Rainwater Read Online Free PDF Page A

unqualified love and the fear that even that might not be sufficient to protect him.
    Mr. Rainwater came to his feet and held out his hands. Ella took the dustpan off the nail from which it hung on the wall and extended it to him. He carefully placed the chips of broken dishware in it. “Those are the larger pieces. There are some slivers I couldn’t pick out of the starch.”
    “We’ll watch for them when we clean up.”
    He turned to the sink and washed the starch off his hands, then dried them on a dish towel. She would have felt awkward making herself so at home in someone else’s kitchen, especially a stranger’s. He seemed to suffer no such self-consciousness.
    She set the dustpan on the floor in the corner. “Margaret, could you get out the lunch things while I speak with Mr. Rainwater?”
    “Yes, ma’am. You want me to get this baby’s lunch, too?”
    “Please. Peel an orange and section it. A butter and grape jelly sandwich, cut in half. Put them on the blue plate he likes.”
    “Yes, ma’am. You tend to the gentleman here.” She smiled at Mr. Rainwater, obviously pleased that he was about to join the household. His willingness to help during an emergency situation had earned her hard-won approval. “Them sheets need hanging, but they can keep till after lunch.”
    “Thank you, Margaret.” Ella turned and gestured the man toward the hallway. “Mr. Rainwater?”
    “We can talk here.”
    Ella preferred not to discuss business in the kitchen, where, as anticipated, the temperature had climbed. She was also worried about the sheets in the washtub that needed to be wrung through the wringer, probably twice, before being hung on the clothesline to dry. She was afraid that Margaret would get heavy-handed with the bacon grease, which she was prone to do. Margaret was also a gossip. On several occasions Ella had been forced to chide her for sharing personal information about their boarders and about Ella herself.
    Her major concern, however, was Solly, although the red marks on his skin had faded so they were barely visible now, and the burns didn’t seem to be hurting him. For the moment he was pacified.
    She wasn’t. The accident with the starch had left her frazzled and distracted. She’d been further shaken by what Dr. Kincaid had told her about Mr. Rainwater. Although her livelihood depended on keeping her house filled to capacity, to take in a dying man was an unappealing prospect on numerous levels, not the least of which was that she already had her hands full, what with keeping her other boarders happy and dealing with Solly.
    However, Mr. Rainwater’s unfortunate circumstance was the only hindrance to his being a suitable boarder. On that basis alone, how could she live with her conscience if she refused to rent the room to him?
    Dr. Kincaid should have informed her of his condition first, before she’d agreed to let him the room. Mr. Rainwater should have told her himself. The omission had left her at a distinct disadvantage, and he was placing her at one now by discussing business in the presence of her talkative maid.
    Trying to keep the resentment from her voice, she said, “You’ll find envelopes in your nightstand drawer. There’s a collection box for your rent on a table under the stairs. I collect the rent each Monday, but you’ll pay me the first week in advance before you move in. Is that satisfactory?”
    “Yes. Fine.”
    “To avoid confusion, don’t forget to write your name on the envelope before leaving it in the box.”
    “I won’t.”
    Knowing what she now did, she found his steady gaze even more unsettling. She was relieved when Margaret drew his attention. “Here, sweet pea. Here’s your lunch fixed just the way you like it.” She set the blue plate on the table in front of Solly.
    Solly didn’t respond either to Margaret or to the food. He continued to rock, continued to wind the yo-yo string around his finger.
    “About meals,” Ella said, drawing Mr.