American Pie by Maggie Osborne Read Free Book Online Page A

Elizabeth Street tenement, the two young women took one look at each other, then fell on each other with hugs and kisses and tears of happiness. What Stefan had overlooked was their need for the companionship of someone their own age and sex; Each woman was lonely for family and for someone with whom to share the small secrets of life.
    He sat at the head of the table, almost forgotten, nodding, beaming and listening with pride and pleasure as the two young women established a bond that would be lifelong.
    Lucie refilled their glasses with lemonade she had made for the occasion. "I can't thank you enough for the geranium," she said, looking at the much needed splash of color on the window sill. "I only hope it will grow. There's isn't much direct sun."
    Greta's sweet smile lit the room. "I can't grow anything where I live, so I've claimed your windowsill for my garden. It's good to see the green."
    "Between us, we'll coax it to grow. But if the geranium fails, perhaps you will make us a bouquet of artificial flowers. Stefan says you make beautiful silk flowers for hats and gowns."
    A modest blush of pleasure warmed Greta's rounded cheeks. "I learned at the factory." She started to reach for the glass of lemonade, then changed her mind and dropped her hand to her lap beneath the table. "I asked Mr. Church if he would consider you as a replacement for Mrs. DeVriesMrs. DeVries has taken illbut the position had already been filled."
    It didn't surprise Lucie that Greta had tried to help her before they even met. One had only to spend five minutes in Greta Laskowski's company to know the young woman possessed a kind and generous heart. When Lucie apologized that saving her passage money had delayed Greta's marriage, Greta placed her hand on Lucie's cheek and gently hushed her. "I long to marry our Stefan, but Stefan and I have the rest of our lives to be together," she said. "It was important that you come to America."
    As the afternoon progressed they happily discovered a dozen points of compatibility. More than anything else, each yearned for a husband and hearth and fat healthy children under foot. Both enjoyed sewing, wished there were more time for it, and each missed working with the soil.
    "In good years the turnips were this big," Lucie said, making a circle with her hands and winking.
    Greta laughed, the sound reminding Lucie of tiny chiming bells. "No, no, this big." Forgetting herself she raised her hands to make a circle and Lucie saw the angry red rash she had tried to conceal. When Greta noticed the direction of Lucie's gaze, a flush of embarrassment tinted her cheeks. "It's so ugly, isn't it?" she murmured, dropping her hands to her lap.
    "What causes it?" Lucie asked, moving around the table to take Greta's hand in her own.
    "Several women at the factory have similar rashes. Mrs. Klepke believes something in the paper and silk causes it. Miss Iverson believes it's not the materials but the dyes. Mrs. Ryan blames the dust that comes off the dyes." She raised her gaze to Lucie. "Mr. Church complains that too many of us are ill too often, but he says it has nothing to do with the factory."
    "I'm not sure I believe that." The worried frown above Stefan's blackened eyes made him look as fierce as a cossack. He rubbed a hand over the bruise on his jaw. "You weren't sick before you started working at the factory."
    "I don't understand it," Greta admitted, rubbing the rash on her hand and wrist. "But I can't think that paper or silk or dust could hurt anyone. That's bunkum." She laughed at Lucie's raised eyebrows. "Bunkum is American for nonsense."
    "I make a cream that might soothe the roughness," Lucie said, rising. "It's my own recipe." She fetched a twist of newspaper from her shelf in the sleeping room, opened it, and gently rubbed the emollient over Greta's rash.
    "It feels better already," Greta assured her. "And the scent is lovely." The two women smiled at each other.
    Later they worked together to singe and pluck