Capital Bride Read Online Free PDF Page B

wouldn’t change any of it because she had her beautiful MaryAnn. Everything was worth it to have her.
    Now there was a chance for happiness she’d never dare to hope for in New York. A home and family of her own. She had both now. She looked at her new home. It was a beautiful, two story, white washed, wood structure. There was a large porch on the front facing east. Sunrise should be spectacular.
    John pulled the buckboard to a stop in front of the porch. He jumped down, came around to her side and reached up for her. She placed her hands on his broad shoulders and he grasped her around the waist and lifted her down. Breathless, she stepped away. Then he got each of the girls.
    Katy ran inside with MaryAnn on her heels. Sarah and John followed at a more sedate pace.
    The layout of the house was as simple inside as outside. They walked into the parlor which ran the width of the house. The stairs were on the far right side. Leading out of the parlor was a hall. On one side was the dining room and John’s office. The other side had the kitchen, pantry and a bedroom for the housekeeper, Bertha.
    When they entered the kitchen there was a large, gray haired woman sitting at the table shelling peas for the evening meal. Three dead chickens sat on the counter waiting to be plucked.
    “Bertha, this is Mrs. Atwood,” said John by way of introduction
    “Sarah. Please call me Sarah.” She extended her hand in greeting.
    Bertha wiped her floured, calloused hands on her apron and shook Sarah’s with both of hers. “Real glad to meet you, Mrs. Atwood…Sarah. Real glad. You can cook can’t you? Mr. Atwood said he was pretty sure you could. I don’t cook real good. Don’t like it. So I’m hopin’ you can, ‘cause we all need some good vittles.”
    “Yes, Bertha,” Sarah laughed. “I can cook, but I’ll need your help learning my way around the kitchen and with prep. For instance, I have no idea what to do with a chicken like that.” She pointed at the counter. “I’ve never plucked a chicken in my life. Our cook always did that.”
    “Don’t you worry none about that. I can pluck a chicken in my sleep. I’ll get ‘em all ready so all you got to do is fix ‘em.”
    Sarah smiled. She and Bertha were going to get along famously.
    “Now that you two have met, I’m going to take Sarah upstairs and show her the rest of the house.”
    “I heard Katy running up the stairs. She made enough noise for two people.”
    Sarah and John laughed. “That’s because there were two people. Sarah’s little girl, MaryAnn, is with Katy.”
    Bertha smiled, revealing a small gap between her front teeth. “Well now I’m glad to hear it. Katy has needed a friend to play with.”
    “So has MaryAnn. They’re both only children, but they seem to have made friends with each other,” said Sarah.
    “Come on, I’ll show you the upstairs and get your trunks in here so you can start unpacking. And we’ll see what our two special girls are up to.”
    “Plotting our demise no doubt,” said Sarah.
    John barked out a laugh. She liked when he laughed. His dimples showed and he didn’t seem so intimidating.
    They went upstairs.
    “Up here are only bedrooms. Someday I want to put water and a bathroom up here but that’s on down the road. Katy’s bedroom is the first on the right. I thought we could put MaryAnn across the hall. The back left bedroom can be the nursery. Our bedroom is the back right.”
    He opened the door and stepped aside so she could go into their room before him. It was a big room. She walked around touching everything. There was a double bed, tall boy dresser, small commode with a pitcher and basin on it, two nightstands, an overstuffed chair by the large picture window and a changing screen in the corner with a chamber pot behind it.
    “That’s a beautiful screen. One of Dorothy’s touches?”
    “Yes, but you can removed it if you like. If there’s anything you don’t like I’ll have it taken away.”
    Sarah