She shook her head.“I will, but if it makes you sick, it’s not my fault.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said with a grin, taking her hand and pulling her toward their bed.“I’m glad we have people over every Saturday night to get to know them, but I’m always ready for them to leave.”
“I understand.We can’t take off all of our clothes when we have friends over.”
“I think we could...It just wouldn’t be a good idea.”
“Very true,” she said.
*****
The church buildingwent up quickly, taking only three weekends.The women took food and drinks to the men so they could keep working.Josie was pleased to be part of the building process in some way.
On their first Sunday in the new building, Josie looked around her, pleased with the work the men had done.There were no fancy stained-glass windows as there would have been in a church in Massachusetts, but the building was sturdy and would serve its purpose well.
That day, Mr.Johnson preached about the willing hands who had built the church and prepared the meals.His voice caught in his throat as he talked about how happy he was to have a church again.
“We’ll still do some Bible studies before church services, but it will be wonderful to have both.And the church is big enough that we can have social suppers after church every Sunday and we can even have dances on occasion.It will be good for us as Christians, but also good for the community as a whole, so I want to give a heartfelt thanks to all who made this happen.You have changed our town forever.”
After the sermon, the women talked, and they divided up what they would bring the following week.“I’ll make some salmon,” Josie offered.
“I’ll bring bread and dessert,” Myrtle said.
As everyone talked about what they would bring, it occurred to Josie that she hadn’t just moved to Yeti to marry.She’d become an integral part of the community in a way that she’d never imagined possible.
“I’ll bring a radish salad,” Sally offered.
“I’ll bring some smoked salmon in addition to what Josie brings.”
Belle pursed her lips.“I’ll bring a venison roast and some potatoes.”
Katie smiled.“I’ll donate dishes and silverware to the church, so they will be here and ready to be used whenever we need them.”
In another corner of the building, the men were talking.“I think we should make some tables that are easily disassembled for the social suppers,” Sebastian said.
Everett nodded.“I’ll donate some large pieces of wood.And we’ll bring six sawhorses to make three large tables.”
“We built the pews so we could move them, and we can use those as chairs,” Jack said.
By the time they left the church, everyone was ready to begin weekly social suppers at the church.
Josie and Jack walked home hand-in-hand.“I’m excited to start weekly social suppers,” Josie said.“It will give us a chance to come together as a community and get to know everyone.”
“I agree.And if we could do seasonal suppers and dances, I think that would go far as well.”
“It all sounds good to me.We all work so hard that it would be nice to have gatherings to look forward to.”
He nodded.“What do you think the chances are that we’ll have a lot more men showing up for church, simply so they can partake in the social supper after?”
She laughed.“I think church attendance will double at least.Especially if they know that Myrtle is baking.”
“Has the bakery slowed down at all?Or are you still busy from open to close?”
“It really depends on the day.We’re busy most of the time, but there will be temporary lulls.I like the lulls.It gives me a chance to catch up!Myrtle is talking about serving sandwiches when we have bacon and ham available, which will be any day.That will add to what I need to do.”
“Will you make the sandwiches, or will she?”Jack asked.
“She’ll bake the bread, of course.She’ll even cook the ham and bacon.But I will assemble the ingredients into a sandwich.”Josie shrugged.“It shouldn’t be too hard.And when I get behind, Myrtle usually jumps in to help.”
