Romancing Olive Read Online Free PDF

transferred,” Olive said. The children turned slowly around, eying all the goods in the store, while the man read her letter from her bank.
    “Yes, ma’am, that’ll do,” he said. “What can I get for you today?”
    Olive pulled a long list from her purse and the clerk hurried to keep up with her demands. Sugar, flour, salt, vanilla, paper, pencils and the list went on and on and the children’s mouths dropped.
    “And now sir, I need you to show me what you have in the way of fabrics,” Olive said.
    The storekeeper pulled a stool over to reach the bolts and Olive fingered each one as he laid them on the counter. John and Mary’s clothing was so worn and threadbare that she was surprised they were still in one piece. She unrolled heavy chambray and held it up to John’s body. She twisted and pulled the fabric and counted in her head. John stood, arms out, as Olive measured. Luke and Peg were quiet as they watched John being twirled, plaid fabrics across his arms, denims down his legs. Olive indicated the yardage on each bolt and picked two bright ginghams for Mary. She turned and smiled, done with the task, to the children and watched as Luke and Peg looked down at the floor.
    An arrow pierced Olive’s heart as she realized her blunder. “Double the order of denim and flannels, sir. Now, Peg, which cloth would suit you?”
    Peg stepped forward, eyes glistening, and peaked over the counter to touch the fabric. Her lips were pursed as her hand went back and forth between two flowered prints. She looked up to Olive and her lip trembled.
    “I don’t know,” she said.
    “Well, Peg, the dress you’re wearing is blue. What colors are your other dresses?” Olive asked.
    Peg yanked hard on Olive’s skirts and she bent down as the girl whispered in her ear. “This is the only one I got.”
    Olive’s face flushed and she turned to the clerk. “Sir, will you kindly tell me my balance so far?”
    The clerk tallied with a nubbed pencil and looked over his glasses. “Eighteen dollars and sixty three cents.”
    “Very reasonable and in that case sir, you will need to cut additional pieces of the gingham and six yards each of these flowered designs. Is that ribbon I see by the bolt, sir? Yes, the blue. I’ll take six yards of that as well.”
    Olive watched the children glance from one to the other, with questions in their faces. “Come along children,” she said and they followed her out of the store to watch the shopkeeper and a young boy fill the wagon to overflowing. Olive thanked the man and asked him to watch the wagon for an hour.
    “Where we going now?” Luke asked as he trailed along behind her down the sidewalk.
    “It will be a good hour ride home and I believe we’ll all be too hungry by that time. We’re going to Hannah’s for our supper,” Olive said.
    Luke’s eyes widened and his little jaw fell. “To a place that gives you vittles?”
    “Yes, Luke. A restaurant. Now again I must remind you all, to be mindful of your manners.”
    The three children sat still as stones once seated at Hannah’s. Olive ordered ham dinners for them all. Luke pushed his hair from his face and Olive watched Peg pick up the cue, straightening her dress. Olive heard the girl’s crossed ankles tap on the chair rung as they swung loosely. John refused to lift his head until Olive instructed them to unfold their napkins and place them on their laps. When the food arrived, Luke and Peg struggled with the silverware, but managed slowly to devour the round, pared potatoes, swimming in butter. John wasted no time with utensils while he guarded his plate.
    “John, please wipe your hands and pick up your fork,” Olive said. His head swung defiantly and his limp, filthy hair hung in his eyes. “John, pick up your fork and knife. Cut your meat like this,” she instructed.
    Olive could have sworn she heard a faint growl when she reached across to help John with his food. The utensils slipped from his hand, slimy from