GI Brides by Grace Livingston Hill Read Free Book Online Page A

and right way as her mother had taught her.
God, oh God, why did You let all this come to me? Didn’t You want me to succeed, and graduate, and get that job, and take care of myself in a good, respectable way? So why did I have to go through this fire?
    Lexie arrived at the store just before it closed for the evening. She hurried in and began to look around. What could she get without ration stamps? Of course Elaine had said her ration books were in her trunk and would be there in the morning. Of course there were cereals, but Elaine never had liked them, and would her pestiferous children scorn them, too? If she had the opportunity she would like to teach them to like them, but that really wasn’t her present duty. She had hard problems to settle at once, and her immediate necessity was to get something they would all eat happily, and it wasn’t going to be easy, either. Of course there were eggs, and she purchased a supply of those. They kept milk at the store, and she got a couple of bottles. No butter or meat because they were both rationed. No sugar either. How would Elaine stand that? Well, she would have to settle that difficulty with the government, although she would probably act as if it were all her sister’s fault. Well, cookies and cakes! They would supply sweetness for the children. There were apples and pears and a few bananas, but there was no telling what the spoiled youngsters would condescend to eat.
    She bought a few potatoes, some spinach and celery. There were oranges, too. At the end, Lexie struggled home with a towering paper bundle in her arms, and a heavy paper bag with a handle in one hand, all full to overflowing. It was surprising how much she had been able to get with the little money she had. On her way home she was thinking how profoundly thankful she was that the nurse and the driver had not had to take
her
money. She wondered how much more Elaine had hidden in her purse. Well, there was no use thinking about that. They must have a talk that evening, or perhaps it would have to wait until morning if Elaine was not disposed to talk tonight.
    When she got back to the little white house she found she was very tired, and would have liked nothing better than just to sit down and cry. But that wouldn’t get anybody anywhere. There had to be some supper made right away. It was after half past six. And she heard Elaine calling her fretfully.
    She hurried upstairs and found Elaine sitting up angrily in bed, arguing with a trio of naughty children.
    “I know you are hungry,” she was saying angrily, as if the children were to blame for being hungry, “but your aunt didn’t have any supper ready for us, and what can we do?”
    “She’s
bad
! I
hate
her!” roared Gerald, glaring at her from the foot of the bed.
    “You certainly have been gone long enough to buy out the store,” Elaine snarled at her sister. “I hope you got us a good, hearty meal.”
    “I’m afraid not,” said Lexie. “The store was just about to close, and I had very little money, but I got all I could without ration books.”
    “Fiddlesticks. Couldn’t they trust you for the coupons? Didn’t you tell them we would give them the coupons tomorrow?”
    “They are not allowed to sell things without the coupons.”
    “That’s absurd when they’ve known you for years. They
know
you wouldn’t cheat them.”
    “Well, they can’t do that for anybody. Now, I’ll go down and get something for the children to eat, and then you can tell me what you would like.”
    “Well, I can tell you now. I want a cup of decent coffee and a good, tender, juicy beefsteak.”
    “But, my dear, we can’t get beefsteak or coffee without coupons, or any more butter!”
    The little boy began to howl.
    “I want some butter!” he protested. “I want some bread and a lot of butter!”
    “There isn’t any tonight, Gerald. But maybe I can find some jam down in the cellar. Won’t that do?” asked Lexie brightly.
    “No, it
won’t
,”