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“She and Dad were there forinto their retireree Anurse for her is the least I can do”
But when Sa, books and knitting piled in cartons in the back of her car giving her an unpleasant sense of déjà vu, she quickly realized that there was much more she could do to repay her mother
The two-story colonial had always gleamed beneath herrooe when she relieved Mel and received a whispered status so as not to wake their napping mother Then Sam carried the first pile of clothes into her old bedroom
Dust visibly coated everything and not a light layer either Balancing her box on one hip, she dug a tattered tissue out of her jeans pocket to wipe off the surface of her desk She put the box on the newly dusted desktop then looked at the tissue It was black She’d have to give the rooht the rest of her things in
It looked as if her mother hadn’t dusted since Sam’s last visit home at Christmas The holiday had been just a few months after her father’s sudden death and everyone was still in shock They’d tried so hard to act happy for Mel’s kids, it had been painful She’d hurried back to finish her final year of school, leaving early to escape the strained at re father
Curious, she looked in on the shared bathroom Mold stained the corners of the walls and discolored the shower curtain Dirt gathered in the nooks and crevices beneath the fixtures, and the once pristine grout was gray and cracked The neglect wasn’t lie both relieved and disturbed her
Mel’s room and the master bedroom were not obviously dirty But now that Sa between the curtains and the s, and lines of dust crusting the folds of the curtains
The first floor, where her mother rested in her father’s old recliner in front of the forty-two-inch plasinally cleaner than upstairs But even there, dust gathered around the bases of furniture and darkened laazines and newspapers covered the dining room table and cobwebs skirted the kitchen cabinets
In fact, the only room that seemed up to herto pick her up would see, with the unforgiving Florida sun streaht any dust or spider webs
The house had obviously not been cleaned inout waterproof gloves, cleaning solution, a bucket and a rag She’d start in the kitchen
Half an hour later she’d emptied the black water in the bucket three tiray and the kitchen was as clean as she could make it She had no idea what the sticky stuff on top of the refrigerator had been but felt er anywhere near the food
As she was rinsing out the rag hertea?”
She dropped the rag into the sink and hurried into the den “It’s Sa up the kitchen”
Herin newly etched lines “Samantha? When did you arrive?”
“I got in about half an hour ago You were resting and I didn’t want to wake you” Sam leaned down and kissed her mother’s cheek “Mel called and told me what happened I came down to take care of you”