Wayward Mail Order Bride by Montana West

Author:Montana West
Language: eng
Format: epub
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Publisher: Global Grafx Press
Published: 2015-07-28T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

The next night, Katherine joined Gideon and Ida for dinner as the guests of the Brooks family on their farm. Ida had become quite close to Selma Brooks, who had heard marvelous things about Katherine and was eager to thank her for everything she’d done for the community.

But when Selma and her husband, Balthazar, first caught sight of Katherine at the front door, Katherine felt something change in Selma’s demeanor. Selma was a hard-faced woman, plain and thin-lipped; her small eyes peered over her long nose and her brown hair was pulled up in a tight bun.

In small talk, her husband Balthazar proved much more amicable, asking her if she minded sharing details of her harrowing adventure on the train.

“That subject is not suitable,” Selma said as she sat back in an Elizabethan claw-foot chair.

“You have a lovely home,” Katherine said to her. She leaned forward slightly in her own chair as the mood in the parlor became increasingly tense.

After a curt nod, Selma stood up and crossed to the kitchen, politely excusing herself to see to their meal. Ida and Horace followed to assist. Katherine asked, “May I please be of some help, Mrs. Brooks?”

“I think you’ve done quite enough, dear,” she said in a short tone that Katherine knew was meant to be insulting, even if that was lost on the men.

Selma did present a delicious meal: calves brains coated in breadcrumbs and soaked in butter, sprinkled with freshly ground sea salt and black pepper; freshly baked sourdough rolls, tangy and steamy with tough crusts, chewy and delicious; a hot potato soup that was creamy and warm as it slid down her throat, comforting and nutritious. Katherine took a bite of the lamb chop, tender and juicy and flavorful, perfectly accented by the homemade mint jam. The foods were so colorful and delicious and the salad so fresh and crisp, vastly superior to anything she’d ever eaten in New York, or even before, back in the old country.

“What a lovely meal,” Katherine said to Selma, who merely nodded in return. Combing Selma's consistent behavior with her initial reaction told Katherine everything she needed to know about Selma's feelings for her, though she could only begin to guess as to why.

And she knew she owed it to Gideon and to Ida not to press the matter. However offensive or rude or insulting Selma was going to be to an invited guest in her own home, Katherine would have to allow it and offer no rebuke nor retort.

Bal Brooks, as he insisted on being called, apparently noticed the tension and he seemed to know its origins. And he also seemed just as determined as Katherine was to avoid it in conversation. “That was quite a service we had the other day. I’ve never had service outside before. I must say, I found it rather refreshing.”

Selma glared at him, and then at Katherine, and finally down at her plate to cut a piece of lamb from her chop. “It’s easy to be taken with a change of pace, but a return to normalcy is always God’s will.

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