Madeline: Bride of Nebraska (American Mail-Order Bride 37) by Mia Blackwood Page A

walked around the table and put a gentle hand on George’s shoulder. “Time to go wash up for dinner. Can you make sure Uncle Caleb does a good job?”
    George, who had immediately begun to pout at having to stop playing, smiled at the thought of helping his uncle clean up properly. He nodded eagerly and hopped down from the bench. “C’mon! Time to wash up, Uncle ‘Leb!”
    Caleb chuckled and followed his exuberant nephew to the sink to wash up. He knew Madeline wanted him to make sure George got all the dough off his hands and thought her method of doing so was ingenious.
    Madeline scooped up the overworked dough from the table and threw it in the compost bucket when George wasn’t looking. She then scrubbed up the table and quickly set it while the men washed up. George liked to play in the water a bit, so washing up took longer than it should.
    The men sat down in their places as Madeline brought the food to the table. When she sat down, Caleb said grace and began carving some beef from the roast for George. He looked up in surprise when Madeline sighed.
    “What’s wrong?” he asked as he put a slice of beef on George’s plate and began to cut it in smaller pieces for him.
    “Hmmm?” Madeline looked up at him. “Oh, I’m just tired of making stew and roasts. I need to learn how to make something different with the beef.”
    Caleb chuckled. “I like your stew and your roasts just fine.”
    “Me too!” George chimed in.
    Madeline smiled. “Well, thank you for that. I’m just used to cooking more with chicken. Do you think Cookie might have some ideas for me to try?”
    “No! No, no…you don’t want any advice from that old rascal,” Caleb laughed. “He’ll just tell you to throw it in some beans.”
    Madeline chewed her lip as she thought. “Maybe I could try to make some of my other recipes and just substitute beef for the chicken. I might have to play with the spices a bit…” She smiled and handed Caleb her plate so he could serve her some of the roast. “I wish I’d have thought to buy a cookbook before I left Massachusetts. I do understand why we have so much beef on hand, with you raising cattle and all, but it really was a rare thing for us to eat.”
    Caleb nodded. She just gave him a good idea for a Christmas gift for her. He was horrible at picking out gifts, but if she needed a cookbook, he was certain he could find one for her, though he might need to make a longer trip to Gering or Camp Clarke to find one. If Pearson didn’t have one, maybe the mercantile in Bayard would. He hoped so. “We do have chickens, too,” he pointed out. “And pigs.”
    “I’m fully aware of that,” she teased. “But all the hens are still laying eggs, and I have no idea when the pigs are ready for…well, you know…” She didn’t want to talk of slaughtering the animals in front of George.
    Caleb smiled as he handed her back her plate. “Yes, I understand. We’ll talk about it later. I’ll mention it to Cookie. Maybe he’d like something to use besides beef, too. Oh, speaking of which…Thanksgiving is coming. Do you make anything special for Thanksgiving dinner?”
    “I never have before. Would you like me to?” Madeline asked as she served herself some potatoes and passed the bowl to Caleb.
    “I could try to catch a wild turkey or a prairie chicken. Maybe a goose or duck. Would any of those do?”
    She nodded. “I could work with any of those. I suppose I could make some pies as well,” she added with a twinkle in her eye. She knew how much her new husband liked his pies and cakes. He certainly had a sweet tooth.
    “I’ll go hunting with Hank and some of the others once we catch…well, you know…” He caught himself in time before he mentioned his brother’s killer. They tried hard to not bring it up in front of George and he almost blew it.
    Madeline nodded quickly and changed the subject as she saw George look up at his uncle questioningly. “Ella gave me some jars of canned