Daughter of Job by J M Hartley

Author:J M Hartley [Hartley, J M]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781467884716
Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
Published: 2012-02-23T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

It scarcely seemed to Jemimah that she had been asleep more than a few minutes but it was evident from the angle that the sun shone through a gap in the curtains that the morning was well advanced. Her eyes focussed on the bedside clock. It was half past nine.

For a few blissful seconds Jemimah had forgotten. She thought back to the previous morning that had dawned bright and full of promise. Then all the mental pain and worries emerged and weighed down on her. She turned over, burying her head in the pillow, her mind resuming the turmoil of the previous day, wrestling with the one stark fact that brought the tears flooding back. Bob was dead.

Jemimah’s mind turned to the letters from the insurance company. Had they affected Bob, causing him to….? She tried to dismiss that thought. Bob would never have contemplated such a thing…, would he? They would just have to move into somewhere smaller, somewhere with a mortgage affordable on her income when she got a job, but where? She would have to go and find one. There might be some money from Bob’s pension scheme but Jemimah was under no illusion that they would be able to maintain anything like their previous lifestyle.

It occurred to her that it was Sunday. In normal circumstances they would all have been going to church. Tim and Abbi would have been in the choir. Somehow, although yesterday she had resolved to attend church, she now felt completely apathetic to the idea, despite her desperate attempts to remind herself that it was her Christian faith that provided her with the one sure link with her husband. It was a scenario she found simple to enact dispassionately for others but so, so difficult to cope with in reality for herself.

Previously, the lack of relatives on both sides of the family had not concerned them. ‘Cuts down on Christmas presents’ they had both joked. Now, however, she missed the support of family members, feeling alone in the world, needing to talk to someone. Arthur Metcalf would be the obvious choice but he would already be at the morning service.

It was as Jemimah lay there, attempting to assemble her problems into some semblance of order, that she became aware of someone moving around downstairs. Puzzled as to who it could be, she hastily got dressed and went to investigate.

Beryl, busying herself in the kitchen, looked up as Jemimah entered. “Just you sit down my dear and I’ll bring you a cup of tea. I’m terribly sorry to hear the sad news about your husband. You must be absolutely devastated.” She turned, tears rolling down her cheeks, the very evident sign of sympathy triggering Jemimah to follow suit.

“The reverend phoned yesterday evening to tell me. I was absolutely stunned but that must be nothing compared with what you must be going through. He asked me whether I could come in this morning. He was very concerned about you and the children being left alone.

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