Palmetto Moon Read Online Free PDF Page A

shoulder before disappearing down the hallway. “If you’re not there, you don’t eat.”
    I open the screen door and step into a large parlor with drab burgundy furniture. There are no pictures over the fireplace and no personal items that might make the house look like a home. A telephone table is to the left of the stairs, with a cardboard sign that says, BOARDERS MAY NOT USE THE PHONE . From the clatter, I’m guessing the hallway from the living room leads to a kitchen and, maybe, a dining room. I take my suitcase upstairs, looking for some clues about Miss Mamie, something I can use to butter her up, but there is nothing.
    The room she assigned me is fine, really, although the bed looks more like a cot. There’s a basin to wash up with and at least one bathroom that I saw in the hallway. Yes, this should do just fine, but I can’t decide if unpacking is confident or bad luck, so I put the suitcase on the luggage rack and lie down. Just for a moment.
    “Pretty.” I hear a child’s voice and awake to see three lovely boys inspecting me. The youngest, who is maybe four, strokes my hair again. “Pretty.”
    I prop up on my elbows and smile at them. “Hello, my name is Vada.”
    The serious one nods and grabs the little boy’s hand. “I’m Daniel. These are my brothers, Peter and Jonathan.”
    “Jonathan,” the little one echoes.
    “It’s nice to meet you boys.”
    “You missed breakfast and lunch,” Daniel says. “Our mother told us to get you up for dinner. Her name is Claire. You’ll like her.”
    “I’m sure I will.” He nods and punches the middle brother, who said something under his breath. “What did you say, Peter?”
    “I’m sorry, he was being rude.” Daniel gives Peter another shot in the arm.
    “
Owww,
” he whines and hits his brother back. “I said you don’t
look
like a reprobate, and you don’t.”
    I laugh. “Good to know.”
    For three young children, they’re awfully quiet as they make their way down the stairs. A lovely woman dressed in black, not much older than me, pokes her head out of the doorway. “You met my boys.”
    “Yes, they’re adorable.” I straighten my dress, which looks like a disaster after being slept in. It slips off of my shoulder and I push it back up. “I must look a mess. I’m Vada.”
    “Claire Greeley.” Her smile is friendly. “You’re very beautiful, Vada. I’m sure Daniel’s already head over heels for you. He is at the age where he’s noticing girls.”
    “What does his father think about that?”
    Her smile fades and she looks at the floor. I say I’m sorry, but she shakes her head like she can’t bear another apology that won’t bring her husband back. She pinches at the shoulder seam of my dress and laughs when it falls down my arm again. “I could fix that for you, if you want.”
    “Really?”
    “I take in sewing, alterations mostly. I’m happy to take your dress up, maybe after the boys go down for the night.”
    “Thank you, Claire, you’re so kind.”
    “And so grateful to have another woman in the house.”
Besides the horrible Miss Mamie.
We look at each other like twins, amused at identical unspoken thoughts. “Better come to supper, though. Miss Mamie normally doesn’t care if we miss meals, but after you missed breakfast and dinner—”
    “What?”
    “She says if you miss another meal, she’s going to throw you out for being sick.”
    “Can she do that?”
    “I respectfully told her you’re no Typhoid Mary, but it is her place. She does anything she wants.”
    Claire has a sweet face full of a thousand questions she is too polite to ask. “Thanks for telling me.”
    “Of course. I look forward to getting to know you, Vada.”
    The door closes behind Claire. In her absence and without the thrill of convincing the old bat to let me stay, I see the room for what it really is. The gray flowered wallpaper looks like it might have been lavender at one time. Wild roses meander in an intertwining