Afterthoughts Read Online Free Page A

crept toward the kitchen, she
rubbed her eyes, ran both hands through her long brown hair and
rubbed her stiff neck. Harry pounced along beside her, happy to be
up and about. “A nice, long, hot bath is just what I need,” she
whispered to herself as she opened the door and Harry bounded
outside. She crossed to the counter and scooped coffee into the
filter.
    As the coffee brewed, she stepped back
outside to pick up the paper. Instead of opening it, she tossed it
on the kitchen table, afraid to look at the front page. She knew in
her gut that the suicide of the late Senator’s son would be
front-page news and at that, she decided not to turn on the
television. Rolling her head from side to side, she walked over to
the phone on the kitchen wall, took it off the hook and laid it on
the counter. She had already turned off her cell phone the night
before. She knew that Sarah was with Aileen and would be
fine.
    With a deep sigh, she paced the floor,
thinking.
    Paige remembered when Anthony
approached her in college to talk to her about Sarah. “I’m crazy
about her, Paige. Do you think she’d marry me?” he asked her with
his big handsome smile. Paige could tell he was nervous about
asking her this question.
    Paige tried to smile at him even
though she was a little jealous.
    “ She’ll say yes in a
heartbeat. The two of you are made for each other. I wish I could
find what you guys have.”
    Anthony gave her a big hug, “Sarah’s
lucky to have you. She loves you, ya know.”
    “ Thanks. I love her too,”
Paige gave him another hug, smiling.
     
    Paige thought of Richie’s
letter as she shuffled into the bathroom to draw a bath. She added
her favorite vanilla scented bath salts and lit all the candles
that lined the garden tub. This was the way Paige knew she could
think best. She loved to soak in a warm tub, surrounded with subtle
light and wonderful scents. This was the only pampering she did for
herself. She enjoyed a simple life with simple things. She didn’t
fuss over her hair or make-up and her furniture and apartment were
plain and not cluttered. Harry was her only personal responsibility
and if he had thumbs, he could let himself out. Hmmm, maybe I’ll get a doggie door.
    As the tub filled, she
returned to the kitchen to pour her coffee. “A little coffee with my cream and sugar,” she tried to laugh at herself as she poured most
of a container of half-n-half in her cup. She looked out of the
window and saw her neighbor walking the little Norfolk terrier she
brought home the month before. “Amazing,” she thought to herself,
watching Jeanne go back into her house with the little dog and
noticing that they both had short spiky orange hair. “They’ve only been together a month and they
already look alike.” Paige wondered if she
and Harry looked alike somehow.
    She smiled again as she
headed back to the kitchen door to let Harry in. After locking the
door, she walked to the bathroom, slipped off her robe and gown and
lowered herself into the hot water until only her face was visible
through the bubbles. She let the warmth of the water surround her
and soothe her. She tried not to think of the day before but the
vision of Richie hanging from the rafters kept creeping back into
her thoughts. “Be calm Paige. Don’t think
about it. Everything is fine. Forget it,” she kept hearing a voice say over and over. She sipped her
coffee as she soaked in the warm tub, trying to let the sensations
relax her mind.
    Suddenly, she fought off the urge to
forget it. She tried to think of Sarah and what she needed to do to
help her. She had to figure out what was going on with Richie; why
he did what he did to himself? Tears poured down her cheeks as she
realized she still had no answers.
    She remembered how Sarah had been
there for her in the past. Sarah hadn’t done anything special other
than listening when Paige needed to talk, or to giving her the
space she needed when she didn’t want to.
    She smiled as she