Devil Mail by P. V. Edwards Page B

there was something at work that he needed to attend to.  She made herself a cup of warm lemon and honey, guzzled it down and went back to sleep.
                  The ringing of the doorbell roused her at five minutes past four o’clock. Angela thought twice about rising to answer the door. Few people knew she was home. She would be extremely displeased if it turned out to be a solicitor trying to sell her something. Instead, it was the welcomed sight of Mrs. Craddock bearing a casserole dish.
                  “I made you some chicken soup.”
                  “You’re one in a million, Mom.” Angela’s gratitude was genuine.
                  “I’ll not stop long, I don’t want to tire you out, and I left Trey next door playing with the neighbor’s boy. I’ll just pour some soup into a bowl, put it in the microwave and you can warm it up when you’re ready. The rest I’ll put in the fridge.”
                  Angela had no shame in admitting that she didn’t mind her mother fussing over her when she was sick. She envisaged herself doing the same thing when she became a wife and a mother. “Go back to bed, you look terrible. I’ll let myself out, unless there’s anything else you need.” Mrs. Craddock hustled her towards the bedroom.
                  “No, thanks. I love you, Mom.”
                  Other than a short telephone conversation with Julia, Angela’s evening was uneventful until Aiden telephoned to check up on her. Again, she declined his offer to attend to her in person, stating that her mother was taking care of her.
                  “When do I get to meet her?” Aiden asked playfully.
                  “My mother? All in good time.” Her sustained conversation with Aiden, which carried them into the night, coupled with her mother’s unrivaled chicken soup, was just what Angela needed to lift her spirits.  Her headache had subsided and she felt a little more than a modicum of strength returning. Her throat was still sore though, not helped at all by the couple’s lengthy conversation. As far as Angela was concerned, he was worth the discomfort.
                  By the next morning, Angela’s grogginess had resurfaced. Her day was a repeat of the previous day.
                  “Well, I didn’t expect you in today, judging from the way you sounded yesterday,” Sharon stated when Angela called in. “The trial ended yesterday. Do you want Liz to call you sometime with the details?”
                  “Sure.”
                  “Well, hope you get better over the weekend. I have an out-of-town assignment that I’d like you to cover if you’re well enough to return to work on Monday. Call me as soon as you know, so that I can have all our bases covered.”  Sharon was simply a driven, results-oriented person who despised drama and did not allow emotions to get in the way of work. Her attitude towards Angela was as schmaltzy as it was going to get. The fact that she was prepared to give her the out-of-town assignment on the heels of her sickness, spoke volumes.
                  Aiden, proving to be a creature of habit called at seven o’clock to see how she was feeling, Mrs. Craddock called right after to ask if there was anything she needed, and Matt sent her a ‘feel better’ message, as if all it took to get better was a simple act of volition. The absence of a sunny disposition meant that she could brook no lengthy instant messages from Matt containing wearisome, if not obscure, facts and figures. If she waited until much later to respond, he’d have less time to blind her with statistical analyses.
                  By evening, she felt a little revived, but didn’t feel able to cope with the outdoor exposure that a date with Aiden would require. Instead, they talked on the telephone, with Angela’s