AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It had been a while since she’d written to him. If she hurried, she could bake a batch of brown sugar drops tonight, then get a care package ready to mail to him tomorrow. She’d collected a few things she thought he might enjoy, like a new book Jason had recommended, and packages of Jared’s favorite gum and candy. Jared loved Fruit Stripe gum and was the only one in their family who preferred Butter Rum Life Savers to any other flavor. Just for fun, she planned to include some Pixy Stix and a few boxes of Lemonhead candy.
Attention centered on the letter she wrote, describing the weather, the wall she and Cindy had painted in their apartment’s bathroom, and family news he might not have heard, she sucked in a gasp when her friend yanked open the car door and plopped onto the passenger seat.
“Man, I am beat. Let’s go home.” Cindy set her purse between her feet and looked over at Grace. “You look awful.” Her nose wrinkled. “And what is on your uniform?”
Grace glanced down at the stains on her dress and shook her head. “You don’t want to know.”
“You’re right. I don’t.”
Grace ripped from the tablet the pages she’d written on and tucked them into her purse, then started the car. “Any side trips on the way home?”
“Not tonight.” Cindy rolled down her window and rested her elbow on the door, drawing in a deep breath as she visibly relaxed. “Gosh, it was a long day, wasn’t it?”
“No argument from me.” Grace wondered what had happened to make her sunshiny friend look more like a raincloud. Cindy worked in the administrative offices at the hospital, but most often, she ended her workday with the same chipper attitude with which it began.
Grace might have found it highly annoying if she hadn’t loved her friend so much. Cindy had always been sweet and cheerful. Even after losing her fiancé, she’d managed to offer comfort to those around her while she had stoically worked her way through her grief.
Two years later, Cindy remained alone and unattached, and Grace worried she might never date again, but if time truly healed all wounds, then perhaps love awaited Cindy somewhere in the future.
Love had proven to be quite an elusive thing, at least where Grace was concerned. Then again, she’d never been deeply in love with anyone. Not the way Cindy had loved and been loved. Grace longed to have that kind of soul connection with another and often dreamed of the day she might have a husband and family of her own. She was so busy with work and everything else in her life she didn’t have much time or energy left for dating, even if she’d met someone who sparked her interest. Which she hadn’t. Not yet. But a girl couldn’t give up hoping to find true love.
She tried to recall the last time she’d been on a date as she drove to their apartment building located halfway between the hospital grounds and the Boise River near the zoo. The building was only a few years old, and the apartments had a long waiting list, but Cindy’s uncle knew someone who was friends with the building manager and had gotten them into an apartment when they’d decided to move to Boise. It wasn’t overly spacious, but it was clean and safe, and the rent was affordable.
“What do you think of noodle goulash for dinner?” Grace asked as she pulled into her parking space at the apartment building. It was her turn to cook since they traded off every other night. A trip to the grocery store would need to happen soon, but she thought they had enough ingredients to make the simple dish that was filling.
“As long as you’re cooking, I’m all for it,” Cindy said with a grin as she rolled up the window and got out, locking the door behind her.
Both sets of their parents had lectured them about being careful, taking precautions, and not assuming a bigger city like Boise, in comparison to their small town of Holiday, was always a safe place for two young women.
So far, neither of the girls had run into any trouble. Then again, they rarely stayed out late and avoided the seedier parts of town.
“I’m so glad tomorrow is Friday,” Cindy said as she held open the door to the lobby.
“You and me both. I’m so grateful to be on a day schedule now. Working nights was terrible, and so was working weekends. I feel very fortunate to work in the office with Dr. O’Brien. Even Dr. Bernstein and Dr. Robinson are tolerable on most days.”
Cindy nodded in agreement as they walked over to the mailboxes on the wall and retrieved their mail.
Grace glanced down at a note from the building manager letting her know she had a package to pick up. She held up the yellow notecard so Cindy could see it. “Want to come with me to retrieve whatever this is?”
“Sure.”
Together, they made their way to the building manager’s door down the hall on the main floor. Grace knocked and listened as she heard someone holler that they were coming.
“Hey girls,” the older man said as he pulled the door open with a smile. “Got a box right here for you, Miss Marshall.”
“Thank you, Mr. Crocker.” Grace handed him the notecard, then accepted the box he held out to her.
“It’s got some weight to it. Postmark is Holiday. Assumed it must be from your folks.”
Grace nodded, wondering if the snoopy old man had removed the brown paper wrapped around the box and investigated it or had managed to hold back his curiosity enough to let her be the first to open her own mail. “Thanks, Mr. Crocker. Have a nice evening.”
“You girls do the same.” He was already closing the door before they could turn around and head to the stairs. They lived on the second floor of the three-story building. The basement held a nice laundry facility, which was great since Grace had to wash her uniforms frequently. Grateful she had one clean dress to see her through her last shift of the week, she knew she’d spend part of her Saturday scrubbing stains out of the white fabric, then pressing the uniforms so they looked crisp and fresh.
“Wonder what you got?” Cindy asked as they made their way up the stairs, turned down the hall, and used her key to unlock their door.
“Whew! It’s warm in here,” Grace said, stepping inside and heading straight for the windows in the living area. She set her box and purse on the floor by the couch, pushed the curtain aside, and opened the window, letting in the fresh air.
Cindy did the same with the window in the kitchen before they both went to their rooms to change. The apartment offered a small kitchen with a little dining area between it and the living room. Two bedrooms were on either side of a short hallway with a bathroom located at the end. There was one closet in the hallway where they stored linens and another by the door where they kept their coats. The space was efficient if not roomy.
