Mail Order Mommy. Christine Johnson

knows I can sew. I made the dress and matching doll dress for Sadie’s birthday.”

      “That’s right. I forgot.” Pearl slowed her step for just a moment. “I’m sure he hasn’t forgotten, though. Sadie wouldn’t let him. She’s so excited that you’re going to take care of their new house. Trust me. Her approval will go a long way toward winning over Garrett’s heart.”

      Amanda wasn’t so sure. Garrett Decker was a practical man. Like Captain Elder, he would appreciate a woman who could cook, especially since he’d listed that as one of her duties.

      Pearl climbed the boardinghouse steps.

      Amanda followed her friend. “Don’t let me down.”

      Pearl smiled. “Don’t worry.”

      Amanda couldn’t help but worry. Her whole future depended on satisfying Garrett’s expectations.

      * * *

      With all that help, Garrett got the house ready one day and moved into it the next. On Monday, he set to work preparing to build the ship. Stockton had left plans with him. Garrett called the best millwrights to his side and laid out the plans on the worktable that he used to repair broken saws and machinery.

      “Mr. Stockton wants a new schooner.” Garrett explained each element of the plans, especially the length, breadth and draft of the vessel.

      Sawyer Evans squinted at the drawings. Even near the window, the light wasn’t good, thanks to the thick coating of sawdust on the panes. “He thinks we can build that? I’ve never built a ship before.”

      “I have.”

      That brought Garrett the men’s respect. After answering a dozen questions about how and when and where, he outlined his plan to build the launching ways and cradle near the dock that had been built for the glassworks that Roland had planned. First Garrett had to secure his brother’s permission. That shouldn’t be a problem. November’s fire had destroyed the stockpiled building materials and chased away the investors for the glassworks, setting the project back indefinitely.

      “The river is deep there,” Garrett explained. “There’s plenty of room for a broadside launch. We’ll build the hull on a launching cradle that can be pulled away with the steam tractor when the schooner is ready.”

      He sketched his ideas on a blank sheet of paper. The men had a lot more questions and a bit of skepticism. Garrett answered them all, and soon the group seemed less apprehensive.

      “With decent weather, we can launch it by early summer, after the first logging rush of the spring.”

      Sawyer whistled and shook his head. “That’ll be a stretch. How many of us is Stockton planning to employ?”

      Garrett eyed the men. Many workers had left already, now that the fall rush was tailing off. These would soon follow, returning in late winter for the spring rush. “Any who will stay.”

      That livened up the discussion and the desire to get started. By nightfall, they’d selected the timbers for the ways and keel blocks. There were enough stout posts on hand to begin driving them into the ground for the ways the next day.

      “The ground’s at about the right slope,” Garrett said at the workday’s end, “but we’ll need to clear away the brush and do a little leveling at the water’s edge. We can take the tractor up there tomorrow.”

      On the walk home, he mentally went through the checklist of what needed to be done next. He tromped up the inner staircase behind the store, barely noticing that the cookstove was cool. The apartment upstairs was dark as night and dead quiet.

      “What’s going on? Sadie? Isaac?”

      The echo in the room sent a chill down his spine until Garrett recalled that he and his children didn’t live here anymore. He growled with frustration at himself as he walked back outside. At least Roland hadn’t caught him going to the wrong house. He’d never hear the end of it.

      That’s what he got for thinking about work when he should be directing his energies toward his children. It was time to forget work and find out how Amanda had fared in her first day on the job.

      Garrett heard the giggling before he got to the front door. It felt strange walking here, and it had been even stranger using his old furniture last night when they’d moved in. Pearl had instructed the men from the mill to drag the stuff in Saturday. Even though Garrett was their supervisor, they wouldn’t go against Miss Pearl. Roland was going to have his hands full with that woman.

      Garrett had stared at the sofa and chairs last night, unwilling to sit on them. Sadie and Isaac had no trouble. They’d run around the house, exploring every nook and cranny. Sadie’s cat, Cocoa, had clawed its way into the beds and the chests of clothing that still needed to be unpacked. The wind picked up overnight, and it didn’t take long to find the holes he’d missed when trying to shore up the gaps Saturday. Tonight he’d attempt to caulk those he could find in the dark, if he could get the children to settle down.

      Judging from the shrieks and giggles coming from indoors, that wouldn’t be easy.

      He climbed the single step to the stoop and sniffed the air. He should smell supper. Hmm. The wind must be blowing from the wrong direction.

      Another giggle gave him an idea. Through the window he could see Sadie and Isaac bent over something in the middle of the table. He waited until all was quiet and then sprang through the door.

      “Surprise!”

      Sadie shrieked before realizing it was her pa. Cocoa scooted off the table and disappeared into the children’s bedroom. Sadie then ran to him, arms outstretched. Garrett scooped her up and she clung to his neck, laughing. “You scared me, Papa.”

      Though Isaac had yelped, he soon put on the stoic expression of a little boy trying to be a man. “Not me. I knew it was you all along.”

      “Sure you did.” Garrett ruffled his son’s hair. “You’re always in control.”

      He glanced down at the table, where a big, black beetle was crawling around. That’s what they’d been so entranced by? Or maybe Cocoa had been curious, and they were watching to see what the kitten would do next.

      “You brought a bug in the house?” he asked.

      “We found it crawling on the boardwalk,” Sadie said.

      “It came out ’cause of the sun,” Isaac informed him as he scooped up the bug. “Beetles and flies like it warm.”

      Garrett couldn’t deny that, but this biological experiment was bound to upset a grown woman. “You’ll have to put it back outside, son.”

      Isaac grudgingly obeyed, setting it just off the stoop before coming back inside.

      “You could have taken it farther from the house,” Garrett said.

      Isaac stuck out his chin. “Maybe he wants to be warm, too.”

      Garrett could only sigh. His son was growing an independent streak. At least his daughter still depended on him. Speaking of which, one housekeeper should have appeared by now. He looked around the room. Nothing was on the stove, though it was clearly lit. He sniffed. No smell of food. “Where is Miss Amanda?”

      “Miss Mana went to get supper,” Sadie informed him.

      “Shh! You weren’t supposed to tell.” Isaac’s frown etched deep lines in his young forehead. “It’s supposed to be a secret.”

      Sadie started to cry and pressed her face against Garrett’s shoulder.

      “There now,” he managed to say, though he was steaming mad. Amanda had left the children alone? The only reason he’d hired a housekeeper was so someone would be at home to watch Sadie and Isaac. First, Amanda had lost track of Sadie during the fire last month that had destroyed the school building. Now, she’d left both of them alone in a house with a lit stove and a black beetle.

      The