She didn’t ask what he was thanking her for because she already knew.It wasn’t for the meal...it was for the olive branch.
*****
AFTER THEIR PICNIC, Everett was much more subdued for the rest of the week.Belle could tell he was busy, and he was still worried about the deadline, but he was no longer angry with her.
She went about her business, hunting more mallards and putting them up for winter.She found more strawberries and more Eskimo potatoes.
On Thursday morning of the following week, Katie went foraging with her again, showing her how to identify wild parsnips and nagoonberries, which Katie explained were a small raspberry that grew in the area.
Belle tried one of the nagoonberries as they harvested them.“These are even better than regular raspberries!I’m going to have a hard time saving enough for jam.”
Katie laughed.“Wait until the salmonberries are ripe!You’re going to love them!”
“I think I’m going to be making jam all summer long.”
“I do.I wish I could talk Bernard into watching the store more often because I would spend my days foraging and making jam for winter.”
“I can always make extra...”
“Make as much as you can.I’ll buy what we can use and sell the rest in the store.The men are very appreciative of all you’ve done, and I’m sure they’d buy them up as quickly as I could put them on the shelves.”Katie winked at Belle.“You can’t waste all the good stuff on that husband of yours.”
Belle grinned and thought about Katie’s words for a moment.“How often does he get into those moods?”
“Only a couple of times per year.And he will be gentler with you.At least I think he will.”
“I hope so.It was a rough few days.”
Belle didn’t say anything else about Everett’s mood, and Katie didn’t pry for which Belle was thankful.She didn’t want to complain about her husband.
Belle had taken to taking a bag she’d made out of linen to carry with her when she foraged because she could take more home with her.Every time she took more jars down into the cellar, she felt good about herself.The shelves were filling, and she would continue to fill them until there was nothing else to forage, and then she’d fill them with chicken, rabbits, and hopefully moose, bear, and venison.
That afternoon, Belle stayed in the woods and foraged a little more after Katie went back to the store.Usually, she had something to can every afternoon, and she certainly could have made jam, but she wanted to be able to do more at a time than she had been.
She lost track of time and when she realized how late it was, she rushed home to find Everett already there.“Are you all right?”he asked.He looked worried.
She nodded.“I’m so sorry.I was picking berries and lost track of time.I’ll get supper started now.”
“Bacon sandwiches would be fine with me,” he told her.
She laughed.“All right.Those are easy, and we have some of the bread I baked yesterday.Katie showed me how to find wild parsnips and nagoonberries today, and I’m excited to make jam out of the nagoonberries.I may have eaten more than went into my bag.”
“Who could blame you?”he asked, winking at her.“I’m looking forward to eating that jam.”He looked into the bags she’d set on the counter until he found the nagoonberries and popped a few into his mouth.“The men complained that you didn’t take fresh-baked goods into the store today.”
She sighed.“I wanted to get more foraging done.What did you tell them?”
“I told them if they wanted to eat baked breads and such, they should get their own wives.I even gave a few of them Mrs.Tandy’s address.”
“I should write to some of my co-workers from the hotel and tell them to go see her.I’d love to have more women around.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” Everett said.“More women would mean more food, right?”
She shook her head.“You and that ever-empty belly of yours.”
After supper that evening, she sat down and wrote to Elizabeth, telling her she would send friends her way.And then she wrote to her closest friend at the hotel.Maggie O’Malley would be excited to join her.They’d talked about it a lot in the week before Belle had left the hotel.
“I’ll take these letters to Katie in the morning.”The mail came into the general store every Monday and went out the same day.They weren’t a big enough community for daily mail.
“Sounds smart,” he said, watching her over his Bible.“What’s your next big project?”
