Forever Young: Blessing or Curse (Always Young Trilogy) Read Online Free PDF Page A

they were wrong, even if she produced Mom’s death
certificate.
    Others
found her job skills lacking. “If you only knew spreadsheets, databases or
other programs, we’d hire you.”  
    She
could take courses to beef up her qualifications, but that would mean using up
such precious commodities as time and money.
    Friday,
February 10 came all too soon. After a glum last day at Foster, Dorrie joined
Candace and the other faculty members for dinner at the family restaurant not
far away. They all smiled bravely, though from time to time they openly or
surreptitiously blinked back tears.
    At
home afterward, Dorrie’s stomach churned, as she thought of the fear and
sadness lurking in the eyes of her dinner companions. No doubt they’d seen the
same qualities reflected in hers as well.
    She
had to find a job, but how? She’d followed up on every likely ad, yet the
results were discouraging. Sighing, she stepped into the kitchen to check
again, in case something new had turned up.
    She
stared at the screen, knowing what it said, yet not liking it. Life had turned
out so wrong. The only man she’d loved had died, as had her mother. She missed
them both dreadfully. She also missed her friend who lived miles away. Now to
top off her misery, soon she’d have no income to pay her pile of bills. Would
she soon be homeless? She didn’t enjoy wallowing in self-pity, but how much
more could she take?
    The
phone rang. Dorrie glanced away from scouring the ads. She didn’t recognize the
number on Caller ID. Maybe it was a telemarketer, but she couldn’t take that
chance. It might be someone important. As she lifted the receiver, she decided
it was time to get rid of the landline and save money.
    “How’re
you doing, Mrs. Donato?”
    Guilt
filled her as she recognized Mr. Remington’s distinctive voice. Though queasy
at the prospect of working at the Institute, she should have checked with him
for an opening.
    “Oh,
hi, Mr. Remington. Thanks for calling. How am I? Well, I’d say, life could be
better. I just lost my job at the high school because of redistricting, so I’m
back where I started when I moved out here from Tomahawk. Since getting my
notice a few weeks ago, I’ve been job hunting everywhere, but no luck.”
    “Well,
maybe that will change.”
    “I
hope so. Things are not looking up right now.”
    “Listen,
I’ve already filled the position I mentioned before, but I do happen to have
another, much more intriguing, if you’re up to a challenge.”
    A
spark of hope kindled inside of Dorrie. Would he rescue her from her
predicament?
    “Tell
me more. I’m willing to give almost anything a try.”
    “Mrs.
Donato, why don’t you stop by my office on Monday, say, ten in the morning, and
we’ll go over what I have in mind.”
    After
agreeing and hanging up, Dorrie wondered if she’d done the right thing. Could
she handle going back to the scene of Larry’s accident?  What would it
feel like to gaze at the spot where her husband had breathed his last? She
shuddered, imagining what the impact could do to her fragile state of mind.
    “You’re
a big girl. You’ll get through this,” she said, tilting her chin.
    Still,
it wouldn’t hurt to get a little moral support. Dorrie punched in Jeanne’s
number. She’d already filled her friend in about the school’s closing right
after hearing about it.
    “How’s
the job hunt coming along, Dorrie?”
    “I
don’t have one yet, but I do have a possibility. I’ll tell you about it, but
first, how’s your Dad doing?”
    “Could
be better, to put it mildly. I’d give anything to turn back the clock to before
he fell on the black ice in the driveway, setting off this whole miserable
chain of events. The poor man can’t do anything he loves, like fishing, hunting
or even something so ordinary as walking around the block. Even with medicine,
he’s in such pain that half the time he doesn’t feel like eating. He’s wasting
away, no matter how I keep after him to