Forgiving Patience Read Online Free

was the only one who could’ve had the house
painted to its former glory. It looked better than she remembered from her
childhood memories. She wondered if that was all he’d done. She had been a
little too preoccupied to have a good look around, but first thing in the
morning she was going to have a walk around and make a list of all the repairs
she needed to have done. Hopefully, it wouldn’t put too big of a dent into her
already diminishing bank account.
    Great, it looked like Garrett was
still working. Anna parked behind a compact car and a late-model Mustang with
two different colored doors. The office was on the small side, but looked very
cute on its corner lot. If she remembered correctly, the office had once been a
residential home. It reminded her of a country cottage, something that should
be sitting in some coastal town. The yard was neatly kept, driveway was paved,
and there were two rocking chairs on the porch—a fixture of every porch in
Patience. There was also a small building in the back, right where the drive
ended. It matched the office perfectly.
    A sign that read Garrett
Tillman Realty hung
above the door. Before she could ring the doorbell, the door flew open and a
petite woman stood just inside the door, looking about to burst with
excitement. Anna didn’t know if she had to pee or if she’d just won the
lottery.
    She looked like she was in her early
twenties. The bumble-bee yellow dress with matching earrings seemed to fit the
woman’s mood and bubbly personality. Her stylish, sleek bob cut made her look
almost childlike. Instead of heels, she wore white Keds .
It seemed like an odd choice, especially on the overly excited woman. Keds seemed boring, and boring wasn’t the word to describe
the person in front of her.
    “Oh, you must be Anna. I’ve been
waiting to meet you. Come in.” The woman squealed with excitement, clapping her
hands at the same time. Anna didn’t know where this enthusiasm was coming from,
because it couldn’t have anything to do with her being back in town. “Do you
need anything—juice, Coke, water?” Anna was finding it difficult to get a word
in.
    “No, I’m fine. What’s your name? I
don’t think we’ve met?”
    “I’m sorry. I always forget to tell
people that. I moved to town about a month ago, so nobody knows me very well
yet. My name is Georgia McKinnley . I was raised in
Georgia, so my mama gave me the name. It’s kind of cool, I guess.”
    Anna thought the woman could have
been Garrett’s girlfriend but highly doubted it. In high school, he’d always
been very soft-spoken and most of the time, stayed to himself. Why he became a
realtor, Anna didn’t know. She’d never really thought of him as a people
person.
    “It’s very nice to meet you, Georgia.
Is Garrett around?”
    “Yes. Let me get him. He’s in his
office in the back. Be back in a sec.”
    Georgia scurried to the back of the
office. The front room was neatly furnished. A small desk sat by the door with
two chairs in front of it. A couple more high-backed chairs sat off to the side
with a small end table that held a small lamp and a few magazines. No pictures
hung on the walls, but she noticed a few on the small secretarial desk. They
were of Georgia and what appeared to be her family. Georgia must work for
Garrett. Now, that made more sense. In one frame there were seven kids with an
older man and woman. If Georgia had just moved to Patience like she said, Anna
figured it was hard on the woman to leave her family. A pang shot through
Anna’s gut. She’d always wished for a big family. She was thankful when she
heard footsteps. It brought her back to reality. She stood up straight, not
wanting to seem like she was snooping.
    “Anna, it’s nice to see you. I wasn’t
expecting you for another week or so.”
    “Em and Tommy’s bride and groom party
is tonight.”
    Georgia chimed in, “I met Em about a
week ago, needed to get my hair done and all. She was just going on and