Gilda's Locket Read Online Free PDF Page A

day she was questioned about her health, so much so,
that she began to wonder if maybe wasn’t coming down sick. Her
complexion was a bit off, and she wasn’t feeling all that well, not
that she could ever say she’d had a day in the last ten years when
she’d felt completely healthy. Nevertheless, she began to think
maybe it would be wiser to call in the next day. Upon reaching the
house she forced herself to cook a healthier dinner, complete with
vegetables, though she regretted the time it took both to make it,
as well as to eat it. She was nearly breathless with anticipation
by the time she was able to look through the pictures. Still, she
was wide awake when it came time for bed, and she found it
necessary to take two of the sleeping pills in order to drift off.
But, once again she had chosen wisely when it came to the picture,
the dream was a joyous one, with no regrets. Still, not exactly
blissful, but certainly good.
    The next morning she gave in to temptation
and called in sick at work. Just as she had suspected, they were
quite understanding, telling her to take all the time she needed,
no worries, her job would be there waiting for her. A new picture
and a couple sleeping pills later, she was drifting off into sleep.
This time the dream was interrupted by the insistent ringing of the
phone. She was still groggy when she answered, and it took her a
moment to realize she was listening to her voice on the answering
machine advising the caller on the other end to listen for the beep
then leave a message. She almost hung up and let the machine deal
with the caller, when responsibility got the best of her.
    She waited out the machine then said, “Hello?
Hang on a minute, the machine picked up.”
    “Mother?” It was Scott.
    “Yes, dear. It’s me.”
    “What are you doing home? I thought you’d be
at work?”
    ‘What are you doing calling me when you
thought I wasn’t home?’ was the better question, but she didn’t ask
it. Instead, she said, “I was feeling a little under the weather,
dear, that’s all. Nothing to worry about. What were calling
about?”
    With Scott there was always a reason for a
call, he wasn’t one to call just to check in. Not even when his
father was sick. Correction, when his father was dying.
    “It’s a business call. I was calling about
those investments of Dad’s.” Scott was a stock broker, a very
successful stock broker. He had grown up to be everything his
father ever could have wished for. He lived a comfortable, if not
wealthy, lifestyle in upstate New York. His college education mixed
with his own natural intelligence and determination had made him
quite successful. And if he was a bit selfish and single-minded it
was only because he had been raised virtually as an only child. The
fact that she had worked so hard to make up for the lost time after
Cynthia’s death may have added to his being a bit spoiled, but
there were worse things she supposed. She only wished that he could
have spent more time with his parents. But she understood his
dedication to his job.
    It was that steadfastness that had destroyed
his one and only marriage, his wife finding that she would rather
spend time with her husband, than spend her husband’s money. Scott
never could understand that, and though Gilda never told him so,
she understood his ex-wife’s thinking completely.
    Scott was childless, which was probably a
blessing since any child of his would be virtually ignored by him,
and though Gilda supposed there had been other women in his life,
none of them had ever led to a serious relationship, or if they
had, Eldon and Gilda had never been told about it.
    Her son was destined to be a bachelor to the
end of his life, she was certain, and though sometimes she worried
about the loneliness of his existence, she couldn’t have argued it.
After all, she herself had had a family, a husband and two
children. And where was she now, if not completely alone? There
were no exacts in life, that