Eden's Children by V.C. Andrews

Author:V.C. Andrews
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gallery Books
Published: 2022-10-25T00:00:00+00:00

nine

As I was returning to the kitchen with Mama’s things, Daddy called from wherever he was on the highway. She had gotten up with her crutch and had answered the phone on the wall. She was wobbly, but she looked so enraged I was afraid I’d burn my hand if I touched her shoulder to steady her. When I went for a chair to get her off her good leg, she shook her head. I brought her things into Big John’s den. I knew from the way she was listening that Daddy kept apologizing to her, but she didn’t forgive him and go on to something else the way she often did when he admitted doing something she thought was wrong.

“I’ll tell that to my ankle,” she said. “Next time, when I ask you to fix something, John, maybe you’ll listen. Foresight is always better than hindsight. Anyone who knew your personal history would expect you to know that, too.”

I could almost hear the silence on the other end. At the moment, I was feeling sorrier for Big John than I was for her, even though it was obvious that she was still in lots of pain. After she hung up, telling him to finish his trip and that she would do just fine, she moaned to herself and started back to the sofa bed in Daddy’s den. Her neck strained with what I imagined was the agony shooting up her leg.

“The doctors said you should rest, Mama. When did Daddy say he’d be home?”

She grunted instead of answering and collapsed onto the sofa bed, dropping the crutch. I hurried to pick it up and place it nearby where she could reach it. Mama kept her hand over her eyes.

“Did he say?” I asked softly.

“Day after tomorrow,” she muttered, and closed her eyes.

I kept listening for Trevor. He was taking much longer than I had expected. I was afraid Lance might have convinced him to let him come back here with him.

After a moment, I thought Mama had fallen asleep.

“Do you want me to get you something?” I asked.

When she didn’t answer, I hurried to the front windows to look out at the road. There was no sign of either of them. I thought about calling and started toward the phone in the living room.

“Faith,” Mama called. I rushed back to her. She had sat up again. “Where were you?”

“Just in the living room, Mama.”

“Start wiping down those shelves in the pantry. I have some shelving paper in the broom closet. We’ll have to put it over them before we put anything back.”

“Okay, Mama.” I started to turn.

“Wait. There’s that small electric heater in the garage. Get that first. Ask Trevor to help you turn it on in the pantry so it dries up before we get mold.”

“Okay, Mama.”

She didn’t realize he wasn’t home yet, and I didn’t want to tell her.

She closed her eyes and lay back again but then snapped them open and looked at me because I hadn’t moved.

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