“It would. I just don’t really want to take on another employee at the moment. I don’t have time to train someone.” Mortimer didn’t mind training his wife, but he wanted to have as much free time as he could. Getting to know her was a lot more fun than he’d dreamed it would be.
“Sounds simple enough. Train me tomorrow, and I’ll take John’s place in the store starting on Monday. He can be free for deliveries.” Toria couldn’t believe they hadn’t mentioned it earlier. Helping out would make her feel valued.
“What about your lunch idea?” Mortimer asked.
“Oh, true.” She frowned for a moment. “Here’s what we’ll do. I’ll spend Monday morning doing the lunches, and Monday afternoon in the store. Then you still only need to deliver on Monday. Most days, I’ll probably want to be in the store early in the day, but there’s no need on the days I’m fixing lunch.”
Mortimer and John exchanged a look. “You won’t feel like we’re trying to take advantage of you?” Mortimer asked.
“How is that taking advantage of me? I came here fully expecting to help out in the store as much as possible. I love the idea of meeting everyone in town, and what better way is there to do that than working in the store.” Toria was practically bouncing up and down in her seat, she was so excited to be able to help. It would be the perfect introduction to town.
John nodded. “If Dad’s all right with it, then I think it’s a brilliant idea. I would love to be able to do my real job and not constantly have to help out.”
“You’re still going to have to help out in the store some,” Mortimer told him, “but it sounds like most of your time can be spent on your deliveries. I’m sure we’ll have some very happy customers.”
“I’m sure we will. So many of the ranchers in the area would rather I delivered to them.”
After they’d finished supper, John and Mortimer again played checkers while Toria did the dishes. She would have been happy to play, but she didn’t begrudge them the time she spent cleaning. She enjoyed cleaning. Anything that kept her hands busy and her mind occupied was enjoyable to her. She’d never been one of those women who could sit around gossiping, because she felt like she was wasting time.
Once John had left for the night, Mortimer and Toria spent some time together, cozied up on the sofa. She kept her hands busy with knitting another pair of socks. “Who is this pair for?”
She shrugged. “Does John need socks? Do you need some ready-made socks to sell in the mercantile? I’m not worried about what will happen to them when I’m done, as long as my hands are busy now.”
He shook his head. “If John doesn’t need them, I’ll sell them. I’ve worn mine, and they’re very well made. Did I thank you for spending your time on the train making me socks?”
She grinned. “I didn’t spend all my train time on socks. I also made myself the apron I’ve been wearing, and I helped a couple of women with their young babies.” She bit her lip, needing to broach a subject that she wasn’t sure he’d like. “How would you feel about more children? I’m not sure I can have them, but there’s no reason to think that I can’t.”
He tilted his head to one side, thinking about it. “I truly hadn’t considered I would have more children of my own. I’m not sure why. I thought I could possibly be asked to parent the children my wife brought with her, but…more of my own wasn’t a thought.” He was sure that it would help her to have children, so she could be busier…and while that wouldn’t bother him, he didn’t like the idea of losing her at the mercantile, either. “Why don’t we see what happens when the time comes?”
“All right.” She had always enjoyed being around children, but she’d never had a driving need for some of her own. Not like some women had. Her sister-in-law had fourteen children, and she’d wept copiously when the doctor had told her that she was past her child-bearing years. She’d wanted so many more.
“I will say I like the way you are with John. I know he’s not yours, and not technically a child anymore, but you handle him very well. I was worried that whoever came here to marry me would have trouble with him, but he seems to like you a great deal more than I thought he would like anyone.”
“I like him too. I’m sure that helps.”
“I’m sure it does. Thanks for welcoming him into your life so readily. He mentioned today that he’s enjoying being with us more than he likes the saloon. How would you react if he moved back in with us?”
“That wouldn’t bother me at all. He’s only nineteen. I’m sure he has a lot more growing up to do before he’s ready to be on his own.”
Mortimer laughed. “When I was nineteen, I was married and digging for silver while my wife waited for me back east.” She was right, though. John was younger at nineteen than he’d been.
“That was a different time! I don’t think people need to marry so young anymore. Either way, though, I’m happy if he comes back or if he goes. If he’s here, I’ll have more to do, and I think you’ve already gathered my biggest fault.”
“Your biggest fault?” So far, he hadn’t noticed any faults, except that she didn’t look like his ex-wife, and truly, he couldn’t call that a fault in good conscience.
“I can’t stand not being busy. I take on triple the work I should, because idle time is almost frightening for me. I’ve always believed that idle hands were the devil’s playground—the only time I’ve sat idle in my life was when I was too sick to work. I still went back to work a couple of days before I should have.”
“I’m not sure if I consider that a fault or a positive trait of yours.”
“It could go either way, I think.”
“How old were you when you moved out of your parents’ home and into the boarding house?”
She sighed. “Sixteen. My parents were killed in a boating accident when I was sixteen, and though my brother invited me to live with him, I knew I would be better off if I just found a job and supported myself. There were times when they barely had enough food for their children, and taking in an extra mouth to feed would have paupered them.”
“I can understand that. Sixteen seems so young for a lady to be on her own, though.”
She turned to him, her fingers stopping. “And it would be different for a man?”
He shrugged, not realizing she was at all offended by his words. “In some ways. By sixteen, most boys are big enough to take care of themselves. They’re ready for hard physical labor. Ladies aren’t.”
“I suppose that’s true. My niece moved out on her own at eighteen and took over a matchmaking agency. She now has a reputation as the best matchmaker in all of Massachusetts.”
“What made her decide to be a matchmaker?” he asked. “That doesn’t seem like a job for an unmarried young lady.”
“She sort of fell into the job, but she realized she had a knack for it right off. There was a matchmaker who was marrying, and she was going to let the agency close. Elizabeth hated the idea of no one in town filling the position, so she took over. She and Harriett—the former matchmaker—still keep in touch.”