When Tomorrow Comes Read Online Free PDF Page A

one. It would be good to do something different. To stir about instead of being confined with not much to do day after day.
    From then on their days were taken with plans and preparations for their departure. It seemed to Christine that Elizabeth spent an unreasonable amount of time baking and cooking and laying in store all manner of things for Wynn to eat while on his own. “Mama, he will never be able to eat his way through all of this,” she chided from time to time, but her words did nothing to slow Elizabeth down. More and more tins and pails and containers were carried out to the “back kitchen,” as Elizabeth called the small room behind the cabin. In winter months everything placed in the back kitchen was frozen solid in a matter of minutes. It was perfect for storing items that needed freezing, but no good at all for use as simply a cold room. Now Elizabeth prepared meals by portion sizes and placed them in containers where warmth-seeking mice or marauding squirrels could not get to them. Wynn had only to draw one out, thaw it, and heat it for dinner. Everything was labeled with careful instructions. “Remove from back kitchen three hours before needed.” Or, “Heat in open kettle until simmering,” or “Be sure to remove wrapping before placing in hot oven.”
    Christine often smiled, but she said nothing. She knew her mother had to be assured that her father would be well fed in her absence.
    At long last the cooking and baking were finished, and Elizabeth turned her attention to the journey. “Do you think I should wear my gray suit or the navy?”
    “On the train?”
    “Oh no. I’ll wear the brown on the train. To the wedding?”
    “You won’t get a new one?”
    “Me? My, no. I hadn’t even thought of that. There is nothing wrong with the gray—or the navy. Either would be perfectly suitable.”
    Christine nodded. Either would be suitable.
    “Why don’t you take them both along and then decide once you’re in Calgary,” she suggested.
    “But I hate to pack both.”
    “You may need both.”
    “Whatever for?”
    “Well—if we go out on occasion. To dinner—or a concert. Then there is church each Sunday. Do you want to have just one thing to wear the entire time?”
    “No. No, I guess not. But it does seem rather extravagant to take two for such a short time.”
    It was a reminder to Christine of how long it had been since her mother had visited the city.
    “What else do you plan to take?” she asked instead of arguing further.
    “My black skirt and the navy stripe and a mix of blouses and my cardigan. Then I thought I would take my crepe dress. My newer one.”
    Christine nodded. Elizabeth’s “newer” crepe was already four years old.
    “That sounds fine,” she responded. “But I do think you might wish to have both suits.”
    “I suppose you’re right.” Elizabeth still sounded reluctant.
    The day finally arrived when they were going to Edmonton to catch the southbound train. Christine had been very aware that her mother’s eyes had been on the skies for the past days. Like Christine herself, she knew what another winter storm could easily do to their plans. But though an occasional snowfall came their way, it was never enough to delay their departure. The wind did not blow hard enough to send more than shivering snow mists scurrying about the yard.
    Elizabeth’s last moments at home were spent informing Wynn of where to find what and how to cope with the contrary kitchen stove. “The oven gauge does not work properly,” she informed him. “So don’t count on it. It must register five hundred degrees if you wish the heat to be at three-fifty.”
    “I’ll manage just fine,” Wynn patiently assured her once more. “There’s enough food to last me into the summer, and I thank you for each delicious morsel. By the time that wedding comes, I won’t be able to get into my dress uniform.”
    “Pawsh,” retorted Elizabeth. Wynn had never gained a pound in all their