It's Bliss by Alene Roberts Read Free Book Online

niece.
    Billie gave her aunt a hug and a smile. “How’s my favorite aunt?”
    “ Very well, now that you’re here, Billie,” her aunt said, beaming.
    “ Billie, go on upstairs,” directed her mother, “and put your things away and relax. Dinner is almost ready.”
    “ What can I do to help?”
    “ Run along, Billie, I’m helping your mother.”
    “ Yes, go on, dear. There is just fruit to cut up for a salad and Tilly will do that.”
    Billie paused at the door and smiled as she watched the two sisters who were so unlike each other. Her mother was a trim and stately five-foot seven, with gray strands running through her short, dark, nicely styled hair. Her hazel eyes, full of depth and warmth, reflected the care and love she had given to many during her life, especially to her immediate as well as to extended family.
    Aunt Matilda, whom everyone called Tilly, was eight years older than her sister. She was shorter, and slightly plump with short, curly hair that had been dyed blondish-red. Billie wasn’t sure what color her hair was naturally, but thought she remembered it being light brown. Aunt Tilly’s eyes were also hazel but had an intense quality, especially when she was fussing over and giving important advice to a family member. Though not as attractive as her mother, Aunt Tilly was sweet and pretty.
    Billie turned and walked into the utility room and up the back stairs to her bedroom, which looked big to her now. She could fit almost two studio apartments into this bedroom. And the decor was much more expensive and tasteful. Lovely sea green rugs covered the rich, polished oak floor. And the honey maple four-poster bed with its peach and green bedspread and ruffled pillows piled high, was much more comfortable than her pull-out sofa bed.
    Plopping her things on the bed, she opened the suitcase and pulled out a pair of white, knee-length shorts and a blue T-shirt. Pulling off the cotton, empire-waist dress, she put on the more casual clothes.
    It was the end of the third week in July and very warm, so going into the bathroom, she brushed her long, thick, auburn hair and twisted it into a french braid. She studied her face in the mirror. The two pounds she had lost didn’t reflect in her face. To her it still looked plump. She sighed, knowing that if she stayed home more than two days, she would gain it right back. Aunt Tilly’s fussing over her turning down dates, Uncle Henry’s caustic remarks about her becoming an old maid, and Mother’s and Father’s unspoken concerns over her single state, would invariably bring on the munchies. And it didn’t help that all the family were in denial over her weight gain.
    She dashed down the front stairs to find Grandpa Bliss, the only neutral one in the family, the only one whose twinkling brown eyes found humor in the family’s concern over her unmarried state.
    She found him in the library playing a game of chess with Uncle Henry.
    He looked up when she walked in.
    “ Snooks! You’re home,” he exclaimed, smiling. “And what brings my lovely granddaughter home to see her poor, lonely folks?”
    “ Because they’re poor and lonely, Grandpa,” she said, smiling affectionately and walking over gave his wrinkled, grinning face a kiss.
    “ Humph! What brings you home on a Friday night?” grumbled Uncle Henry. “Most young people are out on dates.”
    “ And hello to you, too, Uncle Henry,” she said, leaning down and pecking him on the cheek. “So, who’s winning?”
    “ I am, of course,” replied Uncle Henry.
    “ I let him win now and then so he won’t be so ornery,” stated Grandpa.
    Billie pulled up a chair to watch the game. Instead, she found herself watching them. Grandpa had lived with them for over sixteen years. She was eleven years old at the time he came, and she was sure he had come just to be her friend and confidant. His height of six feet had shrunk some, but he still had a full head of gray hair and lots of energy. He did most of