Made and Meant for Each Other (an Anne of Green Gables fanfiction)

Mrs. Harmon Andrews

The news was the talk of the sewing circle, spreading out from Rachel Lynde, whose mouth seemed to be moving as quickly as her needle. Rachel was a hard worker, true enough, but she did run off at the mouth, thought Mrs. Harmon Andrews as she carefully snipped a loose thread. She kept her head down, not wanting to seem too interested in the news of Anne Shirley's engagement. Who was Anne Shirley, anyway, but a foundling, plucked from the orphans' home by the Cuthberts? Plucked by mistake, at that, Mrs. Harmon added silently.

She conveniently liked to forget that her own Billy had proposed to said foundling—that, too, she considered a mistake, and was more than grateful that she had never had to put her foot down and forbid the match. Billy's wife Nettie was a lovely girl, sweet and biddable and capable, and had already presented Mrs. Harmon with two bouncing grandsons. A complete success, in other words. Still, for all that, Mrs. Harmon had long thought with satisfaction of Anne's single, childless state, and now to hear that after all this time she was to gain the prize of John and Martha Blythe's precious only son ... Words would have failed Mrs. Harmon, had she not been so determined to keep silent.

Of course, when you thought about it, what was so special about Gilbert Blythe, anyway? Anyone else's son—Mrs. Harmon's, for example—would be as much of a catch. Rachel needn't crow so about Anne marrying a doctor. You would think Anne was her own child. Mrs. Harmon frowned, remembering how dead set Rachel had been against the girl when she first arrived. Anne had talked her around soon enough, just as she had pulled the wool over everyone's eyes eventually. Not Mrs. Harmon's, thank you very much! She remembered all too well the scrapes Jane had gotten into following along with Anne and her freakish ways. Entirely too free for a young girl, and Marilla's hold on those little apron-strings had never been as firm as she pretended to herself. More work would have settled Anne right down from the start.

Not that it had hurt Jane any, Mrs. Harmon reflected with a smile, beginning her next seam. Jane was safely married to a millionaire, happy and secure and set for life. They lived rather too far away for Mrs. Harmon to properly appreciate Jane's services—she would love to travel to Winnipeg, and stay in their big house and be fed by their cook, but Mr. Harmon was more settled in his ways than that, and Ralphie was still a little young to leave to his father's care. With some reluctance, Mrs. Harmon had to admit to herself that Ralphie was something of a handful. She tugged her thoughts guiltily away from Mr. Barry's apple trees, many of which now had Ralphie's initials carved in them.

Still ... Jane and Billy had done well for themselves. Grace was at Queen's, and Ralphie ... well, he was high-spirited. Nothing wrong with that. Mrs. Harmon could hold her head up amongst any of her fellows. Yes. She nodded firmly, finishing off the seam and holding the completed shirt out in front of her. Rachel was still nattering on about Anne and Gilbert's wedding plans, and Mrs. Harmon graciously allowed a smile to show on her face and pretended to be interested. It seemed the least she could do.