on my goal toward farming while I worked.
I kept a calendar in my desk where I was marking down the
days to when I could quit.
I did enjoy giving Ann money so she could buy new
foods to cook. She seemed to enjoy trying new foods, and I
liked eating them. She was quickly turning into an expert
cook. Coming home to one of her meals was the highlight
of my day. It wasn"t just her cooking I looked forward to
though. I mostly enjoyed coming home to her sweet smiles.
This was one of those situations where I wanted to be with
her and away from her at the same time.
On the third Saturday in September, I went into town
so I could do some additional bookkeeping for Mr. Richard.
Afterwards, I took out enough money I had saved aside for a
gift to buy Ann. She didn"t complain about a lack of
anything, but I knew she liked to wear pretty dresses. She
wasn"t able to buy any new dresses, and the ones from
Virginia were wearing out. They weren"t made for
housework. I found the pink dress she had worn at the
dance. She had thrown it away, but I found it and set it
aside for when I could afford to buy her a dress that was
pretty but also durable.
Since Mrs. Coley"s daughter, Daphne Rhodes,
sewed dresses and other clothing for a living, I handed her
Ann"s old pink dress and informed her that it was a little tight
on Ann because Ann did complain about it at the dance.
Daphne had a new blue and green dress ready on that
Saturday, so after work, I went by to pay her and collect the
dress. Daphne knew I wanted to keep the dress a secret,
so she never mentioned it to anyone. I wanted Ann to be
surprised by it since it was her birthday gift.
Daphne wrapped it up in a pink cloth with a pink
ribbon. I couldn"t wait to show it to Ann. Though I didn"t see
the dress, Daphne had shown me the design and I thought it
would look terrific on Ann. Of course, Ann could wear a
potato sack and still be beautiful.
84
Falling In Love With Her Husband
“I hope you don"t mind that I included a bonnet to
match the dress,” Daphne said as she handed me the
present.
“Thank you, Mrs. Rhodes,” I replied. I paid
her for the dress and included a tip for her thoughtfulness.
“Thank you, Mr. Brothers. You are very generous. If
you need any more dresses, I will be happy to make them
for you. Your wife is a very nice woman. I know my mother
enjoys her conversations with her.”
I was pleased to hear this so I thanked her again and
left. Ann didn"t seem to have any problems making friends.
She naturally drew people to her with her sunny personality.
As soon as I got home, I was anxious to surprise
Ann. She wasn"t in the kitchen, parlor, dining room or any of
the bedrooms. I hesitated to go to the scullery room
because that"s where we took baths in the metal tub, but my
excitement overcame my awkwardness. I noticed the
scullery room door was shut so I tapped on the door.
“Ann? Are you in there?”
“Oh, Todd! I didn"t expect you back so early.”
The sound of water splashing in the tub brought
images of her taking a bath. I hadn"t seen a woman naked
so I real y couldn"t visualize anything specific. I was
enjoying the imagery that did come to mind, however. I
pushed the thoughts aside.
“I didn"t have to work the entire day. I have a
surprise for you.”
“Real y?”
“You didn"t think I forgot your birthday, did you?”
“Wel ... I didn"t even know you knew when my
birthday was.”
“Of course, I do. I"ve been to enough birthday dinner
parties to remember.”
“I need to finish washing my hair. I"l be out in a few
minutes. Can you put the surprise in my room? I"l be there
soon.”
85
Falling In Love With Her Husband
Can I help? I can wash your back. I wanted to say
this but I didn"t. Instead, I went to her bedroom and set the
gift on her dresser. Her room was simple in its decoration
since she didn"t bring many of her things in our hurried trek
out west. Stil , there
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