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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

Nicholas had shrugged and muttered something about just wanting to help, and had left shortly thereafter. When he had gone, Evelyn regretted her waspish words. What harm would it do just to sort things out a little? But then again, what would be the point? She was just waiting in her house to die. She had been waiting there for over thirty years. No one would ever see how she lived except Nicholas, and she didn’t care about such matters. Why would she want to change things when the only change she had ever wanted was totally beyond her power, beyond anyone’s power?

Slowly, with stick-thin arms, she pushed herself up out of her chair, her back crying out at being forced to alter its curvature. Then, step by painful step, she shuffled her way to the bathroom to perform her weekly ablutions.

27

27

It wasn’t until later that Evelyn noticed that something was missing. The food order had arrived, and she had taken delivery of it without anyone trying to infiltrate her private enclave. It had been more than she could face to put it away, however, and so, other than the few chilled items that she had stowed in the fridge, she had left the groceries sitting on her kitchen table to be dealt with later.

Then she had taken herself back up to the first floor and into the little room that Joan had used as an office. She didn’t go in there often, mainly because she couldn’t remember whether it was still relatively accessible or if the quantity of books stacked behind the door were a barrier to entry. But she was pretty sure this was where Nicholas had been moving things around earlier, and she just wanted to check.

As she climbed the stairs, slowly pulling herself up using the bannister step by step, she thought about her nephew’s visit, noticing a tightness in her chest as she did so. She shouldn’t have snapped at him like that. He’d only been trying to help, and he didn’t deserve the tongue-lashing she’d given him.

In fact, it was a miracle he kept coming back. Anyone else would have been driven away by her unfriendliness and her temper long ago. And where would she be without him? Entirely alone, that was where. Then she could snap and snarl to her heart’s content with precisely no one to hear her. If she wasn’t very careful, she would turn into Joan, and wouldn’t that be ironic?