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Back Reluctantly Home Save as PDF
Chapters (55)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. 10
  13. 11
  14. 12
  15. 13
  16. 14
  17. 15
  18. 16
  19. 17
  20. 18
  21. 19
  22. 20
  23. 21
  24. 22
  25. 23
  26. 24
  27. 25
  28. 26
  29. 27
  30. 28
  31. 29
  32. 30
  33. 31
  34. 32
  35. 33
  36. 34
  37. 35
  38. 36
  39. 37
  40. 38
  41. 39
  42. 40
  43. 41
  44. 42
  45. 43
  46. 44
  47. 45
  48. 46
  49. 47
  50. 48
  51. 49
  52. 50
  53. 51
  54. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  55. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

So if it was Friday it must be her morning for a bath. She liked to look (and smell) at her best to greet the delivery man. It was always a man, she’d noticed. In all the years her groceries had been delivered, it had never once been a woman who brought them. Was that because women weren’t allowed to do the job? Evelyn had been cut off from the ways of the world for a long time, but she felt sure that couldn’t be right. There couldn’t still be one set of rules for men and another for women. Surely, things had moved on.

It was far more likely that women didn’t want to do the job, she concluded. It couldn’t be much fun, shifting crates all day and having other women give you orders about where to put everything.

Evelyn was very clear about her own delivery requirements. The man emptied the plastic bags out of the crates and left them on her doorstep, and then she brought them into the house herself. One Friday, an over-officious driver, no doubt in an attempt to be helpful, had ignored her increasingly loud protestations and pushed past her into the house.

‘Through here, are we, love?’ he’d asked as he made his way past the piles of newspapers down to the kitchen.

She could tell from his face that he had found her living standards questionable. There had been a wrinkling of the nose and a shaking of the head.

‘You need some help here, my love,’ he’d said, his eyes roaming round the mess that had once been the kitchen. ‘Do you have anyone you can call?’

Evelyn had made it clear in no uncertain terms that she had everything she needed, and was in no need of any kind of assistance. The delivery man had tutted, shaken his head again and looked as though he was about to protest, but then he had seen something in her expression and changed his mind.

‘Whatever you say, my love. There’s people what’ll help, you know, though. You just have to ask.’

After he’d gone, Evelyn had cast her eyes over her environment, trying to see it as a stranger might, but then she had pushed the man to the back of her mind, and now she kept the inner porch door firmly closed when she took delivery of her groceries to deter any further intrusions.