Patricia Rockwell - Essie Cobb 04 - Ghosted by Patricia Rockwell Read Free Book Online Page B

fancy black cocktail dress up high.  “Have you ever worn this?”
    “Oh, I think I did —once,” said Essie from her recliner.  “I may have worn it to one of your father’s business functions.”
    “It’s lovely!” noted Pru, moving over to her sister to examine the dress.  “Do you want to keep it?”
    “Oh, no,” said Essie.  “Where would I ever wear it?  It’s much too fancy!”
    “I wish I were as small as you, Mom,” added Claudia.  “I’d take it and wear it.”
    “Me too,” added Pru.  “You’re so petite!”
    “Ha!” said Essie, laughing.  “Tell that to Dr. Graves.  He’s always telling me to lose weight.”
    “Do you have any photos of you wearing this, Mom?” asked Pru.  “You must have been stunning in it.”
    “Dad’s eyes probably popped out,” added Claudia.  “He loved it when you wore low-cut dresses like this.”
    “Too low-cut, if you ask me,” said Essie.  “Hmm.  He did like that dress , I think.  Maybe that’s why I kept it.  I can’t remember.”
    “What should we do?” Pru asked Claudia as the sisters looked at the dress, fingering the material gently.
    The three boys returned.
    “All the charity boxes are in the van, Mom,” said Ned.  “Now what?”
    “Start folding the clothes in this pile and put them in a bag and then take them out to the van,” said Claudia, motioning directions to the boys.  The three young men quickly hopped into action and began stuffing clothing into the bags.
    “Give it to charity,” said Essie.  “You’re right.  There’s no place for me to wear something like this now —if I could even fit into it.”
    Claudia added the cocktail dress to the charity bag and the boys gathered the new items and headed out.  Claudia and Pru headed back into Essie’s bedroom, soon returning with more clothes.
    “I wear that!” cried Essie when she saw her favorite top.
    “Good!” said Pru, setting the item aside on Essie’s sofa.  “What about this?”  She held up another item for Essie’s response.  The sisters brought out each and every piece of clothing hanging in Essie’s closet.  If Essie couldn’t remember wearing the garment within the last year, the sisters put it in the charity pile.  Soon they had removed every box, sack, and hanging item from Essie’s closet.  Essie had given her thumbs up or down on each and every one.  But the sisters weren’t done yet.  They now returned carrying armfuls of folded clothes.
    “What’s that now?” asked Essie.
    “These are all clothes that we found stuffed in your dresser drawers,” said Claudia.  She set the pieces on an arm chair and started counting.  “Mom, you have over twenty bras!”
    “And over forty panties!” added Pru.  “How much underwear do you need?  You surely don’t wear all of this.  Most of it ’s new.  The tags have never been removed.”
    “And besides,” added Claudia.  “Pru and I do your laundry every week, and I know I’ve never seen most of this underwear.  So, I know you don’t wear most of it!”
    “Maybe it doesn’t fit,” suggested Essie.
    “Then give it away!” said Pru, “and clear out some space in your drawers!  Mom, if we had this much junk in our drawers and closets when we were kids, you would have killed us!”
    “Don’t be silly, girls!” said Essie.  “I would never do that.”
    “You would have surely made us clean them out,” cried Claudia.
    The boys arrived from outside and Essie motioned to her daughters to cease the discussion about underwear.
    “Okay, guys,” said Claudia.  “How is the van?  Do we have any room left?”  Pru had wandered back into the bedroom.
    “Plenty, Mom,” said Ned, turning and eyeing his brother Bo and his friend Dugan.  “Half full, maybe ?” The two younger boys nodded.  Pru returned with two jewelry boxes.
    “Mom,” she declared , “why do you have two jewelry boxes?”
    “What? ” asked Essie.
    “I know this one that sits on your