Forgiveness Road by Mandy Mikulencak

Author:Mandy Mikulencak
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2018-12-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

After Janelle returned from the visit with Dr. Guttman, she’d refrained from driving, but not because Caroline demanded it. Her body demanded it. She didn’t know if she’d been this tired all along, or if her cells gave up a little after hearing Dr. Stone’s diagnosis of cancer. Janelle spent day after day sitting on her front porch, reading books that held no interest, but passed the time. She skipped her weekly wash and set at the beauty parlor, and instead let her hair air-dry after showering. Makeup seemed superfluous, as did wearing anything but dungarees and cotton smocks at home.

Many afternoons, Ruth would join her. She sat in Beau’s chair and they played rummy and checkers. Some afternoons, though, they didn’t need cards or words. They stared past the scorched brown grass and knotty willows, not focusing on anything in particular, happy to have each other’s company. The occasional squeak of their wicker rockers reminded them to get up and refill iced tea glasses or grab a bite to eat. Otherwise, the hours passed comfortably.

Janelle and Ruth had been together longer than she’d been married, and like a marriage, their relationship had good years and bad years. Ruth came from a family of women who took care of other people’s households and reared other people’s children. Despite their friendship as children, Ruth became a different person when she took over Janelle and Beau’s household. She went about her chores with a blank face, never engaging in the conversations Janelle longed to have with her.

Janelle’s parents had had money, well at least enough to put on the pretense of having it. When she was young, she didn’t see Ruth as being outside her social sphere even though she was the daughter of their housekeeper. Ruth and her mother hadn’t lived on the premises. Ruth’s father dropped them off each morning at 5 a.m. for a twelve-hour day. The crunch of gravel in the drive would wake Janelle and she’d sprint downstairs, ready to begin the day’s adventures. Ruth’s wicked sense of humor and knack for mischief sometimes resulted in Janelle’s father taking a birch switch to their hides. Neither girl cared. The fun they had far outweighed the punishment. Life seemed so glorious in its simplicity. Not having siblings made Janelle cherish Ruth’s friendship all the more.

Ruth, though, felt that childhood friendships were to be outgrown, especially when she became Janelle and Beau’s housekeeper.

Their friendship never really went away. Sometimes it just appeared dormant, like bulbs planted in the fall that must weather a winter before blooming. Over the years, Janelle and Ruth had more than a few arguments when navigating their new roles. Ruth expected to run a household the way her mother and grandmothers had. Janelle wanted things to be more relaxed. She wanted to have talks like they had as children. Ruth had said that it made her uncomfortable to be overly friendly. Soon, Janelle pulled away and the relationship grew formal, almost stilted. After Janelle gave birth to Caroline, Ruth cared less about the hierarchy in the house.

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