The four thousand dollar figure for the roof seemed to grow larger the longer I stared at it.
I ran my finger down the column of my savings, which stood at three thousand eight hundred.
If I skipped the dinner, I would still be short of the contractor’s price.
If I went, I could not afford to let Evelyn order for the table.
I took my blue pen from the nightstand and wrote fifty next to Thursday’s date.
I can go, but I must keep it simple.
I had to make sure my own share did not exceed that single bill.
The brown spot on the plaster downstairs was waiting for the next autumn storm.
I closed my bank book with a soft click and stared at the ceiling stain.
Evelyn arrived at ten the next morning, her gold charm bracelet clinking as she set a small, tissue-wrapped parcel onto my Formica table. She did not take her wool coat off, despite the heat rising from my radiator. I was in the middle of cleaning the kitchen counters, trying to ignore the dark plaster ring overhead where the autumn rain had seeped through. The smell of vinegar and lemon oil was strong in the small room.
“Just a little thinking-of-you token,” she said, her voice rapid and light as she adjusted her silk scarf.
I folded the tissue paper back to reveal a ceramic tea-strainer shaped like a bluebird.
The price tag on the bottom was partially torn away, leaving only a jagged white sticker and the word Thrift visible in faint purple ink. I looked from the chipped beak of the bird to the expensive leather handbag on her arm. I adjusted my silver wedding band, turning the metal twice around my finger, a habit that always returned when my mind started to race.
“It is very sweet of you, Evelyn,” I said, placing the bird near the salt shaker. “Where did you find it?”
“At that boutique near the square,” she said, her eyes shifting to the window. “The one with the nice window displays.”
“The one next to the post office?” I asked.
“Yes, that is the one,” she said, though the boutique next to the post office had closed back in August.
“You are always so busy,” Evelyn said, looking around the kitchen but avoiding the ceiling. “You need to learn to relax, Martha.”
