Sarah: Bride of Minnesota (American Mail-Order Bride 32) by Katie Crabapple

other Tuesday for precisely six minutes."
    "Karl? Are you making a joke? Are German bumblers supposed to make jokes?"
    Karl shook his head. "I send off for this sweet Christian wife, and I get you. Oh why has my God forsaken me?"
    She pressed a kiss to his chin. "I guess He knew you needed a feisty Irishwoman."
    He simply hugged her close. "That is what I needed." After a moment he pulled away from her. "I will be in the parlor reading the newspaper. When you are finished, I'd love it if you'd join me there."
    Sarah slowly washed the skillet she'd used to make gravy, thinking about her new husband. She liked the idea of spending time in the parlor with him in the evenings. Maybe she could turn him into a romantic after all.

Chapter Five
     
     
    Sarah finished the dishes, taking the small bar of store bought soap off the edge of the sink and giving her hands a quick scrub. She hated feeling grease on her fingers once she'd finished her chores.
    Making her way into the parlor, she sat on the right side of the couch, immediately picking up a shirt she'd put there to mend for him. She'd noticed it was missing two buttons and one more was hanging by a thread. While she talked to her husband about his day, she could easily mend the shirt, so he could wear it again.
    "I got all of the laundry finished and put away. I made a pile of the clothes you need mended. Are there any others you have stashed away somewhere that I haven't found?"
    Karl looked up from his paper, got up and moved to sit beside Sarah on the couch. He didn't crowd her or touch her at all, but he enjoyed sitting close to her. "I just kept wearing the things that needed to be mended. As long as I had an undershirt on, I was good."
    Sarah shook her head. "You won't need to do that anymore. I'll keep your clothes in good repair."
    "I appreciate how hard you work," he told her. "I didn't want you to come here just to cook and clean and mend for me though."
    She shrugged, brushing off his gratitude. "I know. You want children as well." She didn't look at him as she said it, a bit embarrassed by the topic.
    "I do. I want a wife and children, and I want someone to grow old with. I don't want to be alone."
    Sarah smiled over at him. "You're not alone. From now on, we'll work together on everything we do."
    He smiled at that. "I really do like that idea." Dipping his head, he went back to his newspaper, while she continued sewing.
    Her fingers shook a little. He made her more nervous than she cared to admit. Oh, how she wished Roberta were there to talk about her marriage with. Bobbie would give great advice, because that's what she did.
     
    *****
     
    Sarah made good use of her new rug beater the next day, hanging the rugs from the house on the clothesline out back and whacking them with all her might. She realized her husband may not be the most romantic man in the world, but he was the only man she'd ever be married to, so she needed to make the most of it.
    She had yet to explore the upstairs of the house, almost afraid of what she'd find there. The downstairs looked good, though, and she wouldn't be ashamed if they received an unexpected visitor.
    She left the rugs on the line and went into the house to begin dinner preparations, only planning a soup for the night's meal. She had fresh bread left to serve with it, and she knew Karl would eat anything she made.
    Once she had the soup on, Sarah made a slow ascent up the stairs to see how bad it was there. When she got to the top, she was surprised. There was a long hallway, and she walked down it opening each door. There was nothing there. It needed to be swept and mopped of course. There were eight rooms, obviously meant as bedrooms, which were completely empty. At the end of the hall was another parlor that she was certain was meant to be used as an informal family parlor. It would be great for when children came along.
    She looked out one of the windows that looked over her laundry, and she could see a couple of