[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Ludi’s boy found O’Dell? I couldn’t think of anything to say.We stood silent, facing each other, not quite knowing what to do next.I had a million questions, yet my tongue couldn’t form a single one.The business of death is not a subject to broach like picking out the color of paint for a rotted-out cottage.That poor child.He must’ve been scared half to death himself.Ludi opened her arms, and a mysterious force pulled me in.I breathed her scent, woodsy and musky from the day’s heat no doubt, but also a hint of jasmine, and I wondered where on earth Ludi got her hands on such a delicate fragrance.I buried my face in her shoulder and let her ample arms hold me.If I could have, I would have curled into her lap.[ CHAPTER 12 ]A week and a half later, I had put my house on Crockett Street up for sale and filed the papers to get O’Dell’s insurance money.The girls and I moved into the Stardust on the first of May—my twenty-fifth birthday.Aunt Cora brought a chocolate cake by the house that morning and saw Doreen’s friends from the Methodist church loading my furniture into their pickup trucks.She sniffed.“I’m still appalled that you’re going through with this.”I took the cake.“Everything’s going to be fine.You’ll see.And you’re welcome to come out anytime.”She shot me a look that said I’d better not push my luck, then in the next instant, she hugged my neck and wished me happy birthday.The girls and I settled into the quarters, and blessedly, with Ludi’s help, the work was coming along on the Stardust.Each morning got rolling when I heard the first faint strains of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” Ludi’s deep, throaty voice came like honey across the open meadow that separated her world from mine.Avril raced out to meet Ludi whenever she heard the singing and met her with open arms.“Where’s Merciful? Is she coming today? C’mon, I want to show you something.” And Avril would pull Ludi’s arm—or Merciful’s, if she was tagging along—to show her the latest treasure.Sometimes a pretty rock she found in the flower bed.Sometimes a picture she colored.Then we would have to tell Avril we had work to do.Rosey had school until the last Friday in May and now rode the bus to and fro.Every morning she marched off swinging her satchel, waving good-bye, and smiling.With the girls happy and Ludi coming to help, I knew I should be grateful.And more patient.But the Memorial Day deadline loomed and it looked like we’d never be ready.Ludi and I didn’t have enough hours between us to paint and clean and do all the other projects.We had a sum total of three finished, and they still needed new bathroom fixtures.The roof replacement was another issue gnawing at me.I’d been to the lumberyard and got someone to come out and cover the leaking roofs with tarps held in place with old tires until a roofer was available to do the shingles.“Three weeks, at least,” Mr.Miller informed me.“Can you recommend anyone else?”“Not likely you’d find a roofer in Mayhaw that we don’t already employ.You might try over in Jefferson or Longview, but they won’t carry an out-of-town account, and you never know the kind of work you’re getting from a stranger.”I’d called back a week later and he’d told me the rain we had over the weekend meant it was still three weeks before they could get to it.Drat.I let the receiver drop in the phone cradle and kicked the stack of boxes that held new faucets for the bathrooms.They were to be installed by one of the Methodist men who was a plumber, but he’d been called out of town—to see about his sister in Shreveport who’d come down with infantile paralysis.Granted, I admired a man who made family matters a priority, but it didn’t help my frustration.When I called Sally complaining, she told me to relax and breathe.“Don’t lose your focus, Georgia.”“How can I relax and not lose my focus at the same time? That makes no sense whatsoever.”“Try focusing on the ultimate outcome and relax.Take one day at a time.And I’m simply dying to show you the plans the Magnolias have drawn up.They’re splendid.If you don’t mind, I’ll bring them by later and see what you think.”“You may find me on the roof hammering on the shingles myself.”She laughed and hung up.Deep down, I knew it was that I didn’t want to disappoint Doreen and miss the opening deadline.Plus I was going through O’Dell’s anticipated insurance money faster than water swept through Hixon Bayou in the rainy season.Mattresses.Paint.Lumber for new window boxes.I went to check on Ludi, who was patching a hole in the wall of number eight.She had plaster blobs in her hair and a smudge across her cheek, but she was humming “Amazing Grace” as she worked.“Here, Ludi.I brought you some sweet tea.” I set the glass down on the windowsill and watched her scoop up a trowel of plaster from the bucket we’d mixed that morning and then slap it on the wall.She smoothed it out in sure, even strokes like a painter at an easel.Sweat ran down the sides of her face, along the fleshy part of her neck, pooling in the soft spot at the base of her throat.She nodded at me and kept humming until the wall was as smooth as a sheet of glass.She set the trowel down and swiped her forearm across her brow.I handed her the tea.“Thanks, Miz Georgie.I ain’t never been treated like no queen before, and here you are, fetching me stuff and bringing me sweet tea.” She chugged half a glass.“I’m mighty appreciative.”“No problem.I just came to see how you were doing.”She eyed her work.“Hmm [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]