Mail Order Motherhood (Brides of Beckham Book 8) by Kirsten Osbourne Read Free Book Online Page A

flour, but it would work for now.
    During dinner that evening, she brought up her plan of picking berries that evening and apples the following day.  Albert shook his head.  “We’ll get the apples tonight while Clarence and I can help, and tomorrow you four can get the berries.  It doesn’t make sense for you to be climbing on a ladder when Clarence and I can do it tonight.”
    So they soaked the dinner dishes instead of washing them right away, wanting to save on daylight.  The six of them carried three burlap bags and a ladder to the apple tree, and Albert held the ladder while Clarence climbed it.  They were able to fill all three bags with apples.  Clara was delighted.  “This will make our winter so much tastier!”
    On the way back, she spotted some wild pumpkin in the dim light of the setting sun.  There were only three of them, so she took one that she carried under one arm while she carried a burlap bag over the other.  Both Gertie and Robert were given the job of carrying a pumpkin as well. 
    By the time they reached the house, they all had sore arms.  Clara followed Albert into the barn as he put the ladder away.  “The girls are tired.  They’ve worked all day.  I’m going to let them go to bed, and I’ll see to the dishes myself.”
    Albert shook his head.  “No.  They need to know that no matter how tired you are, you don’t go to bed without finishing all of your responsibilities.”
    She wanted to argue with him, but she knew he was right.  The children did need to learn to be more responsible.  “All right.”  She hated asking the girls to do it, but she would, because she wanted to raise the best girls she could.
    They walked up to the house and saw that the girls already had the job half done.  There were bags full of apples leaning against the walls in the kitchen while the pumpkins sat on the floor.  She had a lot of work ahead of her to get everything canned before it went bad, and she knew she wasn’t going to pass up the chance for berries the next day.  Blackberries had always been her favorite, and she was going to have lots of blackberry pies through the winter.  The patch had been a big one, and she was going to take full advantage.  It was a good way to teach the girls to work while the sun shined as well. 
    It was obvious to her that Albert felt very strongly about instilling a strong work ethic in all four of their children, and with that as his philosophy, she was going to make sure she worked hard to do the same with them.
    Her new husband may not want to be married to her, but she knew that he would be a good father to her children, and a good provider for them all, so she couldn’t complain.  He seemed to be a good man, but he was very obviously still a sad one over the death of his first wife.
    She still missed Nathan every day, but she’d had two years of back-breaking work to distance herself from his horrible death.  He’d been out working the fields one day and hadn’t come home.  She’d found him there on the ground.  The doctor had said his heart had just given out.  He’d been such a young man, it had seemed ridiculous to her that he could die that way, but she couldn’t argue. 
    After she got the children to bed, she went back down the stairs, wondering if Albert would be willing to talk to her.  She did miss adult conversation a great deal.  She poured herself a glass of milk, and sat at the table across from him.  “Is there anything in particular you want me to do first?  Around the house I mean?”
    He gave her a blank look and shrugged.  “I don’t even know what needs to be done.  I tried to keep everything up, but I’ve never kept house in my life.  I’ve never cooked a meal that didn’t end up in the trash either.”
    “You’ve done a good job with the house.  Better than I did with the farm I tried to run.”  She smiled at him to let him know she understood.  “I’m planning on going out and picking the