Page 8 of Beauty and the Baker
“Getting married?”
“Oh heavens, no.” Georgina quickly responded. She removed her hand from her pocket. Her mother must have noticed the slight movement because she looked at her daughter once more but didn’t say anything.
“Would anyone like coffee?” Lorraine asked, standing and removing her plate from the table.
“I can get it, Mama,” Georgina replied. She was done eating, so she wiped her mouth on the napkin and placed it down on the table. “You should fill us in on what Aunt Maybelle wrote.”
Lorraine nodded and left to retrieve the letter, giving Georgina time to clear the table and return with the coffee pot. She poured the hot brew while her mother sat down and opened the letter.
Lorraine scanned the letter and put her fingers to her lips. “Oh, goodness.”
“What is it?” George asked.
“Maybelle fell and broke her leg.”
Georgina gasped. “How terrible. Is there anything else?”
“She hasn’t been able to find anyone to help at the bakery. She is afraid she won’t be able to reopen if it stays closed much longer.”
“Why’s that, Mama?” Thomas asked. Georgina looked at him. He had a milk mustache over his lip. She tried to suppress a giggle.
“I guess it is because she would lose all those customers.”
“That is terrible. What is she going to do?”
“It says she is going to hire one of the girls in town to help her out until she can figure out what to do.”
“I know!” Thomas chimed in. “Georgie should go out there. She can help her.”
“No, I’m not a baker,” Georgina said.
“But you could learn, couldn’t you?”
“Thomas, I’m a nurse. The two couldn’t be farther apart.”
“You aren’t a nurse …yet. You make the best cakes and cookies.”
Georgina laughed. Her brother did like it when she made sweets.
“I have no intention of going anywhere,” she said finishing her coffee.
Once they were done, the family retired to the sitting room. Thomas snuggled next to Georgina while their mother read from the bible. Once the reading was over, it was time to retire for the night. Georgina had to work the next day and her shifts started very early at the hospital.
It was nearly ten o’clock when Georgina was finally able to have a moment to herself. The family had just retired, and Georgina couldn’t wait to get under the covers and read the letter from Lawrence.
She didn’t want to pull the letter out, lest someone ask questions. Questions she wasn’t prepared to answer.
She snuggled down in her bed, her back propped up against several pillows. The oil lamp was close enough that she could read the letter on her lap.
Once more, she traced the bold strokes with her fingers and wondered what the letter might contain. She held it to her chest for a moment and gave a silent prayer that it would be good news.
She had been corresponding to Lawrence Sweeny for nearly these six months past. She found his advertisement in the newspaper circulating at the hospital.
Although it didn’t specifically say marriage, it was after all… a matrimonial newsletter.What else could the end result be?
She opened the envelope, being careful not to tear it, nor the tissue-like sheets contained therein. It appeared to be three pages folded in half.
She quickly scanned the letter. The first part appeared to be pleasantries, peppered with anecdotes of Lawrence’s shipping business. Georgina gave a quick sigh.
