Love's Abiding Joy (Love Comes Softly #4)(19)

Missie gestured toward a long, homemade trestle table which easily seated eight. "Willie has promised me some dining room chairs an' a real table this fall." Though the chairs were comfortable enough, they were not matched or of good quality. The white-stuccoed walls were quite bare, and inexpensive curtains hung at the windows. A simple cabinet against the far wall held the good dishes that Marty had insisted Missie take west. Somehow the simple, homey room put Marty's heart at ease; the differences now between them might not be so great after all.

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"Oh, Missie, I'm so proud of you and so happy for you!" she exclaimed with a quick hug. Clark's approving grin echoed that sentiment.

The bedrooms were all big and roomy, but, again, the furnishings here were simple and the curtains and spreads and the rugs on the floor were all homemade. Marty recognized many things that she had helped to fashion.

Missie led them to the other wing, the kitchen area of the house. Marty was surprised when Missie stopped at the door and gave a brief rap, then walked in. A wiry little Chinese man was busily engaged in preparations for the evening meal. Marty had not known that Missie had a cook.

"Wong," said Missie, "this is my pa, my mama."

The Chinese man favored them with a big grin and bobbed his head up and down as he acknowledged the introductions.

"How'do, how'do," he said over and over. "Wong pleased with pleasure. How'do, how'do."

Clark and Marty both answered with smiles.

"Wong is trying hard to learn our difficult English," Missie explained while Wong beamed at them. "He has done very well in a short time. He does not need to learn how to cook. He knew all about cookin' when he came. Every rancher hereabouts envies us and hopes for an invitation often to eat his delicious food."

Wong bobbed his head again with pleasure and led them around the large kitchen. Marty had never seen so much working room. The stove was big, too, and Wong proudly lifted the covers from several steaming kettles, all sending forth delicious odors.

Missie led her parents down a hall and toward a back door. "I had me no idea thet ya had a cook. My, my," remarked Marty.

"Wong has not been with us for long," Missie answered. "At first, I thought that Willie was being silly to suggest it, but I wonder now why I even tried to fight it. Wong is so much help. He helps with the laundry, too. It gives me more time for the children, and I still have plenty to keep me busy with this big house. I'm glad that we have him--an' it gives him a job an' a home as well. Nathan and Josiah adore him. But it made



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Cookie terribly jealous at first," Missie continued. "He was so afraid that someone else would take his place with our boys. But the two rascals have managed to keep both of the men happy. Actually, the two cooks seem to really enjoy one another now. Most evenings they get together for a cup of coffee and a chat. In fact, Cookie is the one who volunteered to teach Wong English."

Missie's long speech had brought them to the patio at the back of the house. The front, the bedroom wing on the one side, and the kitchen wing on the other, surrounded this lovely area on three sides. The fourth side looked out toward the spring beyond Missie's flower beds. When Marty remarked on their beauty, Missie informed her that they were all flowers she had taken from the neighboring hills, except for the bed of roses. Scottie, a little red-faced, had presented her with them when he had returned from purchasing some choice livestock farther south.

The sheltered veranda between the patio and the house was shaded and cool even in the late-afternoon heat. Marty imagined what a pleasant place this would be to spend an afternoon sewing or reading to the children. She was very impressed with the home that Willie had built for Missie. She was pleased with their good taste, and she admired Missie's choice of color and texture in the rich-looking "new" area of the house. Also, it said to Marty that times were good, that Missie and Willie were making upward strides in their standard of living. The homier, simple furnishings in the remainder of the house also spoke to Marty. These told her that they were willing to wait, to build gradually, to not demand everything at once, showing maturity and good judgment. Marty was proud of them--both of them.

After the look through the house, Willie invited Clark out to see the barns and stock, and Missie took Marty to show her the garden, the spring, her chickens and the little soddy.

The boys were now frustrated. Nathan, who clung to Grandma's hand, didn't like to leave her to go with the men, but he was most anxious to show off his pony. Josiah, who had been riding on Grandpa's shoulder, hated to climb down but



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did not want to get too far away from his mother. Besides, he absolutely adored the chickens! After some complaints from both of the children, the three "men" headed for the barn, and the women and the younger son took the path to the garden.

Marty was pleased at the sight of Missie's garden. True, it wasn't as far along as her own had been on the farm back east, but the plants looked healthy and productive and Marty could see that many good meals would be coming from the little patch.

The water from the spring was not as ambitious as the spring back home, but the effect that it had on the area surrounding it outweighed the difference. All around were brown hills and wind-swept prairies, but here near the spring were green growing things and small, shivering-leafed trees--truly an "oasis."