A Convenient Wife Read Online Free Page B

new potatoes, and a bunch of carrots. Cooking gave her a sense of accomplishment, and she scouted out a paring knife, her capable hands readying the vegetables for the oven. A pan of stale bread, cut up into cubes, told her that Tess had plans for chicken stuffing, and in minutes, Ellie had cut up an onion and found spices to complete that dish.
    She drained broth from the roasting hen into the bread pan and mixed the stuffing quickly, placing it in a greased tin to bake. Outside the back door, two little girls played inthe afternoon sunshine, and waved in her direction when they saw her in the doorway.
    â€œMama said to let you sleep. She told us we wasn’t to disturb you,” the tallest of the two said cheerfully. “This here is my friend Alice. And I’m June-bug. At least that’s what my papa calls me. And sometimes he calls me an afterthought.” She grinned widely. “I don’t know what it means, but he always laughs and hugs me when he says it.”
    June-bug. Ellie smiled, even as a sadness descended over her. Imagine having a father who would designate his daughter as such, who would tease the little girl with a nickname, bringing smiles to her freckled face.
    â€œJune-bug sounds like a wonderful name,” Ellie said. “I’m just Ellie.”
    â€œMy mama told me. Is that what your papa calls you?”
    Ellie nodded. But not lately, she thought, the memory of those hated appellations he’d shouted in her direction coming to mind. Not lately.
    â€œAre you cookin’ our supper?” June-bug asked. “I can smell chicken.”
    â€œYour mama had it in the oven. I’m just putting some potatoes and carrots in with it.”
    â€œShe’ll be glad,” the child said with a sharp nod. “She’s kinda tired when she gets home. And when my sisters got married last year, there wasn’t nobody left to cook dinner, but me and Mama. And she won’t let me touch the stove without her bein’ here to watch.”
    Tess was more than glad, her words joyous as she followed John into the house less than an hour later. “You didn’t have to cook for us,” she exclaimed, eyeing the pan Ellie had just taken from the oven. “But I surely do appreciate it, Ellie. June said you were making biscuits when she looked in the door a while ago.”
    â€œWe may just keep you,” John teased, up to his elbows in soapsuds as he washed up at the sink.
    Ellie smiled, forcing a pleasant look, as she caught sight of Tess’s sympathetic glance in her direction. She’d looked in the mirror herself; knew the sight of a swollen eye and cheek would be causing talk around the town should she appear in public. It was enough that she’d paraded down the road with her head bowed, finding her way to the back door of the mercantile in order to see if Tess could use any help.
    â€œYou’ve got no need for me,” Ellie said bluntly. “But I’ll find something to do. Maybe I can get a job at one of the ranches.”
    â€œI may have something in mind,” Tess told her. “I stopped by to see Doc Gray earlier. He might have need of you. Man never eats right, and he’s having to send out his washing to be done. I’ll warrant his floors haven’t seen a scrub rag in a month, since he had Eula Peters in to clean up things.”
    â€œDr. Gray? You want me to go clean his house and cook his meals?” Ellie closed her mouth with a snap of her jaw. “He can’t afford to have a woman like me hanging around his neck. Folks would talk if I were to work for him.”
    â€œJust go and see what he has to say,” Tess told her soothingly. “I suggested it and he didn’t seem to take it poorly. In fact, he told me to send you over. He wants to talk to you.”
    Ellie gritted her teeth. “I’m going to need a place to stay. I don’t think it’ll work, Mrs.