter.

She took a deep breath.  “Because she paid me to do it, and I didn’t want to upset
you.”
  She stared down at her food as she explained.

He made a face.  “Why would that upset me?”

She shrugged.  “I didn’t want you to think you weren’t a good provider.”

“So you hid it from me?”  He ate his last few bites of food in silence.  “That’s not
the way a marriage works.”

“I know.  I shouldn’t have hidden it from you.  I’m sorry.”
  She was sorry she’d hidden it now that she’d seen his reaction.  He didn’t seem
to be upset that she felt the need to make money, only that she’d hidden it from him.

“Are you planning on doing more sewing for people?”

She nodded.  “I have plenty of time, and I think it would be good for us to save up
some money for a rainy day.”  She looked down at her plate.  “I also want to make
curtains and some other things for the house, but there’s no way I could do it all
on five dollars a month.”

He stood up, his face hard.  “I don’t mind you sewing for people and making a little
extra money.  What I do mind is you hiding it from me.”  He picked up the hat he’d
set on the work table when he walked in the door and settled it on his head.  “I expect
honesty from my wife.”  He left, closing the door behind him.

Malinda sat and stared at the closed door for a minute before getting up to wash the
dishes.  It was only then she realized he’d left without touching the dessert she’d
made.