Tempted by Wanda E. Brunstetter

Paradise, Pennsylvania

Ach nee!” One of the brackets screwed into the wall gave way and dropped to the hardwood floor. The new rod, including the darkgreen shade, crashed to the floor shortly after. “I need to find some longer screws to make that work,” Charles muttered, wiping his hands against his trousers. This is pointless. I’ll get it done later.

He vacated his bedroom, closing the door behind him. Covering his mouth to suppress a yawn, Charles made his way to the living room. The chair he rested in most days squeaked as he flumped against the cushion.

“I wonder what Lorinda would be saying to me right now,” Charles mumbled under his breath, raising his head to observe the multicolored quilt hanging on the wall. “Probably that I get too frustrated when things don’t go as I’d planned.”

The beautiful quilt on the wall was made by someone Charles loved with all of his being. That person was his wife, Lorinda, and Charles thought of her every time he looked at it. They’d been married for two years before Lorinda passed away when her appendix ruptured.

Lorinda mentioned she had abdominal pain, and although Charles was concerned for her, he told Lorinda not to worry about it. It wasn’t until Lorinda spewed reddish-green bile that Charles finally took initiative and got help. But while Lorinda was having her appendix surgically removed, complications occurred, and she moved on from this world soon after.

Charles squeezed the arm of the chair. When the pain in her stomach didn’t let up, I should have insisted she see a doctor. If I had been more attentive to her, she’d still be here with me.

After Lorinda died, Charles promised himself he would never find love again. But since the beginning of the year, he had bobbled back