Mrs. Cooper had a well-ordered kitchen, and Melody found it easy to find everything she needed. Within a very short time she had her first two trays in the oven. While the biscuits baked, Melody prepared the next batch. She mixed the dry ingredients and cut in the cold lard. Last, she put in the milk. Mrs. Cooper hadn’t any buttermilk, so Melody added white vinegar to the milk before putting it into the rest of the mixture. When the ingredients were combined and the dough sufficiently worked, it was time to check the oven.
While Melody did this, Mrs. Cooper very expertly fried up sausage, then added flour, salt, and milk to the pan. The aroma of breakfast filled the air along with the coffee that had been put on before Melody arrived.
“We work so well together,” Mrs. Cooper declared, “you would have thought we’d done it all of our lives.”
Melody chuckled. “I was thinking the same. You’ve a beautiful kitchen with all the necessary ingredients, and they’re easy to find. I couldn’t have ordered it better myself.”
By six thirty the food was on the table, and the men were seated, awaiting their meal. Mr. Cooper offered grace, and then the meal was quickly passed around the table until each man had what he wanted. Melody poured the coffee while Mrs. Cooper introduced her to the men.
“This is Melody Doyle. Some of you might already know her.”
Melody glanced at Charlie and smiled. She wasn’t familiar with the other men, with the exception of her brief introduction to Will Porter. Charlie smiled back at her, then turned his attention to the large bowl of gravy coming his way.
“Melody will be helping fix meals, do laundry, and clean. She’ll also help with the garden and other odd jobs. You will treat her with respect. I’ll not have her molested in any way,” Mrs. Cooper admonished. “Not that we really need to tell you that. You seem reliable and honest men.”
Mr. Cooper added his own thoughts on the matter. “Still, it doesn’t hurt to stress the point. Miss Doyle is a fine young lady with an impeccable reputation, and we won’t have it damaged by any nonsense. Understand?”
“Yes, sir,” Charlie replied loud and clear. This prompted the others to murmur their assurances as well.
Melody brought the coffee to Charlie and poured thesteaming liquid without a word. He glanced up and once again offered her a smile. “I’m glad you could come to help. Mrs. Cooper has more than her share to do.”
“I’m glad to be here. Mr. and Mrs. Cooper are dear friends of mine. It’s nice to be useful to them.”
“We will certainly appreciate your work, Melody,” Mrs. Cooper added.
Mr. Cooper went around the table and introduced Melody to each man, adding what he did for a living and which room was his upstairs.
“We’re only upstairs one day a week,” Mrs. Cooper told her later as they did up the breakfast dishes. “We women do not go upstairs otherwise, nor are they allowed to have women on the second floor.”
“Seems like a good rule.” Melody finished with the drying and began to put away the dishes.
“We’ll clean each room and change the bedding on Wednesdays. We’ll also attend to the bathroom and put in new towels. Mr. Cooper takes care of the outhouse and its needs. He also gathers up the laundry for me and brings it down to the back porch.”
“So, with breakfast cleaned up, do we immediately start working on supper?”
“I generally do. Especially if I’m putting in a roast or making pies and bread.”
“And what would you like me to do?”
Mrs. Cooper smiled. “I’d just as soon you get to work on the laundry. There’s a cauldron of hot water that Mr. Cooper prepared for us before breakfast. The water should be perfect to work with. I’ll show you around the back porch so you can see how I have things set up.”
By lunchtime, Melody had filled the lines, including thetwo new ones, with a variety of clothes and kitchen towels. Once these were dry in the afternoon, she would iron what needed to be ironed and fold up the rest. For the time being, however, she made a quick trip home to see how her father was doing.
She was surprised to find him sleeping quite soundly. He didn’t even stir when she came in. The poor man had been so restless through the night that his movements had woken Melody more than once. She decided against waking him. Instead, she checked on the roast. It looked perfect. She sliced off a piece and sampled it. It was delicious. She closed the oven door and left it to rest there.
Deciding she needed to tell Da not to add any more wood to the fire, Melody went to the table and took up a pencil and piece of paper. She noted an envelope on the table. It was addressed to her father, and the return address was from Ireland. Her uncle David had written. She couldn’t help but wonder what had prompted that. Her father’s relatives seldom wrote.
She considered reading the letter but decided against it. She wasn’t one to pry, and besides, Da would tell her about it if she needed to know what was said. She ignored the letter and jotted a note to her father regarding the roast. She added that she was excited for their night out, then placed the note in plain sight. She took one last longing glance at the letter. What if it was bad news? Maybe some family member had passed away.
“If you need to know, he’ll tell you,” she whispered to herself. Then, grabbing up her gardening gloves, she hurried out before accidentally waking her father.
Thoughts of her new job quickly replaced the mysterious letter. There was a lot of work to do in keeping up witheight people, but she really didn’t mind at all. She thought of Charlie and his sweet smile. He seemed quite at ease with his newfound family. The other men seemed equally content. The Coopers were good at making a home for strangers.
“Are you heading to lunch somewhere?”
She looked up to find Charlie had materialized before her very eyes. “I was just thinking about you,” she admitted. Then wished she’d said nothing. How brash that must seem to him.
“You were? Whatever prompted that?” His eyes seemed to twinkle as if genuinely amused at her announcement.
