Page 15 (1/2)

All day Rosalie had been fluttering about the house, getting ready for their daughters&039; arrival Harry was exhausted by all the activity around hied the sheets on the beds and while he wanted to help her with the guest roo a word, his wife seemed to realize how much he hated his physical limitations Twice she made a special trip into the faive hiet here tomorrow afternoon," Rosalie announced for about the tenth ti first, and Lorraine and Kenny will drive over on Christ then, too Did I tell you that already?"

He nodded Her memory wasn&039;t the proble incessantly was soh Harry wasn&039;t constantly talking about his daughters&039; visit, he felt the sairls had spent Christ to Dr Snellgrove, this would be his last Christmas on Earth, and for Rosalie&039;s sake, he wanted it to be a good one; having their daughters with theirls don&039;t want you to worry about cooking," Harry reminded his wife There&039;d been two or three conversations that very day between his daughters and Rosalie Lorraine had insisted on ordering a special ha it with her Donna had a scalloped potato recipe she planned to hters were taking care of those, as well And Rosalie was baking the family&039;s favorite pie for Christ been deter over cookbooks Harry didn&039;t knohy But seeing her this involved raised his own spirits

She hadn&039;t el Not since he&039;d told her about it Afterward, Harry had done quite a bit of thinking That angel had been real As real as Rosalie Most important, she&039;d been there, at his side Harry would never have made it back to bed without her

That led hi doctor had told hi close Harry could feel it Every day he seeroeaker Every day it became more difficult to accomplish even the si When he&039;d finished brushing his teeth, he was nearly too weak to stand

"I thought I&039;d bake cinna as she stalked through the fa every which way, swirling up dust left and right

"Rosalie," Harry protested

"Sorry, sweetheart, but I want the house to look its best for the girls"

In a blur, his wife dashed past hiy, Harry couldn&039;t even i up the sofa pillow, squeezing it hard, then pounding it into place Harry couldn&039;t help s

"Rosalie," he called out "Sit down ayou"

"I don&039;t have time to sit"

"I need to talk to you"

"All right, all right" The way she breezed into the roo&039;s entrance on her television show in the fifties He&039;d seen that ered in his mind to this day Rosalie had been every bit as beautiful as Loretta Young back then Still was, in his opinion

"Sit" Harry pointed to her chair, which stood next to his own They shared an end table and a lae of her seat, signaling her iet on with her work

"I was thinking we should talk about Liberty Orchard"

"Harry Alderwood, I told you - I don&039;t have time to talk about this now"

"Please?" he asked quietly It had been weighing on hih that the neighbors could probably have heard if they&039;d been listening "Must we?"

"It would put ain, accepting that he wasn&039;t going to let this drop "Fine If you feel it&039;s that irateful If possible, he&039;d like Rosalie&039;s future settled before the girls arrived He kneas necessary to set things in motion, which ency that his recent heavenly visitation had only heightened He e all of this

"You said you didn&039;t want to think about an, "but - "

"I don&039;t," Rosalie broke in "I&039;ve got enough to do with the girls and their husbands coree"

She seemed surprised by that

"But," he added before she could crow at her apparent victory, "I&039;d be more comfortable if we told the administrator we&039;ve decided to take the unit"

Rosalie hesitated "Do you really think a few more days will make that much difference?"

"Yes," Harry said firive me peace of mind"

Rosalie folded her hands in her lap "I don&039;t know, Harry"

"What&039;s to know?" Dear heaven, Rosalie couldn&039;t have changed her mind already, could she?

"Harry, we&039;ve been in this house for so ive it up like thisI don&039;t think I&039;m ready"

"You said - "

She held up her hand "I knohat I said Yes, we had a good time at Liberty Orchard Lucy&039;s always been a persuasive person And at first I was excited to see ain, but now" She let the words fade and refused to meet his eyes

"But now?" Harry prodded

"Now I&039;m not sure we should be in such a rush Let&039;s talk to the girls about it soree with ree with you, too, Harry But why do we have to do it right thisto be hard on me to leave this house, you know"

"I know For me, too" It would be even harder for hioing to call the adasped

"If we change our minds, we&039;ll only be out a few hundred dollars" Despite what Rosalie thought, Harry was convinced Mrs Golds He believed someone else was interested in that unit So he wanted to make the deposit immediately

"A few hundred dollars?" Rosalie repeated in a stunned voice "Since when have we ever had money to burn, Harry Alderwood?"

As children of the Depression, Harry and Rosalie had lived frugally They&039;d budgeted their entire lives and saved ten percent of every dollar earned Neither one wasted anything Rosalie even kept those plastic bags fro people these days didn&039;t know the value of a dollar And credit cards! He&039;d seen et into financial trouble because of those cards

"This will be money well invested," Harry assured his wife

Rosalie continued to look uncertain "If you&039;re positive this is what you want - "

"It is," Harry said, cutting her off "You know, Rosalie, that angel was real"

She frowned

"I needed help I collapsed and I couldn&039;t get up I wouldn&039;t have ed without her"

Her frown deepened "You&039;re on a lot of medication"