Janice was putting some limbs in the fireplace. She bent down and struck a match.
“What are you doing?” Carolina hollered as she ran over and blew out the match.
“I’m building a fire. It’s freezing in here. Besides I like a fire when it’s cold outside.”
“You can’t build a fire until the fireplace has been checked out and cleaned. Otherwise you might burn the whole house down.” She pointed to the wood. “Where did you get that wood?”
“In the backyard.”
Carolina scowled. “There wasn’t any wood lying around in the backyard.”
“I sawed it off the tree. I found a handsaw outside.”
She took three deep cleansing breaths before attempting to speak. “This wood is still green. You can’t burn that kind of wood. It will smoke up the house too much. Besides, cutting those limbs off might hurt my tree.”
“Well, how was I supposed to know? I’m not used to doing manual labor.” Janice lifted her chin and shoved her platinum blond hair away from her eyes. “You know, you were much more enjoyable to be around when you were married to my son. Now, you’re so bitter.”
Shock ricocheted through her body.
Was she turning into a bitter woman?
She really wanted to tell Janice what she thought of her but that would only confirm Janice’s opinion of her and she wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction.
“When are we going out for dinner?” Janice brushed her hands off on the kitchen towel she found on the island.
“We are not going out for dinner. I’m making chili.” She went into the kitchen and washed her hands.
“I don’t want chili. I want a nice steak.”
“Why don’t you go into town? I’m sure there are some wonderful restaurants that have a nice steak on the menu.”
“Go by myself?”
“Sure, why not?”
“Why, I’ve never dined by myself. Only rejects dine by themselves.”
Carolina spun around, anger pulsing in her veins. “I’ve dined by myself. Are you saying I’m a reject?” The voice of her mother reminding her of the fruits of the Spirit played in her head, especially love and patience.
Those two attributes were hard to practice when it came to being around Janice.
“I, uh, I...” Janice stuttered trying to find her words.
“You know what, Janice? Never mind. I’m going to take a hot bath and then cook dinner. Don’t burn the house down in the meantime.” She stormed off into her room locking the door behind her.
Chapter 29
Carolina stayed in the tub until her fingers were wrinkled and the water was cold. She got out of the tub and quickly toweled off and changed. Maybe when she went out into the living room Janice would be gone.
She opened the door to find Phoenix was sitting there waiting for her.
“How’d you get inside?” She cocked her head.
“He was scratching at the door.” Janice had Carolina’s throw from the couch wrapped around her shoulders.
“You let him in?” Carolina gaped. Janice hated animals. Especially large dogs who did not have a pedigree.
“He was going to scratch the glass if I didn’t.” She narrowed her eyes on the dog.
