27
EVELYN – OCTOBER 1946
Pulled suddenly awake by a noise she couldn’t quite place at first, Evelyn groggily got off the couch and hurried to the kitchen to look at the clock. “Oh, no,” she murmured. “The house is a wreck, and the caseworker will be here any minute.”
She could hear Maryann crying and Juanita telling her to hush. “Mama’s asleep. We can’t wake her.”
Not knowing if she should tend to the crying child, or try to clear the mess of papers and toys and a few dirty dishes from the living room, Evelyn stood rooted to the floor in the kitchen. It had been six months since the divorce. At first, Evelyn had been able to hold fast to the vow that she made after Russell walked out of her life. The vow that she would do everything she could to hold herself together and make a home fo
