Mail Order Mama (Brides of Beckham Book 2) by Kirsten Osbourne Page B

meet everyone.”
    Emily smiled toward the men and waved timidly.  She felt like she was on display and she hated that.  “Do you need anything else before I go back upstairs?” she asked softly.  She wanted to hurry away so she could hide.  She needed to feed the girls, of course, but getting out of the room was even more important to her.
    “I talked to the butcher this morning.  I got some chicken for our supper.”  He indicated a wrapped piece of meat on the counter.  “Any day you want meat for supper, you tell me and I’ll get it for you.  We can have fresh every day with a butcher in town.”
    She nodded.  “Thank you.”  She picked up the wrapped chicken from the counter and headed toward the stairs. 
    Benjamin caught her hand.  “Are the girls minding you?”
    Emily’s face lit up at the question.  “They’ve been wonderful.  I don’t have a single complaint.  We’re about to eat lunch, and then we’ll bake some bread for supper.”
    His eyes searched hers.  He’d worried a little that the girls wouldn’t mind her because she was so little she wouldn’t seem like an authority figure.  “You would tell me if they didn’t?”
    “Of course, I would.  Our girls are wonderful.  They do everything I say.”  Both girls nodded to emphasize her words, and he let go of her arm. 
    “Okay, I believe you.  You go and have a good lunch.  I’ll be home a little after six.”
    She picked up the chicken and hurried out of the store and into the back room, going up the stairs with the girls to have her lunch.
    After lunch, Emily asked, “Do you girls like chicken and dumplings?”  She’d always loved chicken and dumplings, and wanted to share the dish with the girls. 
    The girls looked at each other.  “We’ve never had chicken with our dumplings, but we love dumplings.  And chicken,” Abbie told her.
    Emily frowned.  “Well, we’ll try it and see then.”  The three of them made the bread.  Each girl was given a ball of dough the size of her fist to make her own bread with while Emily made four loaves of bread and a dozen dinner rolls to serve with their chicken and dumplings. 
    As soon as the bread was in the oven, she began preparing to boil the chicken.  Once it was on, she boiled the water to wash dishes.  “Will you girls wash the dishes for me while I clean off the table and finish darning your socks?”
    “You want us to do the dishes?” Abbie asked in surprise.
    Emily wasn’t certain what she’d said wrong.  By Abbie’s age, she’d been doing the dishes on her own.  “Yes, would you wash so Georgie can dry?”  After the girls were used to doing the dishes together that way, she’d have Georgie start washing.  They were certainly old enough to learn to do simple tasks.
    “We’ve never done dishes before,” Abbie explained.
    “Never done dishes?  Really?”  Emily went to the sink and put the bowls they’d used for lunch into it.  “Just wash them until there’s no food left, and Georgie can dry them.  If you can’t reach to put them away, set them aside and I’ll do that.”
    She mixed the rice in with the beans for another meal, and covered the pot with the lid.  She’d have to ask the girls how to get down to the cellar.  She was sure there had to be one to keep the food cold, so they could store it for the next day.
    She darned the last of the socks while the girls washed the dishes.  She was glad they were so eager to help, even when it wasn’t something they normally did.  They talked back and forth as they worked together, somehow not realizing she was listening.
    “Mama never made us do dishes,” Georgie said, a slight whine in her voice.
    “Well, our new mama says we have to do the dishes so we have to do the dishes.  We’re older now, and we can do them.”  Abbie’s voice was patient while she explained how she thought things should be.
    “Do you think we’ll have to do them every day?”
    “Maybe even after