As she pulled the car into the circle driveway, she shook her head as she got reacquainted with another of the house's shortcomings: the lots were tiny! On a phone call from her old friend from college, Marie, she joked "I can hand the neighbor a bar of soap through the window." Still, it was home, and she lived here with the man she loved and a wonderful daughter.
She'd even created her own little sanctuary space inside, turning one of the extra bedrooms into a hideaway and steal an hour for herself here or there. There was a wooden daybed, a couple of bookshelves and a stereo boom box in the room.
Inge greeted her when she walked in through the side door. She was from the former German Democratic Republic, was about fifty years old and had a wonderful kind, matronly way about her. Inge had been married, but her husband had been killed during the scuffles that occurred around the time the Berlin Wall fell. Stephen and Linda hired her to help keep the house clean and to look after Hayley. They paid her a salary and her official hours were from seven to four, Monday through Friday. As part of the deal, Linda gave Myrtle to her. Inge found a quaint little apartment in one of the older, busier sections of the city a few miles away and constantly thanked Linda and Stephen for their generosity.
"No. Thank you." Linda would always say.
Inge was such a quiet worker and person that Linda could spend hours in the house during the day and feel as if she was alone. At the same time, Inge had learned English well, and since she'd been to college and had raised two children of her own, she could hold a conversation on just about any topic Linda could think of. As she walked through the house, she found Inge near the fireplace, meticulously dusting all the pictures on the mantel. She was finishing up on some of the pictures to the left, which included her wedding pictures.
Glancing at her wedding pictures always warmed her heart. Linda stepped closer to the mantel to gaze at them. Something about the wedding party picture made her feel queasy, however. She picked up the frame to look at it in her hand. She was in her classic Victorian wedding dress, with the flounces and the train, which was long enough to sweep around all four of her bridesmaids. There was her sister, of course, as the maid of honor, then Becky, Penny, and Lauren! Lauren! She let out a shrieking gasp as she gripped the picture frame with two hands.