Reunion: A Novel by Lauraine Snelling

Author:Lauraine Snelling [SNELLING, LAURAINE]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction / Contemporary Women
ISBN: 9780892969074
Publisher: FaithWords
Published: 2012-07-17T04:00:00+00:00

The home place looked the same as the other day. The grass was going to need mowing again soon. “I was thinking maybe we should plant a garden in case someone needs to live here. They might enjoy that.”

“I need to get mine planted first. One of the jobs for this week.” Leah opened the door and entered. The unlived-in smell was back. “Where would I find cinnamon sticks?”

“Whatever for?”

“To simmer on the stove and drive out that musty smell.”

“Good idea.” Keira went to the pantry and returned with a pint jar that held cinnamon sticks. “Mother always kept them to make fruit soup. After a year, should we toss most of the spices?”

“Nah, lots of mine are older than that.” Leah filled a small kettle with water, added two cinnamon sticks, and set it on a burner. “They tell Realtors now to bake bread or chocolate chip cookies when they’re showing a house. Makes people feel at home.”

“That reminds me, I think I’ll bake bread tomorrow.” Keira headed for the stairway. “Might as well get on with it, monsters or no.” She called from about halfway up the stairs. “Bring a stool, will you please?”

Leah answered from the kitchen. “Coming right up.”

They set the step stool under the handle for the recessed stairs. Leah looked from the stool to the ring used to lower the staircase. “They didn’t figure on the high ceilings. I know I can’t reach it. Can you?”

Keira stepped on the first step. “Let me brace on your shoulder.”

“This doesn’t look like a good idea.”

“We’re here now.” She stepped up to the next step. “Have I ever mentioned how I hate ladders?”

“Once or twice.”

Hand on Leah’s shoulder, Keira stepped on the top step with one foot and then slowly brought the other one to join it. Still slightly crouched, she stared at the ring. “You think there might be a taller stool out in the barn or garage? I can’t reach this even if I stand on my tiptoes.”

“And you can’t do that. Get down and we’ll go look.”

Keira climbed down as gingerly as she climbed up. “How come I never minded climbing trees but ladders really get me?”

“I hope that’s a rhetorical question.” Leah folded the stool back up. “We could just wait for one of the guys.”

“How did Dad expect Mom to open that?”

“He probably figured he’d be the one doing it.”

They found a six-step ladder out in the garage and together hauled it into the house and up the stairs.

“I’ll go up this time. This one should be tall enough.”

“If you say so. There just better be more boxes up there after all this work.”

“Is there a light up there?”

Together they set up the ladder. “I don’t know. I don’t do attics.”

“Not even when you were a kid?”

“Nope. Attics are notoriously dark places. Every book I ever read that mentioned attics, something bad happened there. I always told the boys that I never went in attics because there were monsters there.”

“And you are how old now?”

“I’ll get a flashlight.

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