Read Online Blessing in Disguise by Lauraine Snelling - Free Book Online
Authors: Lauraine Snelling
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the window ledge. “You heard anything about problems on the lines from New York? My sister was supposed to be on this train, and she wasn’t.”
“None. Leastways nothing come through here. Anyting of any importance vould be passed on.”
“Just thought I’d check.” Hjelmer rubbed his chin, all the while shaking his head. “She’ll probably be here tomorrow with a wild tale of mix-ups. Sure wish she’d listened to me and all the others and learned some English.”
“Anyone traveling wit her?” Gunnar asked.
Again Hjelmer shook his head. Leave it to Augusta . As the eldest daughter, she’d always been extra sure of herself, as if she knew more than the younger ones. And since he’d been one of the two youngest, he, as well as Katy, had learned to stay out of her way when she got on a tear.
But he’d never wished anything bad on her. And right now all the traveling tales he’d heard, some of which he’d experienced himself, were coming home to roost. “Takk.” Hjelmer started to leave, then turned back. “Let me know if you hear anything, okay?”
“Ja, sure.” Gunnar went back to his machines, and Hjelmer headed for the boardinghouse. Dinner would be in full swing right about now, but he knew his mother needed every bit of good news he could dredge up.
“Thank the Lord for that,” Bridget said as soon as he finished telling her.
“We’ll see her on the train in the morning, you just watch.” Hjelmer hoped he sounded more confident than he felt. If she didn’t show and didn’t wire, he could be sure he would be the one sent to find her. Talk about a wild-goose chase.
“You want to eat?” Bridget gestured to the table set up in the kitchen for family and help to eat at after the guests were served.
“No thanks. Penny will be waiting for me. Don’t worry, Mor, all right?”
Bridget leveled a gaze at him that reminded him of when he was young. “Hjelmer, I don’t worry. I let God do that. After all, He never sleeps anyway.”
The twinkle in her faded blue eyes cheered him up again. So many times he had heard her say those very words. Surely she must believe them or she’d not say them. Surely.
Now, if only he could adopt her strong faith. The thought of what losing another daughter, this so soon after Katy, might do to his mother was more than he cared to contemplate. Or what it would do to all the rest of them either.
He waved to Goodie and Ilse as he left through the dining room and crossed back to the general store, which was owned by his wife, Penny, not by him, as so many people thought at first. The blacksmith shop next door was his, and he also managed the First Bank of Blessing, which occupied a room off the store. Sam Lincoln, a Negro he had met working the railroad, now did most of the blacksmithing, and Anner Valders most of the bank work, since Hjelmer had been elected to the Constitutional Congress for North Dakota. Lately he’d been gone much more than he’d been home.
“Dinner’s ready, soon as you wash up,” Penny said as he entered the back door. She turned from stirring something on the stove and gave him a smile that chased away his worries. He crossed the room to drop a kiss on the back of her neck on the way to the washbasin.
“While it smells mighty good in here, you smell even better.” He inhaled and kissed her again.
“Hjelmer, someone might come in.”
“Let them.” He ran a tender finger down the slight groove in the back of her slender neck.
“That tickles.”
He could hear that slightly breathless tenor of her voice, the one that made him feel as though he could conquer the world. She leaned back against him and turned her face up to meet his lips, her long lashes sweeping down over eyes of gray or blue, depending on her mood. Today they sparkled azure as high mountain lakes in the spring.
“You taste even better than you smell.” He whispered the words against lips that had gone soft beneath his. While she came barely up to his
“None. Leastways nothing come through here. Anyting of any importance vould be passed on.”
“Just thought I’d check.” Hjelmer rubbed his chin, all the while shaking his head. “She’ll probably be here tomorrow with a wild tale of mix-ups. Sure wish she’d listened to me and all the others and learned some English.”
“Anyone traveling wit her?” Gunnar asked.
Again Hjelmer shook his head. Leave it to Augusta . As the eldest daughter, she’d always been extra sure of herself, as if she knew more than the younger ones. And since he’d been one of the two youngest, he, as well as Katy, had learned to stay out of her way when she got on a tear.
But he’d never wished anything bad on her. And right now all the traveling tales he’d heard, some of which he’d experienced himself, were coming home to roost. “Takk.” Hjelmer started to leave, then turned back. “Let me know if you hear anything, okay?”
“Ja, sure.” Gunnar went back to his machines, and Hjelmer headed for the boardinghouse. Dinner would be in full swing right about now, but he knew his mother needed every bit of good news he could dredge up.
“Thank the Lord for that,” Bridget said as soon as he finished telling her.
“We’ll see her on the train in the morning, you just watch.” Hjelmer hoped he sounded more confident than he felt. If she didn’t show and didn’t wire, he could be sure he would be the one sent to find her. Talk about a wild-goose chase.
“You want to eat?” Bridget gestured to the table set up in the kitchen for family and help to eat at after the guests were served.
“No thanks. Penny will be waiting for me. Don’t worry, Mor, all right?”
Bridget leveled a gaze at him that reminded him of when he was young. “Hjelmer, I don’t worry. I let God do that. After all, He never sleeps anyway.”
The twinkle in her faded blue eyes cheered him up again. So many times he had heard her say those very words. Surely she must believe them or she’d not say them. Surely.
Now, if only he could adopt her strong faith. The thought of what losing another daughter, this so soon after Katy, might do to his mother was more than he cared to contemplate. Or what it would do to all the rest of them either.
He waved to Goodie and Ilse as he left through the dining room and crossed back to the general store, which was owned by his wife, Penny, not by him, as so many people thought at first. The blacksmith shop next door was his, and he also managed the First Bank of Blessing, which occupied a room off the store. Sam Lincoln, a Negro he had met working the railroad, now did most of the blacksmithing, and Anner Valders most of the bank work, since Hjelmer had been elected to the Constitutional Congress for North Dakota. Lately he’d been gone much more than he’d been home.
“Dinner’s ready, soon as you wash up,” Penny said as he entered the back door. She turned from stirring something on the stove and gave him a smile that chased away his worries. He crossed the room to drop a kiss on the back of her neck on the way to the washbasin.
“While it smells mighty good in here, you smell even better.” He inhaled and kissed her again.
“Hjelmer, someone might come in.”
“Let them.” He ran a tender finger down the slight groove in the back of her slender neck.
“That tickles.”
He could hear that slightly breathless tenor of her voice, the one that made him feel as though he could conquer the world. She leaned back against him and turned her face up to meet his lips, her long lashes sweeping down over eyes of gray or blue, depending on her mood. Today they sparkled azure as high mountain lakes in the spring.
“You taste even better than you smell.” He whispered the words against lips that had gone soft beneath his. While she came barely up to his
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