Roberta: Bride of Wisconsin (American Mail-Order Bride 30) (9 page)

"Just thought we might like this bed better than mine." He unbuttoned his shirt, pushing it off his shoulders.

"You're crazy. I'll meet you in your room. The bed there is bigger."

He continued undressing. "This one will force us to be closer to each other, he said, waggling his eyebrows at her.

"Does that matter?"

He nodded. "Matters to me!"

*****

Bobbie was finishing up her third shirt the following day when there was a knock at the door. "May I help you?" she asked the short woman with dark hair who stood before her.

"I want to help you," the woman said. "You see, I'm Erna's sister, Dagmar, and I understand you don't know how to cook good German food. Why don't I teach you?"

Bobbie frowned. "How do you know what I can or can't cook?"

"Jakob was complaining to my
mutter
yesterday that you cook strange things he and the boys have never seen before. He misses good German food like Erna and his
mutter
used to make. I will show you." She didn't wait for an invitation, she simply pushed the door wider and walked into the house.

"Are the canned goods still stored in the basement?" she asked, walking straight through to the kitchen like she owned the place. She didn't wait for a response, immediately heading down the stairs. "I was supposed to marry Jakob, you know. After Erna died, he was supposed to marry me."

"Why do you think that?" Bobbie asked, wondering what the woman was looking for.

"Because that's what Erna would have wanted. Why else?" She looked through the shelves of canned goods. "Where's the sauerkraut?"

Bobbie shrugged. "We don't have any to my knowledge."

"You didn't make sauerkraut as soon as you arrived? That should have been the first thing you did! No good German household is without a fresh supply of sauerkraut in the autumn. Shame on you!"

Bobbie was ready to strangle the other woman, and they hadn't been together for more than ten minutes. "What is sauerkraut anyway?"

The woman turned to her in shock. "You don't even know what sauerkraut is? Are you English or something?"

"Why yes, I am. My family is one of the oldest families in this country."

Dagmar shook her head as if disgusted. "Sauerkraut is fermented cabbage. You must make it every fall. No good German man likes to eat without sauerkraut." She sighed heavily. "I see we have much work to do. I will teach you to make
schupfnudeln
today."

Bobbie made a face. "I can't even say that. What is it?"

"It's a type of German dumpling. Goes perfectly with sauerkraut. You can make it as a side dish, though. You do have flour, I hope?"

"Of course, I have flour. Look, I'm going to cook what I know to cook. I don't need you here telling me I do everything wrong."

"I never said you do everything wrong. I said you don't know how to cook German foods, and that's obviously true, or Jakob wouldn't have felt the need to complain to
Mutter
about your cooking, now would he?"

She trudged back up the stairs, obviously expecting Bobbie to just follow her meekly. When they got to the kitchen though, Bobbie took a deep breath to calm herself before saying, "I'll thank you to get out of my house. I do not need your help cooking and I find your attitude condescending. If I thought you really wanted to help me, it would be different, but that is obviously not the case. Please go."

"How dare you speak to me this way? No, I will not go. It is my duty to my sister to teach you to cook the way she would have wanted her family to eat. The boys need to know how to eat the right things for their German heritage. And Jakob could never be satisfied without German food. Why, I hear you don't even sleep in the same room with him. You will never be good enough for a real German man like Jakob."

Bobbie had enough of the other woman. She reached out and grabbed her by the upper arm. The girl was stout, but Bobbie was tall and strong from years of hard work. She dragged the woman to her front door, opened it, and pushed her out, not even caring when she landed on her backside in the snow. "Please don't bother yourself to come back. I don't want you here."

"Jakob will hear about this!" the woman screeched.

"I'm sure he will. I'll tell him myself." She shut the door, locking it in case the other woman thought she had a right to come in on her own.

She leaned against the door, brushing away the tears that she had only allowed to fall since the older woman was no longer in her sight. Why Jakob had thought it was all right to complain about her cooking to his former in-laws she didn't know. She did know she would not put up with Erna's sister interfering with her life and her family.

She sat down at the sewing machine and quickly stitched up all five shirts before going to the kitchen to bake the boys their after-school snack.

She started a pot roast in the oven, wondering what perfect Erna would have cooked. She slammed the pot for the potatoes onto the stove, not noticing that the boys were standing there watching her. "That woman had better never come to this house again, because I will personally wring her ugly neck!"

"Frog-
mutter
? Are you all right?" Lukas asked, his voice full of concern.

"Yes, I'm fine, and stop calling me by that ridiculous name. I'm no more a frog than you are." She waved her hand at the table. "Sit down and eat your snacks."

She peeled the potatoes with a vengeance, taking off much more of the meat of the potato than she should have. She was wasting food with her careless ways, and she knew it wasn't right. It certainly wasn't something she usually did. She put the potatoes on to boil and turned around, noticing that the snack had disappeared, but so had the boys. Obviously they'd been afraid to stay in the kitchen with her. They were smart.

Jakob smiled as he opened the front door an hour earlier than usual, thrilled he'd get to surprise his sweet wife. He walked into the kitchen and pulled her to him, hugging her tightly.

"Don't you touch me, Jakob Muller. You went to Erna's family and told them that I cook strange things, and I can't cook German foods. That witch of a sister of hers came here, and she accused me of being a bad mother to the boys. She was going to show me how to cook German food, and insulted me for not knowing to make sauerkraut as soon as I arrived in Wisconsin. I will not deal with the woman. She is never welcome back here. I don't care if you do get mad at me for pushing her out of the house into the snow. Yes, she landed on her bottom, but she deserved it!"

Jakob started laughing at that. "You pushed Dagmar out of the house into the snow? And she landed on her bottom?" He leaned against the counter he was laughing so hard. "What did the witch say to that?"

"Witch? You don't like her?" All at once, Bobbie was confused.

"Maybe I should tell you the whole story." Jakob sat at the table, wiping the tears from his eyes that laughter had brought. "Dagmar is two years younger than Erna, and she saw me, and decided she was in love with me. She went home and told Erna I had asked to court her." He frowned at that. "Erna believed her, and thought I wanted to court her thirteen year old sister, which was ridiculous of course. I wanted to court, Erna, who was much closer to my age."

Bobbie slammed the pot onto the stove and waited for the water to boil. "And?"

"Well, Erna came to my house the next day and she told me she would have her brothers all grab me and throw me into the lake if I didn't stop my advances toward Dagmar. I told her there and then, I'd never had any intentions toward Dagmar, she was the one I wanted to court. I asked her to marry me right then and there."

"Why?"

"Because she showed fire, something Dagmar has never shown, unless she was being mean to someone. She was awful to Erna. Their parents would make her go with us when I took her out, and she would constantly try to get between us. She once tried to make it look like she was kissing me, so Erna would see it. The woman is a vile snake-in-the-grass. That's why I would never ever consider marrying her."

"But...why did you go to her parents and say you hated what I cook then? Did you not know she would come here and help me learn to cook like she cooks?"

"I never said that. Her
mutter
asked me how your cooking is, and I said it's different, but the boys and I enjoy it. I said you don't cook German foods, but we're learning to like new things. That's all I said."

Bobbie took a deep breath, knowing she needed to apologize. "I'm sorry. She came here, and forced her way into the house, went to the basement and started berating me for not having any sauerkraut. She said no good German family ever went without sauerkraut, and I should have started cooking it as soon as I got here to last the whole year."

He shook his head. "Can I tell you a secret?"

She nodded, wondering what on earth he was going to say. "Sure."

"I hate sauerkraut. I always have. Erna insisted to be good Germans we had to eat it regularly, and she always served it, and I would eat it, but I hated every single bite. After she died, I went to the basement and threw out all of the sauerkraut. I told the boys it reminded me of their mother, but the truth was, I was overjoyed not to have to eat it anymore."

Bobbie laughed. "She made me feel like the worst cook alive, and I already feel inept at cooking. Sarah lived with me the whole time we worked together, but I had never cooked anything in my life before then. You see, we had a cook growing up. My mother didn't know how to cook. I never knew that people actually cooked for themselves until we were on our own, and then we barely made do. Mother learned to cook eggs. Scrambled eggs. And beans. We lived on beans and scrambled eggs for years. When I moved out on my own, I insisted on taking my turn in the kitchen. There were four of us, so I cooked every four days, and Sarah would stand over me every night, until I learned to cook just right. Even though I'm sure it would have been easier for her to do it herself."

"You are a wonderful cook, Bobbie. I have no complaints about anything you've made."

"Why do the boys act like their mother wouldn't like for me to make them snacks after school?"

He laughed. "Erna wouldn't care if someone made them snacks after school. The truth was Erna didn't do extra things. She did what was required. We all had clothes to wear, but she didn't make extra. We all had food to eat at mealtime, but she didn't make desserts or snacks. She had no desire to do more than was required."

Bobbie wrinkled her nose. "What did she do all day then?"

"She gossiped. She would talk to all her friends and her sisters and her sisters-in-law. I thought that's what she was supposed to do. She'd go from house to house getting all the latest gossip, sitting and drinking coffee, and eating whatever sweets they'd made. Occasionally she'd stay in, but she didn't want people to find her at home, because it was more work if she had to play hostess and not someone else." He shook his head. "I never thought I'd say it, but Erna was lazy. She wasn't a worker. Not like you are."

"Really? And here I thought she was perfect!"

He laughed. "She was far from perfect, but she was a good wife to me, and a good
mutter
to the boys. We miss her."

"I can understand that. I really am not trying to take her place."

"You couldn't. You are much different than she was. She fawned over the boys. She didn't make them special snacks, but she spent time with them. She talked to them. She read to them. She was their mother. You take care of them, but you don't do the special things that they miss about her. I'm not criticizing you, of course. You're different women. They love the snacks and the things you cook. Each one of you did different things for them, and they view you both very differently."

"Do you think Lukas will ever stop calling me Frog-
mutter
?"

He laughed. "He will if I tell him to, but I think he thinks it's his special name for you. He has a lot of respect for you."

She sighed. "I guess I'll be Frog-
mutter
forever then."

"Does it bother you? I will tell him to stop if it does."

"Not if he's not saying it insultingly. I'm just never certain."

"He's not. Are we all right now? May I greet my wife after a long day with a kiss?"

She nodded. "Yes, come and kiss me. Just tell me you'll never let Dagmar into our house again!"

"Oh, you know I won't!" He stood and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her softly. "I'm sorry she came by. She's really not someone I ever would have forced you to talk to if I could have kept her from you."

"I feel better just knowing that." Bobbie grinned, realizing she was wicked as she did it. "You should have seen her face when I pushed her out the door and she landed on her bottom in the snow." She laughed, realizing just then how funny it really was. "She stayed there in the snow, yelling at me, and telling me that you'd hear about it."

He grinned. "And what did you say to that?"

"I told her I'd be telling you about it myself! Oh, I don't like her. Are you certain our sweet boys are related to that thing?"

He nodded. "She's a spinster, so I feel a bit sorry for her. She never could find a husband."

"Well, I can certainly see why! If she shows that cheery disposition to every man she meets, I'm surprised no one has killed her."

"You have a point. Maybe we can find her a husband. Someone who lives far far away. Who likes sauerkraut!"

She laughed. "I could send a letter to Elizabeth Miller and see if she had any mail-order husbands to send."

"Oh, that's a wonderful idea. We could be rid of her forever." He kissed her forehead. "I'm glad you were the bride that came to me. You were the opposite of what I wanted, but exactly what I needed."

She sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. "I'm glad too." She turned back to the stove and saw that her potatoes were boiling so she moved them away from the highest heat at the center of the stove. "I need to make the gravy for the potatoes. You should go find something manly to do."

"Manly? Like sit here and watch you cook? You could bring me a glass of cold Wisconsin milk while I sit here."

She frowned at him. "You could get yourself a glass of cold Wisconsin milk from the ice box while I stand here and make gravy for your supper." She waved her hand toward the ice box. "I'm never going to be one of those wives who dotes on you and waits on you. I'm not here to see to your every whim."

He groaned. "Why did I marry you again?"

She shrugged. "Good taste, I guess."

Lukas poked his head around the corner, just a bit. "Are you still angry, Frog-
mutter
?"

"No, I'm not angry. It's safe to come out."

Lukas called up the stairs. "It's safe!"

"What do you need?" she asked, eyeing the boy skeptically.

Lukas was still wearing his coat, which she found quite odd. He reached his hand into one pocket and pulled out a small puppy. "He looked sickly. We found him in the snow. We want to keep him and make him healthy. Can we? Please?"

Bobbie considered. "He's so tiny. We'd have to find a way to get him to eat, and he'd have to be fed milk. Probably every few hours."

"We would take turns getting up during the night, and you could feed him during the day. Please,
Mutter
. We want him."

Bobbie's heart softened as soon as he called her
Mutter
and forgot to say frog. "Yes, you may keep him. I'll feed him while you're at school. I suggest we get a small piece of cloth, maybe a piece of the flannel I've been sewing, and we'll dip it in milk. Maybe he'll drink from that."

Konrad nodded, running to the spare room where her sewing machine was set up. He came back with a piece of the flannel scrap. Bobbie carefully dipped the flannel in milk, and put it to the puppy's mouth. He seemed excited for a moment, but stopped sucking almost immediately.

"I wish they made baby bottles for animals," she said with a frown. "A regular size nipple would be too big for him."

Jakob watched with a frown. "I'm not sure there's any point. He's going to die."

Lukas had huge fat tears drifting down his face. "You won't let him die, will you,
Mutter
?"

Bobbie bit her lip. "I'll do my best, but I'm not sure I can keep him alive. I wonder if any of the neighbors have cats that have just had babies. I grew up on a huge estate in Massachusetts, and one of our dogs died when she had puppies. We had a cat who was nursing kittens, and she took in the puppies, as if they were her babies."

"There's a cat I pet every day on my way home from school. I think she has kittens."

"Does she belong to anyone?" she asked, imagining taking in a cat, a litter of kittens, and a puppy. She'd do it if she had to.

"I don't know!"

She looked at Jakob. "Go ahead and fix your plate. I'm going to go see if we can find a mama cat to feed the puppy." She rushed from the room, getting her coat, Lukas right behind her. She took the puppy carefully, and tucked him into her pocket.

She saw Jakob and Konrad standing there watching her. "You really want to do this?" Jakob asked.

She took Jakob's arm and pulled him aside, whispering softly to him. "It's important to him. I'm going to help him. No matter what it takes."

He sighed. "I can't let you go alone."

The four of them bundled up. The snow hadn't melted throughout the day, and they had a good reflection from the moon. It was lit up well. "Lead the way, Lukas."

Lukas led them through the quiet streets, stopping after walking for about ten minutes. "This is where we see her every day. Right, Konrad?"

"Right."

Lukas called for her. "Here kitty. Here kitty!"

They heard a meow from the bushes, and the cat came over, rubbing against Lukas's legs.

Bobbie leaned over to pet her, ignoring Jakob's warnings to be careful. "Oh, she's definitely nursing."

The cat cried, and walked toward the bushes where she'd been. Bobbie followed her, looking, and what she saw made her gasp. The kittens had frozen, not one was alive.

She backed away, stroking the cat's head and pulling out the tiny puppy to show him to the cat. Immediately the cat lay on her side, and Bobbie put the puppy next to her. It took only a moment for him to latch on and start nursing.

"We have our solution. It looks like we'll be getting a cat and a puppy today."

Jakob shook his head. "They'll be a lot of work."

"Much less work than just the puppy would be. The cat will care for him like he's her own." She looked down at the pair, smiling as the puppy nursed happily while the cat watched him. "We'll let him eat for a minute or two, and then we'll take them home with us."

Lukas flew at her, almost knocking her over with his hug. "Thank you,
Mutter
! Thank you so much!"

She closed her arms around him, squeezing him tightly. "We'll do it together." She blinked back the tears that wanted to fall at his exuberance.

Jakob watched them with a grin. He was happy to see Lukas finally warm up to Bobbie. She was a good fit for his family. Watching her with his son made him realize he'd been stupid to ever try to keep her at arm's length. He loved her, and he wanted to find just the right way to show her.

Finally she thought the puppy had eaten enough, and she scooped him up and put him back in her pocket. The cat sniffed at her pocket, and Lukas giggled. "Should I carry her?"