Twice in a Lifetime Read Online Free

strongest women her daughter had ever known. When her husband had unexpectedly died in an automobile accident when Clara was a little girl, Christine had refused to let it keep her from living her life or raising her child as best she could. As Sunset’s librarian, she had an encyclopedic knowledge and was ready and willing to help answer any question. A well-schooled pianist, she played in recitals, at church services, and at the town’s annual Fourth of July picnic. She had plenty of friends, ladies with whom she gossiped, played bridge, and shared recipes. Everyone in town loved her.
    But then, a little more than two years ago, something changed.
    It began innocently enough; Christine complained that she couldn’t find her house keys, or that she had forgotten the name of her cousin’s youngest daughter. Clara hadn’t paid her mother’s memory troubles any mind. But then, one Sunday morning at church, Christina had repeatedly stumbled over a stanza she had played hundreds of times before. At her daughter’s insistence she had gone to the doctor, but nothing had been found to be wrong. Still, the problems worsened; she blanked on the names of lifelong friends, repeated questions again and again, and forgot to pay her bills. Finally, last year around Christmas, Bob Herring had called Clara to say that Christine had been sitting in her car out in front of his grocery store for more than an hour; when Clara arrived, her mother burst into tears, fearfully admitting that she couldn’t remember how to get home.
    Slowly but surely, Christine began to distance herself from her friends, afraid that she would say or do something foolish. She quit her job at the library. She even stopped playing the piano. On the outside, she looked like the same person she had always been. But on the inside, Christine was withering away.
    It was painful for Clara to watch. Eventually, with some prodding, she had managed to convince her mother to move in with her, as much for Christine’s safety as her daughter’s peace of mind. While making ends meet became harder than ever, there was simply no other choice.
    “Did I hear the truck drive in?” her mother asked after she sat at the table. “I thought you were still in bed.”
    “I…had a few errands to run,” Clara lied, thankful that she was getting some eggs out of the refrigerator and her back was turned; that way, Christine couldn’t see her face.
    “So early? What was it that couldn’t wait?”
    “Something for the bank…”
    “Well, I just hope that Theo Fuller appreciates you,” her mother said, taking a sip of coffee. “It’s not often you find an employee so devoted to their job that they’d get up before sunrise on their day off!”
    Clara had worked at the Sunset Bank and Trust since the war had conscripted most of the town’s men into the service; after Joe’s death, she’d stayed on. So while what she was telling her mother wasn’t the truth, at least it was believable. But the lie was still distasteful; though Christine had confused Theo for Eddie Fuller, the man’s son, who now ran the bank, Clara felt no need to correct her mother.
    “What about Tommy? Is he still sleeping?”
    “No, he…He left when I did…”
    “That boy! Always up to something! The way he burns the candle at both ends, it’s a wonder he sleeps at all,” his grandmother exclaimed. “It seems like only yesterday he was racing down the steps on Christmas morning, wondering what Santa had brought him. Of course, he’s almost grown up now. It won’t be long before he leaves to start a life of his own.” With obvious pride, she added, “With the job you’ve done raising him, I’m sure he’ll end up right as rain.”
    Clara cringed; she had purposefully left her mother in the dark about Tommy’s acts of mischief. Christine had enough problems of her own. For his part, her son behaved differently around his grandmother, more polite, more like the boy he used to be. Clara knew he