Audra stared out the window, a pair of half darned stockings forgotten in her lap. When her children weren't around she would allow her mask to slip and her melancholy to rise to the surface. It had been a whole year since her husband had died. The pain was only a dull ache now but it was in quiet, solitary moments that it made itself known. Theirs hadn't been a romance to inspire a novel but she had lost a very dear friend and suddenly the ground beneath her feet wasn't so solid and certain as it had been. Grown though her children might be she didn't want them to see her troubled by such things, and besides they were the perfect balm and distracted her magnificently.
The despondent look on her face vanished in a flash as the sound of footsteps snapped her out of her reverie. "Ford!" Audra smiled at him as though she hadn't had a sorrowful thought on her mind in years. "Yes, I'm in as good a spirit as ever. I hope the same can be said of you?" There was a note of uncertainty in her voice as she sensed some unease about him.
Since his father had died their relationship had inexplicably changed. He was now head of the family and suddenly she was more his responsibility than he was hers. Between grief and the unexpected burden of great responsibility she found herself struggling to be a mother to him without coddling him like a little boy. The time for that had passed and he would surely not appreciate it. So the only way she knew to be of help to him was to do all she could to see her daughters married and provided for, although it wasn't wholly altruistic for her greater motivation was admittedly a little more selfish. Simply put, she enjoyed trussing up her girls and proudly flaunting them.
The despondent look on her face vanished in a flash as the sound of footsteps snapped her out of her reverie. "Ford!" Audra smiled at him as though she hadn't had a sorrowful thought on her mind in years. "Yes, I'm in as good a spirit as ever. I hope the same can be said of you?" There was a note of uncertainty in her voice as she sensed some unease about him.
Since his father had died their relationship had inexplicably changed. He was now head of the family and suddenly she was more his responsibility than he was hers. Between grief and the unexpected burden of great responsibility she found herself struggling to be a mother to him without coddling him like a little boy. The time for that had passed and he would surely not appreciate it. So the only way she knew to be of help to him was to do all she could to see her daughters married and provided for, although it wasn't wholly altruistic for her greater motivation was admittedly a little more selfish. Simply put, she enjoyed trussing up her girls and proudly flaunting them.
