Clover Blue by Eldonna Edwards

Author:Eldonna Edwards
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2019-03-19T00:00:00+00:00

21

Mrs. Fuller rolls up the driveway in her old man’s Buick while I’m taking a speedy winter shower. I quickly turn away and cover my waist with a towel. Our neighbor strides past me, ducking under the canopy where it droops between two poles, to where Jade and Sirona are standing in the kitchen. The sister-mothers’ eyebrows lift in surprise as Mrs. Fuller yanks open a couple of drawers before finding a spoon hanging from a hook above the woodstove. She starts stirring their steaming pot of soup. Mrs. Fuller has never helped with meals, let alone acted like it was her own kitchen.

I move closer and stand just within earshot to eavesdrop. Sirona sidles up next to Mrs. Fuller. “You okay, Lois?”

Mrs. Fuller keeps stirring. She takes a sip of the broth from the spoon. “Where’s the salt?”

Jade moves to her other side, looking concerned. “Hey, what’s going on?”

I creep closer toward the kitchen, tightening my towel at my waist, and listen in.

Mrs. Fuller shakes some salt into her hand, then drops it in the pot. “I want to help. That’s how it works, right? Everyone does their bit. We all work together.”

Jade touches the older woman’s arm. “Well, of course, but you don’t need to help. If you’re hungry we’re happy to feed you.”

Mrs. Fuller stops stirring and bursts into tears. “I’ve envied you all for years. So free and so full of love and, well, just such a beautiful family. I want to be a part of it.”

The sister-mothers circle their arms around Mrs. Fuller’s waist. Sirona rests her head on the older woman’s shoulder. “Oh, hon. What about your family? Your husband?”

Mrs. Fuller wipes her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater. “I don’t have any kids and my family lives on the East Coast. I married Charlie when I was only twenty. Shortly afterward, his parents died in a car accident so we moved here to run the family farm. Then they took my classroom away and closed the school. I want to go back to college and get my art degree but Charlie thinks I’m being ridiculous.”

Harmony sneaks up behind me and puts her hands over my eyes. “Guess who?” When I reach up to pull her hands away my towel falls off. Mrs. Fuller hears the commotion and turns toward us. I feel my face go hot. Harmony and I both lurch to pick up my towel. She hands it to me and winks before joining the women in the kitchen.

“Hey, Mrs. Fuller! What are you doing here?”

Mrs. Fuller drops her head over the soup pot so Harmony doesn’t see her tears. “Oh, I’m just helping the girls cook dinner. How’re those charcoal sketches coming along? Did you try the shadowing technique I showed you?”

“I did and it’s so cool! What about you? Have you started painting again?”

Mrs. Fuller shakes her head. “Not yet. But go look in the backseat of my car. I brought some things.”

Harmony motions for me to follow her. I step back into my jeans and throw on a flannel shirt.

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