BooksBarbecue
Back Promises of Change
Chapters (53)
  1. Cover
  2. Everyone loves the ladies of Covington!
  3. Also by Joan Medlicott
  4. Title Page
  5. Copyright
  6. Dedication
  7. Acknowledgments
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. 7
  15. 8
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. 19
  27. 20
  28. 21
  29. 22
  30. 23
  31. 24
  32. 25
  33. 26
  34. 27
  35. 28
  36. 29
  37. 30
  38. 31
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. 35
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  44. 37
  45. 38
  46. 39
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  48. 41
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  50. 43
  51. 44
  52. 45
  53. Discussion Questions

Sometimes after Wheel of Fortune, Ida phoned June, and they’d chat about the day, and she’d ask about May. She wouldn’t talk to May, hadn’t since May left Billie, but she wanted news of her, some of which she’d pass on to Billie, though lately he wasn’t much interested in what May said or did. That’s how things changed. Billie used to be a right good son-in-law, but since he took up with that lowlife girl from Mars Hill, she hardly saw or heard from him. It’d sure be nice to have a young man like Ray Wilson for a grandson-in-law, she thought; shame all my granddaughters are married.

Ida was quite pleased with herself. Ray had given her a lot to consider today, and she needed to stay quiet this evening and do some thinking. She wouldn’t have to nag Eddy or listen to June tell her she needed to get three estimates for any work she wanted done if she wouldn’t wait for Eddy to get to it. That nice young man was gonna fill in the ruts and pave her driveway and replace that gutter out back by the kitchen, which he said was rusted and had a lot of little holes in it. Funny, she’d never noticed it leaking, but then, she didn’t go out back when it rained and stand there and look up at it. It was sagging too, he’d said, and looking to fall down any minute, and when they did, with no gutter up there, the rain would get under her house and lead to Lord knows what kind of trouble with the foundation.

She had handled it all herself, had made the decision, and paid him half his fee in cash for the paving and the gutter. He’d said that she reminded him of his granny out west in Ohio, and ’cause of that he’d given her rock-bottom prices for everything. The asphalt for the driveway, he’d explained, was leftover from a driveway he was paving, and he’d fill in the ruts and make hers smooth and beautiful for just about nothing. She had given him $650—cheap, she thought, for all he was gonna do.

Ida smiled. Ray was such a nice young fellow. He’d noticed how worn the carpet was on her front porch and offered to bring her a new one that wouldn’t rot from rain getting on it. She’d given him another $100, her grocery money, so he could get the carpet and install it tomorrow. Her porch was gonna look brand-new when he got done.