tours of your life.”
She laughed and appeared to relax, which meant he, too, could relax, at least for a while. Somehow, he hadn’t expected the changes throughout the area to affect him as deeply as they did. What had he thought? That the county and town would stand still during the twenty years he was away? Obviously that hadn’t happened.
A huge discount store now stood in the spot where Mona Garrett’s country store had once stocked the essentials for local farmers and homemakers. Trooper supposed the discount store might meet current needs of the citizens, but he doubted it did so as gently and as colorfully as Miss Mona had.
He caught himself heaving a sigh and figured it hadn’t been his first when Carly spoke up. “You sound like I’m beginning to feel. The effects of our swim are starting to catch up with me and I can barely keep my eyes open. Would you mind too much if we went on home now?”
Trooper couldn’t believe how relieved he felt at the prospect of ending his tour and heading back to Sugar Maple Drive where any changes were slight and cosmetic. “Going back sounds like a great idea to me. Now that you mention it, I’m feeling tired myself.”
Carly’s smile looked far more sincere than any she’d shared with him since they’d left his uncle Roy’s farm. He returned her smile, then turned around in the parking lot of the new medical clinic that had been built on the site of the old skating rink and headed back to Sugar Maple Drive.
Chapter 9
C arly hadn’t been lying to Trooper about being tired. She was looking forward to getting home and resting for a while. Fortunately, Trooper soon turned into her driveway. She thanked him for the afternoon and then, before he could kill the motor, she grabbed her damp towels and hurried to exit his car. He waited until she turned at her front door to wave goodbye before putting his car in reverse and backing out of her driveway.
Feeling more exhausted by the minute, she hurried upstairs to get out of her bathing suit and into the shower. After that, she dressed in baggy shorts and a tee and stretched out on her bed to rest.
She awoke some time later, completely disoriented. Night had fallen while she slept, and since she hadn’t turned any lights on, her bedroom was totally dark.
Grogginess lay like a heavy blanket over her senses, and she turned toward her bedside table so she could check the time on the digital clock. Almost 10:00 p.m.
“Darn it,” she muttered, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and sitting up. She groped for the switch on the lamp, turned it on, and then closed her eyes to shut out the sudden bright light.
She swiped a hand across her face and groaned. Her throat was so dry that it was obvious she had been breathing through her mouth. She got up and stumbled into the bathroom where she downed two glasses of water before her throat began to feel somewhat normal again.
She glared at her image in the mirror. “Hello, Sleeping Beauty—Not,” she muttered. Sighing, she turned and made her way back into the bedroom where she plopped down on the bed. She almost decided to crawl under the covers and go back to sleep, but then her stomach growled.
Knowing she’d never go to sleep if she was hungry, Carly again forced herself to get up. This time she made her way to the kitchen. Finding nothing interesting in her refrigerator, she decided on a bowl of cereal, which she ate while watching the late news out of Knoxville.
“Nothing new on the news,” she grumbled to herself. “Continued heat wave for the next ten days. No big surprise there.”
She turned the TV off and rinsed her cereal bowl before placing it in the dishwasher. “I sure as heck can’t go back to sleep now, so I might as well write for a couple of hours,” she informed FluffBall, who’d followed her into the kitchen and now sat beside her feeding dish glaring at Carly. “But of course I’ll feed you first,” she muttered, “even though
She laughed and appeared to relax, which meant he, too, could relax, at least for a while. Somehow, he hadn’t expected the changes throughout the area to affect him as deeply as they did. What had he thought? That the county and town would stand still during the twenty years he was away? Obviously that hadn’t happened.
A huge discount store now stood in the spot where Mona Garrett’s country store had once stocked the essentials for local farmers and homemakers. Trooper supposed the discount store might meet current needs of the citizens, but he doubted it did so as gently and as colorfully as Miss Mona had.
He caught himself heaving a sigh and figured it hadn’t been his first when Carly spoke up. “You sound like I’m beginning to feel. The effects of our swim are starting to catch up with me and I can barely keep my eyes open. Would you mind too much if we went on home now?”
Trooper couldn’t believe how relieved he felt at the prospect of ending his tour and heading back to Sugar Maple Drive where any changes were slight and cosmetic. “Going back sounds like a great idea to me. Now that you mention it, I’m feeling tired myself.”
Carly’s smile looked far more sincere than any she’d shared with him since they’d left his uncle Roy’s farm. He returned her smile, then turned around in the parking lot of the new medical clinic that had been built on the site of the old skating rink and headed back to Sugar Maple Drive.
Chapter 9
C arly hadn’t been lying to Trooper about being tired. She was looking forward to getting home and resting for a while. Fortunately, Trooper soon turned into her driveway. She thanked him for the afternoon and then, before he could kill the motor, she grabbed her damp towels and hurried to exit his car. He waited until she turned at her front door to wave goodbye before putting his car in reverse and backing out of her driveway.
Feeling more exhausted by the minute, she hurried upstairs to get out of her bathing suit and into the shower. After that, she dressed in baggy shorts and a tee and stretched out on her bed to rest.
She awoke some time later, completely disoriented. Night had fallen while she slept, and since she hadn’t turned any lights on, her bedroom was totally dark.
Grogginess lay like a heavy blanket over her senses, and she turned toward her bedside table so she could check the time on the digital clock. Almost 10:00 p.m.
“Darn it,” she muttered, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and sitting up. She groped for the switch on the lamp, turned it on, and then closed her eyes to shut out the sudden bright light.
She swiped a hand across her face and groaned. Her throat was so dry that it was obvious she had been breathing through her mouth. She got up and stumbled into the bathroom where she downed two glasses of water before her throat began to feel somewhat normal again.
She glared at her image in the mirror. “Hello, Sleeping Beauty—Not,” she muttered. Sighing, she turned and made her way back into the bedroom where she plopped down on the bed. She almost decided to crawl under the covers and go back to sleep, but then her stomach growled.
Knowing she’d never go to sleep if she was hungry, Carly again forced herself to get up. This time she made her way to the kitchen. Finding nothing interesting in her refrigerator, she decided on a bowl of cereal, which she ate while watching the late news out of Knoxville.
“Nothing new on the news,” she grumbled to herself. “Continued heat wave for the next ten days. No big surprise there.”
She turned the TV off and rinsed her cereal bowl before placing it in the dishwasher. “I sure as heck can’t go back to sleep now, so I might as well write for a couple of hours,” she informed FluffBall, who’d followed her into the kitchen and now sat beside her feeding dish glaring at Carly. “But of course I’ll feed you first,” she muttered, “even though
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