Underestimated by Jettie Woodruff Read Free Book Online Page B

with me.
    “I almost commented on you being up so early, but
    I forgot that you rise with the chickens every morning,” I
    smiled.
    She licked the strawberry filling from her pastry.
    “I have always gotten up with the chickens. My dad used
    to deliver the newspaper, and I was forced to get out of
    bed at five in the morning to learn some responsibility,”
    she explained.
    I laughed. “How did that work out for you?”
    “Well, I suck with my money, and I tend to do
    things on a whim without thinking them through, but I did
    inherit his inability to sleep once the sun came up.”
    I left Lauren to replenish the one coffee machine
    that the men seemed to be the fondest of. Of course it was
    the plain old black coffee without any flavoring.
    “What are you doing after work?” Lauren asked.
    Oh, no. I am not going to any more bars with you.
    “I am going shopping for some clothes,” I
    answered.
    “Really? Where you going?”
    “I’m not sure. I was hoping there was something
    more around here than the dollar general store.”
    “There isn’t. We have to go into Blain for that.
    They have a really nice mall. I’ll go with you.”
    I laughed at her audacity but was really quite
    envious of it.
    Chapter 3
    By noon the coffee shop had cleared out, and I
    found myself bored. I was anxious to get started on the
    much needed organization of the store, but decided to wait
    until Monday to tackle it. I was still getting traffic and was
    busier than any day that I had been there.
    Lauren and I went into the much bigger town and
    shopped. I realized going from store to store that I had
    never in my life shopped for myself. When I was growing
    up, I wore hand me downs and things from the local
    church or Salvation Army. After I married Drew, my
    shopping was done for me, and I never got to pick anything
    out for myself.
    I felt extremely joyful when I picked out new
    socks. I had spent the last six years in pantyhose or thigh
    high stockings. I wasn’t allowed to wear socks. They
    weren’t attractive enough. I was even excited about the
    cute little cotton panties. If I was allowed to wear panties
    with Drew they had to be sexy, lacy thongs that I hated.
    I stood in front of the rack with my hand on the
    underwear with tiny pink flowers as my mind once again
    drifted back in time.
    Thank God, Lauren pulled my thoughts away rather
    quickly when she noticed I was off in another land again.
    “Maybe if you talk about it, it might help,” she
    said, touching my hand and bringing me back to the
    present.
    I shook my head. “Sorry, I’m fine,” I lied to her
    and myself.
    “I’m going to carry my bags in and I will be over
    with some beer,” Lauren said, once we were in my
    driveway.
    I took the tags from my five new outfits and ran my
    hand across the leather of my new hiking boots. I thought
    they would support my ankles a little better when I
    climbed down the rocky terrain to the beach. I would have
    rather it been a flip-flop kind of beach, but it wasn’t, and I
    was starting to like it just fine the way it was. I sat on my
    rock and watched the waves crash against the rocks for at
    least an hour every evening. My new friend, John, was
    often there, and he and his dog always stopped to talk to
    me.
    Lauren and I sat out on my deck and listened to
    country music and drank a six pack of beer.
    “Levi asked me for your number,” Lauren said,
    propping her feet up to the adjacent chair.
    “Don’t you dare,” I scolded.
    “Don’t you want to start dating? I mean you have to
    be getting frustrated by now.”
    “I am not the least bit frustrated,” I lied, but didn’t
    truly know that I was lying until that moment. Maybe that
    would help, maybe I did need some relief, but I didn’t
    need Levi or any other man to take care of it. I was
    perfectly capable of it myself.
    “How long were you married,” she nosily
    continued.
    I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Six
    years.”
    “Wow. What did you do get