Souled [Editing]

Chapter 5

After dinner with Nate the night before, Meredith felt like she was walking on a cloud. She woke up bright and early, put on her best dirty yard work clothes, and headed to the garden. It was officially the weekend and the flowers were looking shabby.

Later that night Ella wanted her to go over to their house and help pack their things away. They made an offer on the house they looked at and they felt confident that it was going to go through.

It was a warm morning and it was the perfect one to garden. She set outa radio on the front porch steps and connected her iPod to it. She hummed or sang alone to the music as she weeded, fertilized, and watered. By midday, the sun was directly above her and beat down on the back of her neck. She wiped away some of the sweat with the back of her arm. She felt the dirt on her glove leave a trace on her forehead.

The flowers bent slowly towards the sun. They looked healthier than they had in a couple weeks. She regretted neglecting the garden for so long, but she wasn't going to do it again. She stood up and really examined her work. Compared to the now manicured garden, the lawn needed to be mowed. Ten minutes later, she had the lawn mower running and the long, dark grass was finally getting trimmed.

Spending time outdoors and gardening was one of Meredith's favorite things to do. She was a green thumb and it was something that she had been raised around. Her parents liked to spend time in the garden and since she was a toddler she had been playing around, or in, gardens. It was something of a therapy for her as well. Something about the easy motions and care that went into keeping plants was calming and reduced her thoughts. In her backyard, she purchased a hammock and suspended it between two trees in order to spend more time outdoors. It ended up being the perfect place, and her favorite, to read, relax, or even look for any job openings at publishing houses.

She cut the lawn mower's engine and looked around again. The mower's tires created lines where she mowed and they were still visible, but the grass was even and looked much better than it had a minute ago. She rolled the lawn mower back to the small shed in her backyard and locked the door.

A glance at her watch told her it was already two and she had to be leaving her house at six. She still had so much to do before she needed to leave. Ella said that they would order out, but Meredith insisted on bringing something over.

After a brisk shower, she started riffling through her cabinets, wondering what she could make. She spied a box of uncooked pasta and on the shelf above there was a can of alfredo sauce. She picked both of them and carried them to the counter. In her fridge, she grabbed the package of chicken breasts and placed those next to the other ingredients.

Cooking was one of those things that Meredith wished she had more time for. She enjoyed spending time in the kitchen, especially if she grew any herbs or vegetables in the garden. That was rare for her to do, though. She was excellent at keeping flowers and other plants alive, but when it came to growing basil or mint or oregano she could not keep it alive long enough to really use the herbs.

When the food was all cooked, Meredith dumped it into a large, decorative bowl and placed cling wrap on top. She padded to her bedroom and yanked the towel off her head. Most of her hair was dry and she did not have any plans to see anyone besides Ella and Josh so she pulled half of it up and let the other half do whatever it wanted. She changed into her favorite pair of shorts and a t-shirt before sliding on some tennis shoes.

She quickly debated on whether or not to drive her car. Ella was only a little way down the road and it seemed to be more of a fuss than anything else. So she shrugged on her favorite zip up hoodie and stepped out the front door.