The brown water dripped from the center of the kitchen plaster, hitting the gray linoleum with a heavy, rhythmic tap.<\/p>\n
The contractor, a tall man named Miller, tapped his yellow clipboard against his thigh and looked up.<\/p>\n
He had a smear of dark asphalt on his collar.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is worse than a simple patch job,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n
I adjusted my silver wedding band, sliding it back and forth against my knuckle.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much worse?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Miller pulled a tape measure from his belt, let it snap shut, and shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cFour thousand dollars to tear out the old flashing and lay the new shingles before the November frost,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He wrote the number at the bottom of his yellow sheet.<\/p>\n
My monthly pension check was exactly two thousand dollars.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs the leak coming from the valley?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is the flashing around the chimney,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThe old tar has cracked right through.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan we just patch it for now?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could,\u201d he said, \u201cbut the next heavy snow will bring the plaster down on your stove.\u201d<\/p>\n
He handed me the estimate and walked out my back door.<\/p>\n
The screen door banged twice in the autumn wind.<\/p>\n
The wind on Evelyn\u2019s covered porch three hours later smelled of damp leaves and cold iron.<\/p>\n
Evelyn poured tea from her English porcelain pot, her gold charm bracelet clinking against the rim of her cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are going to the Prime Cut on Thursday,\u201d Evelyn said, her voice rapid and light.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust the three of us, like old times, to celebrate my birthday a week early,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
I held my warm teacup with both hands to keep them still.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Prime Cut is a bit dear for me this month, Evelyn,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNonsense, Martha, it is only a dinner,\u201d she said with a breathless laugh.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must have the ribeye, and those little potatoes they roast in beef fat,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She twisted a small gold teapot charm on her wrist, her fingers moving in quick, nervous circles.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe steakhouse has those twenty-dollar side dishes now,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, who cares about that on a birthday?\u201d Evelyn said, her eyes wide.<\/p>\n
She took a quick sip of her tea, her gold bracelet jingling against the saucer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe only turn sixty-five once, Martha,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
I looked at the manicured lawn of her garden.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have some home repairs to manage,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cRepairs are always there,\u201d she said. \u201cMemories are what we keep.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is just a dinner, Martha, do not make it a federal case,\u201d she said, waving her hand.<\/p>\n
She laughed again, a sound that ended too quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will think about it,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
Clara\u2019s basement laundry room smelled of lavender soap and hot cotton.<\/p>\n
We stood on opposite sides of her folding table, smoothing out her husband\u2019s heavy flannel shirts.<\/p>\n
Clara cleared her throat, her fingers pausing on a collar.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvelyn called me about Thursday,\u201d Clara said in her quiet, schoolteacher voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wants to go to the steakhouse,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
Clara set the shirt down and smoothed it once more.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should be careful with those invitations,\u201d Clara said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe always split the bill, Clara,\u201d I said. \u201cIt is what we have done since we were girls.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clara looked down at the pile of white pillowcases between us.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes people do not change their habits when their situations change,\u201d Clara said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust that some people have more history than they do current assets,\u201d Clara said.<\/p>\n
She picked up another shirt and did not look at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvelyn has her husband\u2019s estate,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
Clara cleared her throat again, a dry, sharp sound in the small room.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust be careful, Martha,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs there something you are not telling me?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Clara folded a sleeve over the breast pocket and did not answer.<\/p>\n
My bedroom was cold by nine o\u2019clock.<\/p>\n
I sat on the edge of the mattress with my worn leather ledger open on my lap.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The brown water dripped from the center of the kitchen plaster, hitting the gray linoleum with a heavy, rhythmic tap.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":862,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kitchenmagic.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kitchenmagic.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kitchenmagic.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitchenmagic.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitchenmagic.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=861"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kitchenmagic.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":863,"href":"https:\/\/kitchenmagic.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861\/revisions\/863"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitchenmagic.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kitchenmagic.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitchenmagic.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitchenmagic.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}