**Too long a story. Had to break this one in half!**
Exhausted, dirty and dripping with sweat, Jeffery Edwards came shambling back into the house that morning.
Summer had descended and temperatures were on the rise outside, meaning the sensible people were sticking to the comforts of air conditioning. Jeff would have loved it if he could do that too, but he had been assigned the chore of keeping the lawn mowed and so he had no choice. It was work best done early to avoid as much of the heat as possible, but it still left him overheated by the time he finished his work.
Sitting at the kitchen table where she had been dealing with the bills, Donna looked up at her disheveled son with some sympathy.
“All finished?”
Breathing hard, he could only answer with a weary nod, wiping his brow.
“Thank you, honey. You can go and get cleaned up in a moment. For the time being, why don’t you go and sit down for a little while, okay? It’ll give you a chance to cool down and catch your breath. I’ll bring you a glass of ice water in just a moment when I get done paying the bills.”