holidays. She was always partial to Thanksgiving and Christmas. After you and Emmie got here, she was downright prickly when it came to using the good stuff and fancy cooking. Like I said, itâs a Blue Diamond Farms tradition. Now, are you just going to stand there, or are you going to help me? I really donât need any help, so the decision is yours.â
âI guess Iâll just take my feet and go upstairs if itâs all the same to you. You washed the curtains! Everything is so clean and shiny. Iâll tell Maud.â
Carmela made shooing motions with her hands to indicate Nealy should leave the kitchen. Nealy obliged. In the dining room she sat down on one of the twelve chairs surrounding the table and stared at the flowers. Yellow roses with gobs of babyâs breath and delicate green fern, Maudâs favorite flowers. She herself was partial to tulips.
Nealy reached into her shirt pocket for a cigarette, a disgusting habit sheâd picked up several years ago. She didnât smoke much, only when she was under pressure, like today. Sheâd spent the entire morning in Maudâs room, listening to her ragged breathing. She knuckled her eyes to ward off the tears that were threatening to overflow. Surely God wouldnât call her today, Thanksgiving, of all days. She puffed furiously, the left hand holding the heavy coffee mug shaking uncontrollably. She set it down carefully, then crushed out her cigarette in a crystal dish on the sideboard. Her hands were still shaking. She sat on her hands the way Emmie did sometimes when she was being reprimanded. Shift mental gears, Nealy, she told herself. Think about something else. Since today is Thanksgiving, think about changing into something other than Leviâs and boots. Emmie, too. Maybe some makeup. A little perfume. Think about dressing up like a girl for a change.
Maud and Jess had been so happy. And now this. It wasnât fair. Good people like Maud and Jess should live forever.
Maybe she should think about her burgeoning bank account. Maybe she should think about how well Emmie was doing in the special school. Or maybe she should think about her brothers and her father. In that order, her account at First Nation Bank was robust, and so was Emmieâs account. Sheâd literally saved all her money from the day she arrived at Blue Diamond Farms and was put on the payroll. She had $64,833 in her account while Emmie had $9,011. Maud had been overly generous with the salary sheâd paid her and the bonuses at Christmas. Emmieâs was mostly gift monies and her allowance, plus the bonuses Maud insisted she get at Christmas, too. She could buy herself a car or truck if she wanted. She could take Emmie on vacation someplace, maybe Hawaii. She knew she wouldnât do any of those things simply because there was no need to do them. Emmie would absolutely wilt if she wasnât around the farm and the horses. She was a straight A student. Her penmanship was exquisite. Her thirst for learning was unequaled. She whizzed through her homework and never asked for help. She had one friend, a young boy who could speak but couldnât hear. Emmie doted on Buddy. They wrote notes to each other and played together on alternating weekends. Jess approved of Buddy and his family. And, like Emmie, he lived to be around horses and the barns. If Emmie ever thought about her grandfather or her uncles, she never mentioned them. That was another life. It was probably better this way, Nealy realized.
She didnât want to think about her father or her brothers, though she did wonder from time to time if either Pyne or Rhy had married.
Nealy focused on the dining room she was sitting in. Maybe it was time to change the wallpaper and do a little painting. Just to lighten things up a bit. The wallpaper was cracking in the corners and peeling away at the baseboards. Maybe something bright and lively, with some fresh green plants. New curtains
âI guess Iâll just take my feet and go upstairs if itâs all the same to you. You washed the curtains! Everything is so clean and shiny. Iâll tell Maud.â
Carmela made shooing motions with her hands to indicate Nealy should leave the kitchen. Nealy obliged. In the dining room she sat down on one of the twelve chairs surrounding the table and stared at the flowers. Yellow roses with gobs of babyâs breath and delicate green fern, Maudâs favorite flowers. She herself was partial to tulips.
Nealy reached into her shirt pocket for a cigarette, a disgusting habit sheâd picked up several years ago. She didnât smoke much, only when she was under pressure, like today. Sheâd spent the entire morning in Maudâs room, listening to her ragged breathing. She knuckled her eyes to ward off the tears that were threatening to overflow. Surely God wouldnât call her today, Thanksgiving, of all days. She puffed furiously, the left hand holding the heavy coffee mug shaking uncontrollably. She set it down carefully, then crushed out her cigarette in a crystal dish on the sideboard. Her hands were still shaking. She sat on her hands the way Emmie did sometimes when she was being reprimanded. Shift mental gears, Nealy, she told herself. Think about something else. Since today is Thanksgiving, think about changing into something other than Leviâs and boots. Emmie, too. Maybe some makeup. A little perfume. Think about dressing up like a girl for a change.
Maud and Jess had been so happy. And now this. It wasnât fair. Good people like Maud and Jess should live forever.
Maybe she should think about her burgeoning bank account. Maybe she should think about how well Emmie was doing in the special school. Or maybe she should think about her brothers and her father. In that order, her account at First Nation Bank was robust, and so was Emmieâs account. Sheâd literally saved all her money from the day she arrived at Blue Diamond Farms and was put on the payroll. She had $64,833 in her account while Emmie had $9,011. Maud had been overly generous with the salary sheâd paid her and the bonuses at Christmas. Emmieâs was mostly gift monies and her allowance, plus the bonuses Maud insisted she get at Christmas, too. She could buy herself a car or truck if she wanted. She could take Emmie on vacation someplace, maybe Hawaii. She knew she wouldnât do any of those things simply because there was no need to do them. Emmie would absolutely wilt if she wasnât around the farm and the horses. She was a straight A student. Her penmanship was exquisite. Her thirst for learning was unequaled. She whizzed through her homework and never asked for help. She had one friend, a young boy who could speak but couldnât hear. Emmie doted on Buddy. They wrote notes to each other and played together on alternating weekends. Jess approved of Buddy and his family. And, like Emmie, he lived to be around horses and the barns. If Emmie ever thought about her grandfather or her uncles, she never mentioned them. That was another life. It was probably better this way, Nealy realized.
She didnât want to think about her father or her brothers, though she did wonder from time to time if either Pyne or Rhy had married.
Nealy focused on the dining room she was sitting in. Maybe it was time to change the wallpaper and do a little painting. Just to lighten things up a bit. The wallpaper was cracking in the corners and peeling away at the baseboards. Maybe something bright and lively, with some fresh green plants. New curtains
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