Paisley's Pattern Read Online Free PDF Page A

Precious.”
    Sara interrupted. “Grandpa told me he loved two women in his lifetime. But he loved me best. He didn’t love the others at the same time, so it’s OK. I feel bad that I didn’t know my grandma.”
    “Why Precious was never heard from again remained a mystery,” Edna Mae went on. “Mark would a stopped her from taking off if he’d known about you. Imagine how we felt, watching Mark go from a handsome, self-sufficient, and energetic man to a filthy hermit who never washed his clothes, bathed, or cleaned up his kitchen. He lost buttons on his jacket and held it together with baling wire. Totally broke my heart when he turned skinny as a calf with scours.”
    Rob covered his mouth at the same time Paisley snickered. He hadn’t had such a temptation to smile in longer than he could recall.
    Sara startled him with a hug around one leg on her way to join Paisley.
    “Make sure to tell Rainbow she’s in our prayers.” Nora commented to Paisley. “I think she would have got a kick out of our reunion party.”
    “It’s nice of you to think of her,” Paisley responded. “She texted me earlier. Said she had some pain but she’s so busy on the cruise she forgets about it.”
    “Nap sounds good to me,” added Edna Mae. “Welcome to Nebraska, Rob Waverly. See you later, Paisley.”
    “Does whirling dervish pertain to her?” Rob commented. “I feel like I’ve been shaken by an earthquake.”
    The woman called me Waverly .
    “Edna Mae is something, all right. She is a peach of a gal with a touch of odd. She carried her dog ashes in her car for over twenty years. But wait. She’s looking for a boarder so there’s no need to go to a motel, Rob.” Oren reached for the door. “I should have thought of that. You don’t have a room yet, do you? I need to catch Edna Mae.”
    “No, but, I—”
    “Hold that thought.” Oren hastened across both driveways and caught the older woman as her door was about to shut, “Edna Mae, could you come back for a minute?”
    Dog ashes in her car? She seemed more with it than that.
    Rob tried to get a word in, but didn’t know what to say. He’d been swept up by a tide of genuine people who showed how much they cared. He didn’t know how to react to the sudden whirlwind of activity. Paisley hugged him. Sara kissed his cheek. Oren toted his duffle bag from the rental.
    Edna Mae motioned him her way and introduced him to a nicely finished basement apartment with its own separate entrance. “Knock on my kitchen door if you ever need anything.”
    People were just as nuts in the middle of the country as on the West Coast. But he had to admit, they were pretty gracious here in Nebraska. The California pace couldn’t compare to this run of events.
    These strangers felt more like family than any others he’d been around. Then again, how would he know what being part of a real family felt like? He’d walked out on his mom at age seventeen.
    It was plausible he and Oren were related by blood. Would the family here in Nebraska keep in contact with Rob if he returned to the West Coast?
    But now that he’d seen Paisley again, dare he stick around for another rebuff?
     
    ~*~
     
    Paisley changed her mind about going back to Aunt Rainbow’s house.
    Rob stayed at Edna Mae’s and the Waverly family went home.
    She now worked methodically through the kitchen drawers, savoring the silence. She believed the house breathed a sigh of relief right along with her. She wasn’t sure how she felt about Rob staying next door.
    On the other hand, finally knowing who his father was and gaining a brother was bound to help him heal the bitterness he’d carried around all his life.
    And her rejection to his proposal added to his bitterness.
    Would he stay in Norfolk and give this potential family a chance? She laughed at the concept. Friends had no doubt speculated the same thing about her and her mother everywhere they’d lived over the years.
    As much as she enjoyed being by herself,