Page 17 of Dear Henry, Love Edith
Henry slowly folded Edith’s letter and slipped it into his front shirt pocket, the paper crinkling against his chest.
She must have still been rather young when her husband died. He hadn’t expected that. He wondered if she had ever come close to remarrying. And South Africa? What was she going to be doing in South Africa?
He could think of at least a dozen more questions for her.
But it looked like if he wanted to find out more about the interesting woman living under his roof, he was going to have to provide a few answers of his own.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Hot, humid air smothered the early morning like a flannel blanket. Edith lifted her bangs from her sweaty forehead, then let them drop. She should have worn a headband. Or better yet, never decided to take up running again during tropical heat conditions. She stopped and bent over with her hands on her knees. Oh, man. Her twenty-year-old self would have been appalled if she’d known how out of shape her thirty-year-old self would turn out.
But then who really cared what her twenty-year-old self thought? Edith stood, still catching her breath as she started walking down the sidewalk. Let her twenty-year-old self be appalled. Her twenty-year-old self hadn’t had a clue. What Edith’s thirty-year-old self wouldn’t give to go back and teach her twenty-year-old self a thing or two about life. Thoughwasn’t that the truth for anybody? Edith hoped so. She’d hate to be the only one looking back thinking how differently she would have done things if only she’d known—
“You okay?”
Edith swiveled her head, stubbed her toe on uneven sidewalk, and stumbled several steps forward, catching her balance just before she did a face-plant into a mailbox. “Of course.” She patted the mailbox and raised the red flag as if that’s what she’d meant to do all along.
“Just checking.” One of Henry’s neighbors from across the street, a middle-aged woman with dark-auburn hair, wearing sea-green scrubs, clicked the key fob to her blue Honda Civic. “Your face looked all contorted and weird. Thought maybe the heat had gotten to you. I’m Cheryl, by the way.”
Edith shook her hand. “Don’t mind the sweat. I’m Edith. You’re a nurse?”
Cheryl followed Edith’s gaze to the name badge clipped to her scrubs. “Oh. Forgot to take it off. Yeah.” She unclipped the badge and dropped it into her purse. “Just moved here a few months ago. Took a job at the nursing home out on the edge of town.”
“Night shift?”
“Night shift, day shift, double shifts, whatever shifts they’ll let me work for the time being.”
“Sounds busy.”
Cheryl lifted one shoulder. “When you’ve got four kids and your ex doesn’t like to pay his child support on time, you do what you do to get by, you know? Thankfully my oldest daughter pitches in and helps out. I should probably head inside and make sure she’s up. Yesterday she overslept.”
The front door opened and banged shut. A frazzled red-haired, freckle-faced girl hopped down the length of the three porch steps. Her feet drew her up short and her eyes widened at the sight of Edith. Edith’s probably did the same at the sight of her.
Edith snapped her fingers, searching her brain. “Gabby,” she said triumphantly when the name came to her so quickly. “Nice to see you again. I didn’t know you lived across the street from us.” As if she and Henry were anus. Maybe the heat was getting to her. She opened her mouth to amend her statement when Cheryl cut her off.
“You two know each other?”
“We met at the diner. She, uh—” Edith’s hand moved to her thigh, the muscle twitching at the memory of the EpiPen needle. “Helped me out. Sort of.”
Whether the girl’s cheeks flushed with pride or embarrassment, Edith couldn’t tell. Gabby’s eyes drifted across the street and back to Edith. “So you and the man from the diner... you’ve gotten to, um... know each other?”
“Huh? Oh. Yeah.” Edith remembered now she had asked Gabby who he was. Gabby must have seen them bump into each other yesterday morning at the coffee shop. One of the curses of small-town living, she supposed. “I guess you could say we’ve gotten to know each other a little bit. I mean, not really. Just superficial interactions.”
Gabby’s eyes widened. Cheryl’s narrowed. Edith’s stung with sweat.
“Which is fine with me,” Edith said, wiping her eyes. “I mean, he’s nice, don’t get me wrong, but I’m only here forthe summer. Doesn’t matter how easy he is on the eyes, I’m not interested in starting anything up.”
Cheryl’s eyes darted across the street. “Sounds like you already have.”
“What? No.” Had Cheryl seen them together too? “Goodness, we’re just being friendly.”
Mother and daughter shared a quick look. Edith had a feeling more had taken place in this conversation than she was aware of. Or maybe she was just dehydrated and delirious.
Cheryl took a step back. “Well, Gabby’s got to get to work, and I better check on the rest of the kids. It was nice meeting you...”
“Edith.”
“Edith,” Cheryl repeated. Her gaze swept across the street. “And what did you say your, uh, friend’s name was?”
