Mrs. W — The kitchen faucet is leaking. May need a new washer. — vs.
Mrs. W — I found an earring under the sofa cushion. Pearl. It’s in the small dish near the door. — vs.
Sometimes she was at home. On those days, she
usually stayed out of my way. She would sit in the living room with a book or on the back porch with a cup of tea. When I passed her, she nodded. When I was finished, she would walk through the house and say thank you.
From time to time she asked a question.
“How’s your daughter?”
“She’s fine. She is in fourth year. She likes to draw.”
“What is she drawing?”
“Houses, mainly. She draws houses all the time. Small floor plans. Where do the rooms go. She says she’s going to build her own house one day.”
Mrs. Whitaker nodded. “It’s a good ambition.”
And that was all. That was the whole conversation. She returned to her book. I went back to cleaning.
This first winter I had a problem. Willa’s school closed for three consecutive days of snow, the week of a Thursday. I had no one
