Cool Side of the Pillow by Gill McKnight

Author:Gill McKnight [McKnight, Gill]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Fiction, Lesbian
ISBN: 9781602826335
Google: K705YgEACAAJ
Amazon: 1602826331
Publisher: Bella Distribution
Published: 2011-08-16T00:00:00+00:00

ChAPteR ten

Bebe began to notice a difference in the garden. Once a

week she crossed the causeway to grocery shop at the

mall. When she returned with a trunk full of shopping she might

find the hedges trimmed or the lawn mowed and its edges cut into

crisp, straight lines. Borders were mulched and replanted hanging

baskets swung from hooks.

The first time it happened she had telephoned Esme and asked

her to thank Clara, but Esme was as surprised as she was. Clara had

not informed anyone of her intentions. She had simply shown up

and did whatever work needed doing. Esme seemed a little put out

by this development, and Bebe guessed this was because she had

not engineered it.

After that, Bebe became used to odd jobs being done here and

there, in no particular order, and at no particular time. The only common

denominator, and one that vexed her greatly, was that the work always

took place while she was away from the house. She assumed Esme’s

gossiping allowed Clara to time her visits around Bebe’s comings

and goings. At first she felt hurt that Clara might be avoiding her, but

soon realized Clara was squeezing time out of her busy schedule for

the garden work. This made Bebe feel awful. She did not want Clara

making Herculean efforts over her never-ending chore list.

She wished she could see her and thank her, but since Dearhearts

bombed out of the pool competition, Bebe had failed to bump into

Clara at Petty’s again, and walks along the beach always found the

• 123 •

Gill MCKniGht

little shack empty, its owner not at home. Eventually, her Valley

deadline took over her life, and shopping excursions and beach

walks took second place to her writing.

Berry Ripe’s demise from Valley of Our Fathers came with

a discrete off camera pistol shot. It was better that way. An open-

ended exit would allow Carter room to maneuver. Suzzee Wang

might be gone, but Berry Ripe could still be reinvented with a new

actress and a cosmetic surgery storyline plugging the hole in her

head. Stranger things had happened in Valley.

Bebe took a deep breath and hit Send. Her final episode winged

its way to Carter. It might as well have been her Last Will and

Testament. Her letter of resignation would go tomorrow. No point

giving Carter a double heart attack.

“Good-bye old life, hello new. Wherever you are.”

She went to make a celebratory cup of tea when a movement

in the garden caught her eye. Clara was digging in the back borders.

Bebe checked her watch. It was nearly one p.m., lunchtime. Her

hands twitched on the countertop.

She had lain awake most nights, lost in panicked, spiraling

thoughts about Valley and her job, and what she would do next.

She would try to clear her mind of this jumbled morass, blanking

it out and trying to imagine a peaceful, happier place, but somehow

she would always latch on to Clara Dearheart and pick apart every

little morsel she knew about her. Once Clara was in her thoughts,

everything else receded, her anxiety stilled, and she eventually fell

asleep curiously content.

Through the kitchen window she watched as Clara pressed

her boot to the shoulder of the spade and broke open the soil.

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