“Anytime. Come back soon!” Getty called after her.
Carolina opened the door and headed for her car.
Next stop, laundromat.
Chapter 8
Carolina dug around in her purse for some loose change. When she realized all she had were bills, she went to the counter of the laundromat.
“Excuse me. Can I get some change?”
The woman with dark black hair looked up from her romance novel. “We’re out of change. I sent Marcus over to the bank. He should be back soon.”
“Thanks.” Carolina carried her soggy sheet filled with her clothes back to the plastic chairs. She took a seat and looked at the time on her watch.
It was only nine in the morning. The day seemed to be ticking slowly by. Her room wasn’t going to be ready for several hours. After eating breakfast she was tired and desperately wanted a nap.
But she didn’t have the luxury.
Twenty minutes later a young man wearing athletic clothes and headphones sauntered into the laundromat. He set a brown bag on the counter and then headed back outside without even a glance in her direction.
She stood and walked back over to the lady manning the counter.
“You have change now?”
“Sure do. How much?”
Carolina slid a ten-dollar bill toward her. The woman counted out change in quarters to her.
She ended up filling two washers with her clothes. While she waited she pulled out her phone to check her emails to see if there were any messages from her attorney.
Nothing so far.
She pulled up a book on her phone and tried to read to pass the time.
When she was younger she used to read all the time. But as the years passed, Chris seemed to require more and more of her attention.
She gave up the things she used to love, to do things to satisfy him. Nights of reading with a cup of tea turned into nights of watching crime shows and football that she really didn’t like.
She even tried taking up golf which he loved to do. She wasn’t that good, but she figured it was an activity they would be doing together. It didn’t turn out that way. He ended up playing with his friends while she was left to sit alone in the country club restaurant.
Anger and grief welled inside of her.
How much had she done and it still had not been enough for him?
Now she was left with a house that had a severe leak and was waiting on instructions from yet another man, her attorney, to tell her what to do.
She buried her head in her hands.
Twenty minutes later the washer dinged and she loaded her wet clothes into the dryer.
Another hour passed slowly. When her clothes were finally dry, she folded each item and placed them in three neat piles.
She asked permission to borrow the rolling cart to get her clothes out to her car since she didn’t have a laundry basket.
The woman hesitated but finally relented.
Maybe she could see the desperation written all over her, or maybe it was just pity for someone who clearly hadn’t been prepared to visit a laundromat. Whatever it was, Carolina didn’t care.
