Read Online Color of Loneliness by Madeleine Beckett - Free Book Online Page B

that kind of love someday. But she knows she probably never will.
    “Yes, they were,” Jim thoughtfully agrees, looking at the picture with her. “Take a look at this one.” He passes her a photo of her mother, Gina, sitting on the couch in Grampie’s house with Myra – who looks to be about a year old – being bounced playfully on her knee. Gina has her head tossed back, laughing blissfully while Myra’s little hands are in the air. Myra smiles as she stares at her chubby, grinning self. But she blinks back tears when she stares longingly at the face of her beautiful, happy mother whom she misses so terribly.
    Quickly wiping away a tear, she picks up a picture of Jim, his wife, Emma, and their daughter, Barbara. “How’s Barbara doing?” she asks while staring intently at the photo.
    “She’s doing wonderful. She and John still live in Boise, and she’s still teaching. Did you know they came and spent two weeks with me last summer?” he asks as Myra shakes her head. “We had such a great time together. John’s still an architect and doing really well at the firm he works for.” Jim picks up another photo and hands it to her.
    “How’s Jackie? I haven’t seen her in a few years,” she asks while looking at a photo of Barbara holding a tiny Jackie in her arms.
    Jim starts laughing. “She’s doing as well as Jackie can be doing, I suppose.” He shakes his head pensively. “That granddaughter of mine is something else. She decided she wants to go to culinary school of all things. She’s always changing her mind: first it was art school, then fashion school, now culinary school. I wouldn’t put it past her to enroll in clown school next.” They both break out into a fit of laughter.
    The two of them happily spend the next hour going through photo after photo, reliving old memories.
    “I want you to take these with you and keep them,” Jim says as he gathers a bundle of photos for her. “I have plenty more. Emma had a bit of an obsession with the camera back in the day.” He shakes his head, smiling. “There are a lot more around here somewhere. I just have to find them.”
    “Thank you. These mean so much.”
    “I know they do,” Jim says softly with a tender look on his lined face.
    * * *
    As Myra lies in her bed staring intently at the wall, her mind races as she pours over the events of the day. There are so many things to think about: the sink, the water outage, the contractor, Derek – she shivers at just the thought of him – Jim, the photos. She can’t quiet her thoughts enough to even begin to try to sleep. Huffing, she flips on her back and stares up at the ceiling.
    She freezes. Her eyes widen. She heard a noise. Almost like someone tapped on the wall. Her heart stutters before beating painfully in her chest as the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Holding her breath, she remains stock still as her ears strain. She listens intently for the sound again.
    Hearing nothing, she lets out a breath and her chest heaves. Reaching towards the nightstand, she quickly flips the light on and grabs the quilt tightly with both fists as her eyes dart around the room.
    With her heart still pounding, she grabs a book off of the nightstand, hoping it will distract her from the terrifying noises in her old house.
    * * *
    The next morning, Myra picks up her cell to call Susie, but instead, just holds the phone in her hand, staring down at it. She really wants to ask her about Trent. But she knows they’ve probably already made up over the little fight they had and are the happy little family right now. Just the thought of that makes Myra’s chest hurt. So she decides she doesn’t want to know.
    Sighing, she dials Susie’s number.
    “Hi, hon. Is the contractor there?” Susie asks immediately.
    “Don’t start. I’m not in the mood.”
    “No, I’m being serious. Is he there? You did hire him, right?”
    “Listen, I had a really bad day yesterday. I had a pipe in the kitchen leak and