All Roads Lead Home (Bellingwood) Read Online Free PDF Page B

turned
it all on, the water massaged every ache and pain that painting and hauling and cleaning and scrubbing had delivered to her this week . She didn't indulge in the whole thing very often
because she generally stayed in there so long her skin became prunelike , but tonight, it seemed like just the thing.
    Finally, she turned it all off, stepped out of the
shower and wrapped a towel around her body. She picked through her hair with
her fingers and grabbed another towel to wrap around her head. Walking back across the hall , Polly picked her robe up from the end of the bed, dropped the towel on the floor and crawled in.
Now, she could tear into the basket of goodies waiting for her.
    The first thing she touched was a partially frozen
bottle of water with a few chunks of ice
floating around. There were two small sandwiches cut in half with crust s trimmed away . She sniffed the bread … homemade. Wow.
    The first sandwich was ham and Swiss, and smelled
glorious. The second was a delectable roast beef that threw off its aroma as
she unwrapped its plastic wrap . Beneath those she
uncovered a container of crackers with
cheese cut to size and one more container of grapes. Another package contained chocolate chip cookies and on the bottom of the basket was a napkin wrapped
around a little freezer pack, resting on a rectangular cutting board. A plastic bag
contained plastic ware and packages of mayonnaise, butter and mustard were tucked in the side of the basket . Lydia thought of everything.
    Polly wondered if she took care of everyone in town
like this and then quit thinking after taking a bite of the roast beef
sandwich. It was amazing . She felt decadent and spoiled.
    How had she ever hit this woman's radar? She was never
going to be able to say thank you enough for what Lydia was doing. Then it hit
her. No one had done this much for her since she left Iowa the first time. Mary
had loved her like a daughter and Polly missed having someone around to mother
her. This felt good.
    She finished what she could of supper, scrubbed the
towel through her hair again and tossed it on top of the first. She was going to
have to do laundry sometime this weekend. Polly set the little basket on
the floor under her bed, not wanting to go back downstairs.
    She opened her book and read until she nodded off. The
last time she glanced at the clock it read 9:18. She hadn't fallen asleep so early in months.
    When Polly
opened her eyes again , she was surprised to see it was 7:05. What had Lydia
put in those cookies? She never slept all the way through the night and ten
hours of sleep was glorious . She stretched and yawned, feeling quite lazy and
content. No one was going to be in the schoolhouse today. It was all hers. She
could do whatever she wanted and she decided she didn't want to paint today. She
pulled the blankets up under her chin and looked around. The sun was out and
flooding the floor of her room. Finally she couldn't stand it any longer, sat
up, grabbed her robe and went into the bathroom.
    One look in the mirror over the sink had her laughing
out loud. "Well, that's why I don't take a shower before I go to
bed," she said to herself. Turning on the shower head, she ducked in and
rinsed through her hair one more time. This time, she brushed it out and tied
it into a braid. It wasn't that long, just past her shoulders, but the wet
braid would give her some body for this evening's dress-up affair.
    Back in her room, she pulled on jeans and a t-shirt,
and then filled a laundry basket. One basket wouldn’t do it, so she stuffed a
pillowcase with the excess . She'd been living here for three weeks and suddenly
realized she didn' t know where to do her
laundry, so s he picked up her cell phone
and called Lydia.
    "Good morning, Polly! Did you sleep well?"
Lydia asked before Polly could say anything.
    "I did! What did you put in my cookies?" she
asked.
    "Oh, a little love , nothing more
than that." Lydia said. "You're still coming out with us