The Widow of Saunders Creek Read Online Free PDF Page B

of a strip mall, I supposed. Five stores shared the L-shaped center. Eli parked the car in front of a quaint little shop with a window sign that read, The Nature of Things.
    “This is my mom’s health-food store,” he said, opening his door. “You can go in there. Hey, she might have something natural for you to take for that hangover too.”
    I gasped, and my jaw stayed dropped as he walked around and opened my door for me. “Eli, if you say one word to your mom about me getting drunk last night, I’ll punch your lights out.”
    He laughed. “Don’t worry. I was just teasing.”
    “Well, good Lord. Don’t give me a heart attack.” That’s all I’d need, starting a life in a town like this where everyone knows your name. I’d never live down being the town drunk.
    He laughed again. “Honey, you’re in corn liquor country—not to mention that the meth capital of the world is just down the road. A night of overindulgence due to grief is nothing to most of the people around here.”
    Eli opened the door for me. One thing about these boys—Jarrodand Eli—they were gentlemen to the core. I hadn’t opened my own door in eight years as long as Jarrod was around.
    When we stepped inside, the conflicting aromas of jasmine, sage, rosemary, thyme, and basil almost made me gag, given my still-precarious state. A sign across the back wall advertised organic meats, including buffalo roast and locally raised chickens.
    Eli’s mom handed a customer a small cloth bag and smiled. Her eyes landed on Eli, and her already beautiful face glowed even more. “Have a good day,” she said to her customer, then slipped out from behind the register and headed toward us. I’d met Mrs. Murdock only once, but I knew she was the youngest sister on Jarrod’s dad’s side. Her eyes smiled the way Eli’s did, and he’d gotten her height. She towered over me, standing at least five foot ten, which to my five foot three seemed Amazonian.
    “Eli, baby,” she said. “You didn’t tell me you were stopping by.” She turned her gaze to me and without asking reached out and pulled me close for a quick hug. “It’s good to see you again, Corrie. How you holding up, honey?”
    My throat clogged at the kindness. “I’m making it,” I said. “Thank you for asking.”
    “Well, I’m surprised to see you out and about after such a long drive yesterday. Of course just a trip to St. Louis tuckers me out these days. That’s the price of getting old.”
    “Sure, Ma,” Eli said with an exaggerated drawl. “You’re real old.”
    “Oh, what does he know?” she said, addressing me. “Now, honey, don’t you dare bury yourself out there at that old farm or I’ll come looking for you.”
    “Yes ma’am,” I said, reverting to my southern belle upbringing. I already regretted leaving the farm today, but I didn’t tell her that. Once I got some food for the house and some cushions for my swing, I probably wouldn’t force myself off the property again until I had no choice. For instance, if I ran out of shampoo or toilet paper or, even more tragically, coffee.
    Eli nudged me and pointed to the sign in the back that said Restroom.
    “Oh, that’s why you stopped in,” his mom said. “And here I thought you missed your mother.”
    He rolled his eyes. “How could I? You don’t give me a chance to miss you.”
    “Fine,” she said with mock hurt. “I’ll stop calling.”
    “Sure you will. Anyway, we’re on our way to Springfield,” Eli explained as I made a beeline to the back. “Corrie has some things to pick up, and so do I.”
    I closed the door behind me, and I heard the muffled conversation. I trusted Eli. He wouldn’t blab my business. But gee whiz, doesn’t a girl have a right to drink herself dizzy on her first night in the house she was supposed to share with her husband? Just the thought of Jarrod’s burial brought burning tears to my eyes. I tried to fight them back, knowing that Mother would be mortified to know