Meant To Be by Ruth Ann Nordin

Author:Ruth Ann Nordin
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781452377773
Publisher: Ruth Ann Nordin

***

Two weeks later, Esther threw a lid on top of the flames of a burning skillet. Miriam rushed to the cupboard and grabbed a container of baking soda. Opening the lid, she threw the baking soda at the curtains that had caught fire as well. Once the small grease fire was out, Esther placed her hand over her heart and stumbled to the kitchen chair. She sat down and gasped for air.

Megan, too stunned to speak, simply stood to the side of the cookstove, holding the spatula tightly in her hand.

Shooting a sympathetic look at Megan, Miriam grabbed a cup of water and gave it to Esther to drink.

Esther gulped the water and set the cup on the table, her hands trembling. “I give up. I can’t do it.”

Miriam hurried to Megan and took the spatula and set it in the sink. “Come on. Sit.”

“That’s a good idea. Get her far away from the cookstove,” Esther agreed, waving them over.

Megan finally found her voice. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to start another fire.” She sat across from Esther and placed her hands in her lap. She never knew fire could spread so fast. “I tried to watch the skillet this time.”

“It’s not your fault,” Esther quickly assured her. “You aren’t meant to cook. It’s not what God wants, and I’m tired of fighting Him. I should have known the night you made us sick from your first meal that it wasn’t going to work out. I’m not going to be bullheaded anymore. Ted will have to cook for now on. We just won’t tell anyone.”

“Yes, that’s probably best.”

Ted actually seemed to enjoy it, and he was good. Despite Megan’s failures, she thought it was sweet that Esther had spent a good two weeks faithfully coming out to instruct her. Megan tried to succeed, but no matter what she did, something went wrong.

“At least you can do laundry and clean the house,” Miriam said, smiling in her usual cheerful fashion.

Megan nodded.

Esther took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “We’ll just have to convince Ted that you can do other things to be a good wife. Cleaning and laundry are admirable.” She tapped her fingers on the table. “I know! We’ll teach you how to sew!”

“Sew?” Megan dumbly asked. The woman couldn’t be serious. She’d never even sewed a button on a shirt, let alone sew clothes.

“That could be your hidden talent.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Have you tried it?”

“No.”

Miriam’s jaw dropped. “You’ve never sewn anything?”

“I haven’t had a need to,” Megan answered, wondering why it was such a big deal. Did all women in 1898 have to make clothes? Weren’t there enough clothes in the mercantile to relieve women of that burden? Really, there seemed to be enough catalogues in that place for people to order clothes.

“Buying clothes can get expensive,” Miriam softly stated.

“Just what exactly did your parents do?” Esther asked, leaning forward in interest.

Megan shrugged. “My mother was a teacher and my father was a…” She paused and studied their curious expressions.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.