Page 30 of Lee

Right then, standing at her sink, Rori felt like she could cry. For no apparent reason. But tears were something she never allowed to flow in the light of day, even when she was alone.

So she took a deep breath and plunged her hands into the warm dishwater to wash up the dishes she’d used to make her meals.

Once everything was cleaned up and put away, Rori went to the large window she’d opened earlier, listening to the sounds of life happening around her. With it being summer, the nice weather meant people were outside more, and she could hear children laughing. Dogs barking. The distant hum of a lawn mower.

Once again, she was off to the side, watching and listening as others went about their lives. Was that to be her destiny?

Her phone ringing drew her attention from the window. Rori went and picked it up off the counter. Seeing Essie’s name on the screen, she didn’t hesitate to answer it.

“How are you doing?” Essie asked.

“I’m fine.” Rori sank down on her bed and slumped over onto her pillow. “Just finished cleaning up from my cooking for the week.”

“What did you make?”

“I made two different things. Pasta and meat sauce, and rice with meatballs and gravy.”

“Those both sound good.”

Neither was necessarily her favorite, but the ground beef stretched to both recipes, and all the ingredients were on the inexpensive side. “They taste pretty good, too.”

They chatted a bit about food, then Essie said, “I was calling to see if you’d like to join us for church tomorrow.”

Rori had been thinking about church since she’d attended the song service the previous week. Maybe if she wasn’t feeling so lonely and disconnected, she might think twice before accepting the invitation. However, she remembered how the music at the service had touched her, and she thought maybe getting out of her apartment and being around people might be good for her.

“Sure. I’d like that.”

“Wonderful!” Essie exclaimed. “We can pick you up again, if you’d like.”

“I think I’ll be okay to drive myself this time.”

“Just make sure you show up,” Essie said.

“I will,” Rori assured her. “I promise.”

“Okay. Normally, the service starts at eleven. But with it being summer, there’s no Sunday school, so it starts at ten-thirty.”

“I’ll be there.”

“We’ll wait for you in the foyer. I look forward to seeing you again.”

Essie’s words were a balm for her aching heart, and Rori knew it was the right decision to attend church with her and Al the next day.

After the call ended, Rori stayed where she was but resisted the urge to pull the blanket over herself and go to sleep. It was tempting, though. With everything she’d been feeling, killing some time in sleep sounded like a wonderful thing.

Instead, after a couple of minutes, she pushed herself up from the bed and went to the kitchen to make a cup of tea. As the water boiled in her small kettle, she went and filled the cheap diffuser she’d bought a few months earlier with some water and a few drops of her favorite scent.

It was called Autumn Dreams, and whenever she smelled it, something inside her settled. The scents of autumn and Christmas were her favorite, and she used the scented oil whenever she wanted to feel like she was in her happy place.

Nothing changed about her circumstances, but using the diffuser helped remind her of the small things in her life that brought her joy. Like her scented oil, her chai, the music she enjoyed, and the pictures that she’d taken of beautiful things. There were more, but when she was at her lowest moments, focusing on those things helped to lift her spirits and settle her mind.

With her mug in one hand, she went back to the window. She leaned against the wall, hands cupped around her mug as and stared out at the sunshine.

She couldn’t see much out of her basement window, but every once in awhile, she’d see a dog go by on a leash. Sometimes they’d even pause to do what dogs did, which honestly just made her grin. Now that she worked at a vet clinic and spent time with the shelter animals, stuff like that no longer grossed her out.

After spending a few minutes drinking her tea at the window, Rori returned to the bed and set her mug on the floor beside the mattress. She picked up her laptop and opened it. On Friday, Rachel had asked her to photograph a few more animals, so she’d taken her camera to work.

The more time she spent with the animals, the more she fell in love with the idea of having a pet. It would be nice to not be alone in a new place. There’d be someone there to greet her when she came home at the end of the day. And she had plenty of love and affection to give a pet.

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