“There were a couple of those at the hotel, but they never lasted long.They’d be caught in a corner reading when they were supposed to be working, and then it was all over.A lot of women came and went over the years.”
She sat down to watch him eat his third fish, waiting until he was ready for dessert to serve her own.
“Thank you for this delicious meal, and I’ll have to thank Tom’s wife tomorrow for providing the fish.”
“I helped!”she said.
He chuckled.“I know you did.And soon you’ll be doing a lot of the fishing yourself.Tom isn’t sure that Sally will still fish if you’re doing as much as we think you will.She’s doing a great deal more than any one person should be.”
“We’ll see.I’ll let her know when they all come over tomorrow morning that I’m willing to take it all on if she’d like me to.”
“So, the ladies will come at the same time as the men?”he asked.“That surprises me.”
“Why?We have to make the net, and to be honest, I’m not even sure how to do it.I’ll need the other women here.”
“I suppose you will.Tell me how Sally’s nets are set up, so I can visualize it.I want to be ready to work as soon as they all arrive.”
She briefly explained what she’d witnessed that afternoon.“She can pull in a net on her own.That’s why I want four nets.I would like to be able to do them one at a time.My goat chores won’t be as heavy as the fish will.At least I don’t think they will.I haven’t finished the entire section on goats yet.”
“Are we planning on eating all those goats?”he asked.
“Some of them, I’m sure.Mostly, we’ll be using their milk.We’ll make butter, cheese, and whipped cream, and it will be fresh from our own farm!”
“You could sell any surplus butter and cheese.Cream and milk as well.Do you plan on breeding a lot of goats, or will you stick with just a few.”
“I want to breed them and get our own herd.Katie—Mrs.Johnson—told me there are a couple of men down the river who raise goats.We can trade some kids for others so they won’t be breeding with their own siblings.”
“I was wondering about that.It sounds like you have everything under control.”
“I certainly hope I will by the time they arrive.Right now, I’m reading up on making cheese.I do love cheese, but I’ve never made it, so it will be a whole new experience for me.And our goats will keep making us money throughout the winter.It will be good.”
After their cake, which Jasper praised as the best he’d ever eaten, she quickly did the dishes while he milked the goat they had.As he walked out into the cool night air, he couldn’t help but chuckle to himself over her excitement.She had so many grand plans, and he was thrilled she was jumping into life as an Alaskan wife with such gusto.She was good for him, his Agnes, and he hadn’t been sure that marriage would agree with him.
He had found himself grinning at odd times during the day as he thought about his pretty wife.Nothing had prepared him for how he would feel about her once she’d arrived.She hadn’t been nearly as fun in her letters to him, and he’d almost expected a dour wife who would do “her duty” but not be happy about it.Thankfully, she was nothing like he’d thought.
When he went back into the house, she had finished the dishes and already changed into a clean nightgown.He walked to her and simply held her close for a moment.“I wasn’t sure about sending away for a wife, but now that you’re here, I know you are exactly where you’re supposed to be.Here with me, learning about how to live a good life filled with salmon and goats.”
“Salmon and goats.At least it’s not all of one all the time.I think you’d get tired of me chattering on about just one topic.This way, you get two things to listen to me babble about.”
“I could listen to you talk all day.”He kissed her then, and they didn’t speak for a very long while as they made love.
Afterward, she lay in his arms and wondered if they’d made a baby.She’d thought it was what she wanted most in the world, but she found she liked being alone with Jasper.They needed a little time to just love one another before a baby entered their lives.
