Free While Love Stirs by Lorna Seilstad

more ifs and wishes. She knew finding a position wouldn’t be easy, but she would do it, and even if Joel never let her through the hospital doors, she’d be content as long as she could cook.
    Content. Thanks to her discussion with Joel the other night, the last thing she felt this morning was content. Why did that man set her off like a teakettle every time they spoke?
    She slipped a teaspoon of egg yolk through her lips and swallowed. Well, that shouldn’t be a problem anymore. After that night, she doubted she’d ever see him again. Regret and anger mingledtogether inside her chest, but she shoved the strange emotions aside. Why did it all have to be so difficult?
    Not only had she lost the opportunity to get Joel to realize the hospital needed to change its food service, but she’d also lost any glimmer of friendship. Had a friendship truly been a possibility between them anyway? He’d been so kind earlier in the day, but wasn’t that a doctor’s job?
    “What are your plans today, Charlotte?” Aunt Sam sipped from her coffee cup. “Would you care to go cycling with me?”
    “I’m afraid I can’t. I think I’ll head to Minneapolis today.” She split a biscuit and spread a thick layer of raspberry jam on it. She’d spent the weekend considering her options and had decided this was her best one. Although getting a permanent position meant leaving Aunt Sam, it might be her only option. It would also get her away from any possibility of seeing Joel Brooks again.
    Aunt Sam touched her napkin to her lips. “I don’t want to sound like Brother Carstens in yesterday’s sermon, but have you prayed about this?”
    “I think God has better things to concern himself with than my situation.”
    “I doubt that.”
    Violet, the maid, stepped into the doorway. “There’s a telephone call in the hallway for you, Miss Gregory.”
    She set down her biscuit. “For me?”
    “Yes, miss.”
    Charlotte excused herself and hurried into the hall. She sat down on the tufted leather seat of the mahogany telephone table and picked up the candlestick phone. The line crackled. “Hello?”
    A short while later, she returned to the breakfast room and dropped to her seat. Her heart thundered in her chest, and the egg she’d eaten earlier somersaulted in her stomach. “That was the Greater Northern Natural Gas Company.”
    Aunt Sam set her coffee cup back on its saucer. “Do they want to know where to deliver your new gas range?”
    “No, they want to offer me a position teaching women how to cook with gas.”

    Removing a token from her pocketbook, Charlotte stepped onto the streetcar and smiled at the motorman. She dropped the token into the fare box and found a seat near the front. The bell clanged, and with a whoosh, the driver released the brakes. The fresh breeze through the open windows kissed her cheeks. Aunt Sam had offered her automobile and driver, but Charlotte had declined. She hadn’t wanted to give the gas company the wrong impression.
    The gas company was a short walk from the stop. The clerk in the front said they’d been expecting her and ushered her into Mr. Stewart Johnson’s office.
    He stood when she entered. “Please have a seat, Miss Gregory.”
    She obliged and folded her hands in her lap. “I have to admit your call caught me off guard. I have so many questions.”
    “And I’m here to answer them.” Mr. Johnson’s mustache waggled as he spoke. “And, of course, to ask a few of my own.”
    “Then, sir, perhaps you should go first.”
    He tapped his pencil on his paper. “First of all, is there anyone in your life who would be opposed to you traveling out of town? A father? Brother? Gentleman caller?”
    “No, sir.”
    “Excellent.” He looked up. “I apologize, that came out wrong.”
    “I understand. My family is supportive of my culinary aspirations, and I currently have no gentleman callers.”
    “Excuse me.” He removed a handkerchief from his pocket and sneezed into it. “Let