Of course Emeline tried to cheer her up by calling her 'handsome' which was kind of her but Clara pointedly noted the woman did not use the word 'pretty'. She stated that looks were not important and those who only judged by them should not be worried about. Yes, Clara got it, she even agreed with that philosophy but despite the logic, at times she did weaken and give way to silly emotions.
Then Emeline gave a hypothetical example, Clara listened and indeed again it was a most reasonable argument. Clara nodded as she kept kneading.
"Well said. You must think me a foolish young miss, but I assure I am not normally this.... pathetic. Pity and, even worse, self pity are useless. And I came here to bake not blubber," she assured the woman.
Then it came to her. She might be missing a golden opportunity here?
"Ma'am? You run this place and have to do all the work by yourself. Would you perhaps be interested in hiring me to work here? I can promise you that you would get yourself a hard worker who would always take her duties most seriously," she decided to just boldly throw it out there.
"Well said. You must think me a foolish young miss, but I assure I am not normally this.... pathetic. Pity and, even worse, self pity are useless. And I came here to bake not blubber,"
"Well, I don't know about you," Emeline commented with a grin, "but I find that an occasional blubber is good for the soul. And I am honestly happy for another woman to talk to. And, there is no harm in wanting to look pretty." Something Emeline didn't have time for these days, but maybe she could take a little to help the girl out.
"Ma'am? You run this place and have to do all the work by yourself. Would you perhaps be interested in hiring me to work here? I can promise you that you would get yourself a hard worker who would always take her duties most seriously,"
"Oh, well..." The offer took her off-guard and she really hadn't put serious consideration into it, or whether she could afford help. But business was going pretty well, and certainly she could do more if she had some help. "I suppose we can come to an arrangement, I'd be happy for someone around besides the cat to talk to!" She laughed, then asked, "What did you have in mind? There's seeing to the tables, cleaning, cooking..." Since she already did that all herself, anything would be a help.
Emeline looked surprised by her sudden offer but Clara figured that was natural enough. The girl hung on the woman's every word.
"I suppose we can come to an arrangement, I'd be happy for someone around besides the cat to talk to!" She laughed, then asked, "What did you have in mind? There's seeing to the tables, cleaning, cooking..."
She was willing! Clara brightened up, forgetting all about her unhappiness of just a moment earlier. Looks weren't important, helping earn money for the family welfare was however.
"I assure I can be much more loquacious and interesting than any cat when it comes to conversations," she promised.
"And once you hire me, I will do whatever you wish me to without complaint. I can do any of those things. Well.... I mean I have never waited on tables of strangers but I have waited on my family every day. You will not regret hiring me, ma'am. I am a hard worker, a quick learner, and I do not complain. Besides what I just said about my looks, I mean."
"Oh, well, I'd hardly call wishing you looked differently complaining," Emeline commented with a smile, "but I do suppose you are right about the cat. Talk about complaining! He's never happy!"
She set aside her lump of dough to rest, then asked, "What hours do you expect you'll be here? I'm usually starting at five, and here until nine or so." She shrugged. "Of course, I'm sure I can put you to work whenever you come in. So, for our meat pies, I have some shredded beef, what sort of vegetables and seasonings do you think we should put in them?"
"I believe it is the nature of cats," Clara gave her view on it but the talk moved to more important matters.
"I must of course get my father's permission but I do not anticipate any issue there. He trusts me. It is a possibility he just might drop by to meet you - just so you know," Clara now answered.
"I could make it most days, except Sunday of course. Currently I work three days a week but I am capable of doing more should you wish. Starting early is not an issue though keep in mind, I need to get here and I do live outside of town. However, we have a horse and I am a more than capable rider. I do suspect though that Father will not be willing to tolerate me having to travel in the darkness at night so nothing too late."
As for the meat pies, Clara thought on it a few seconds before answering that too, "Onions go well with beef, we could dice up an onion? Oh and perhaps potatoes, boil up one and dice that too?"
"Onions and potatoes are a good choice, and perhaps some carrots?" Emeline pulled out the vegetables, then a couple of knives. "I think we should dice them pretty finely, though. And no, I won't keep you late, although with Winter coming, it will restrict the hours." Between the shortening of the days and being in the mountains, there won't be much daylight. And I don't mind at all if your father was to visit...I know my father would have done the same."
It was actually reassuring to know that her father was concerned enough about her well-being that he'd want to know who she was with, even if it was a woman. "He can drop by any time. I think it will be wonderful, and there is certainly no harm in having another cook with ideas of her own." She had a notion that they would work well together, and enhancing the menu was never a bad thing!!
"Carrots, yes.....adds an extra flavor to it. But carrots need more cooking than onions or potatoes or they remain quite firm to the chewing. Perhaps we should boil them first then cut them up to add to the mixture? Of course I fully admit you would know better about these sorts of things as you have been doing this longer than I," Clara made a minor point but was perfectly willing to be corrected on the matter.
As for her father visiting the place, the woman had no objections. Clara did not think she would have so no surprise there.
"Excellent, I am confident you two will get along. My father is very calm, easy going," she assured the woman.
"So what do you think of this town? Are you content here? I have my reasons for asking. For I would be making a critical mistake if I took up employment here only to have you pull up stakes and leave. Surely you understand my concern?"
It certainly seemed logical enough to her.
"That's a good idea on the carrots," Emeline commented. The girl did know her way around cooking. "As for staying, that's my plan. Kallispell is a nice little place, and it's difficult to relocate..." She sighed. "I'm happy here, I like the building and the location, business is good and the town is decent." She smiled and shook her head. "As long as the town thrives, I'll be right here."
Then she laughed again as she worked on dicing carrots. "Unless a rich prince from Paris comes by and sweeps me away, but if that happens, you can have the place!"
"Oh, that is good.... that you like the building," Clara nodded, it was hard to tell because she was almost always so solemn if she was serious or making an attempt at sarcasm.
"Indeed, towns do fail on occasion. Look at Whitefish, they say people are leaving there faster than new folk arrive. Simple arithmetic there states that the town is in trouble. I myself have not been there but Father believes it to be a thieves' den," she gave her own view on the matter.
Emeline suddenly grew amused whilst dicing up the carrots remarking about the possibility a prince from Paris could sweep her away from this place at which point she would give it over to the girl. A pipe dream that, Clara inwardly scoffed but the woman was not serious about any of it.
"Marvelous and then I shall have to run the place all by myself," she sighed overdramatically, "Unless I can find some annoying girl to offer herself as an employee. What are the odds on that?"
"Oh, well, there's truth in that." Emeline chuckled. "There aren't that many annoying girls to be had." Indeed, she was finding that she really did like this foolish girl! "Of course, there is your brother, he could be taught to wash dishes and sweep the floor?"
She laughed as she scooped the carrots into a pan. "So, what do you suppose an annoying girl would use to spice this with? Besides salt and pepper, of course." There were a few options, and Emeline was curious to see where Clara's tastes and experience lay, and how she worked with spices.