“Ach, look at that!” Mamm said, peering through the window next to her. “Not only an early snow, but it’s still coming. I hope it stops soon.”
“I like the snow,” Ada said.
“You won’t like it if it keeps customers away today.” Mamm took a breakfast casserole out of the oven. “Did you get all of the pies baked?”
Ada turned from the window to finish placing the pie shields on the two pecan pies that were set to go into the oven.
“I only have these two left.” She adjusted the oven temperature, then started setting the table for breakfast.
“Will they be done in time?”
“That won’t be a problem. Mrs. Cunningham told me her husband would pick them up on his way home from work this evening.”
Mamm opened a jar of canned peaches. “After those pies go into the oven, would you have time to bake a couple pumpkin pies for our dinner tomorrow?”
Ada glanced at the clock above the sink. “For sure. It’s only six-thirty, and I’ve already made the crusts.”
“The crusts for what?” Rose breezed into the kitchen, tying on her apron. She was late, as usual, but still looked as fresh and unhurried as Mamm always did.
“Tomorrow’s pies,” Mamm said. “You’re just in time to finish setting the table. Dat will be in soon.”
“Will both Carolyn and Malinda be able to come for dinner tomorrow?” Rose asked, taking four plates from the cabinet.
“They’ll be here for the whole day.” Mamm’s smile was bright. “Both families will come after breakfast and stay until just before it gets dark. Wilmer and Henry are planning to help Dat fix the saw in the workshop, so we girls will have plenty of time to chat. It will be just like old times.”
“Except for the babies.”
Rose made a face that Ada couldn’t understand. How could someone not like babies? Both of her older sisters had little girls, both less than a year old. Ada never tired of caring for her nieces, but Rose was always quick to pass them back to their mothers as soon as they got fussy.
Mamm chuckled. “The babies are the best part.”
After breakfast, Dat went out to the workshop, but Mamm refilled their coffee cups.
“While we have a minute, I want to go over tomorrow’s tasks with you girls.”
Rose spooned some sugar into her coffee and exchanged her usual “here we go again” look with Ada. Ada pressed her lips together to keep from grinning. Mamm never started a day without penciling her to-do list on the back of an old envelope, and a big meal like tomorrow’s meant that she had jobs for each of them.
“Ada, you’ll make the rolls, won’t you?” Mamm tapped her list with her pencil, frowning at it.
“For sure. I’ll make potato rolls. They’re easy, and everyone likes them.”
“And Rose, I’ll need you to make the green bean casserole.” She added an item to her list. “And we’ll need to peel the potatoes.”
“I’ll do that in the morning,” Ada said. “I need a potato for the rolls, so I might as well peel all of them.”
Mamm patted Ada’s hand. “What would I do without my Ada? I’m so happy that you don’t have a beau. I can count on you being at home to help with many Thanksgiving dinners to come.”
Rose set her coffee cup down. “What if Ada does find a beau?”
Ada’s face was hot. “I’ll still help Mamm in the kitchen, you know that.”
Mamm gave her a bright smile, then went on through her list, assigning more tasks to each of them.
“That will do it. After dinner, we’ll be able to relax for the rest of the day.”
“I noticed you didn’t put Malinda’s or Carolyn’s names on your list,” Rose said, finishing her coffee.
“They’ll be busy enough with their families. And they’re each bringing something to share.”
“All the more reason for me to get married,” Rose said, laughing.
Mamm gave her a mock frown. “The sooner, the better.”
While Ada and Rose washed the breakfast dishes, Mamm went to finish the morning chores in the rest of the house. As soon as she left the kitchen, Rose leaned close to Ada.
“I had an idea,” she said as she dried a plate. “I thought of it last night.”
Ada frowned. Rose’s ideas rarely turned out well. “What is it?”
“You want to attract Amos’s attention, don’t you?”
Swirling the dishcloth around in the casserole dish, Ada eyed her sister. “What do you have in mind?”
Rose’s face lit up. “Don’t worry. You’ll love it!” She leaned even closer and whispered, “I call it the Great Cookie Campaign.”
Ada shook her head. “I’m not going to push myself at any man.”
“You don’t have to. That’s the best part.” Rose started drying the silverware in the dish drainer. “All you need to do is to make a batch of cookies for the guys in the workshop. No one will know you are targeting Amos. You know you bake the best cookies around, and he’ll be sure to notice you.”
Ada looked out the window. The snow had stopped, and the sky was gray as the sun came up somewhere behind the clouds.
“Do you really think it would work?”
“How could it fail?”
Ada grinned at Rose. “You know that most of your schemes fail.”
“Name one.”
“What about the time when you thought Dat should buy some goats to mow the grass for us?” Before Rose could answer, Ada continued, “Or the time when you tried to attach a pulley for the clothesline to the attic eave.”
“It isn’t my fault that the wood had rotted. Dat even thanked
