Admission of Love Read Online Free

anywhere to truly enjoy it,” Chloe said wryly.
    “Or enough time to find a man,” Anika said pointedly. “It’s been three years since you dropped you know who, you know.”
    “Yes I do know.” Chloe threw a withering look at her. “And you know that I’m not looking for anybody. If I wanted a man I’d have one, thank you very much. Don’t hate me because I’m not in the market for heartbreak.”
    “Okay, okay,” Anika conceded. This was an old argument she knew she would not win. She rolled off the bed to check her impeccable appearance.
    “You are always on the go,” she said purposely changing the subject. “I get to see you a good twelve times out of the year. I don’t know where you get the energy, girl.”
    “I don’t know where I got the energy from either.”
    “Huh?” Anika turned from the mirror where she was applying one of the dozen tubes of lipstick Chloe owned. The shade was a deep mahogany.
    “A few months ago I finally told Liv I was retiring. She’s not accepting any more offers for me after June of this year.”
    Anika gasped in shock before regaining her cool composure. “Well, that’s good for you, girl. You have been complaining a lot lately. And we both know what you promised Mama Dell.”
    Chloe nodded. “I know. That’s the first thing that crossed my mind. I promised her I’d quit when I stopped enjoying it.”
    Anika turned back to the mirrored wall, skillfully applying the lipstick. “Lawd knows you’ve made enough money, and you will be remembered as one of the black model trailblazers in fashion. I’m proud of the dedication you’ve shown your work, even if I didn’t see the necessity of you half naked in nothing but a thong and a smile to sell perfume.”
    “Ha ha ha.”
    “So what are you going to do now? You’re only thirty-three for goodness sakes!” Anika snorted. “Hardly the age to truly retire.”
    Chloe had pondered the same thing many times since her decision. Quite frankly she wasn’t sure, although she has some ideas, like dedicating more time to charities. “I do know that I want to travel and just relax and enjoy all the places I haven’t had a chance to explore because I was working. I’m also tired of New York living.”
    “I hear that. That’s why I live in New Jersey. It’s not quite as bad as New York,” Anika side.
    “It ain’t much better either!”
    “Funny,” Anika said sarcastically as she applied blush to her high cheekbones. She jumped suddenly, startling Chloe.
    “What?” Chloe asked, concerned.
    “How about that land Mama Dell left you down south?”
    “In Holtsville?”
    “Yeah, now if that’s not a 180-degree change from the Big Apple, what is?”
    She had completely forgotten about the acres of land she’d inherited. Her mother had loved the small town where she had been born and raised. She’d lived there until she had moved to New York at eighteen. Now the land that her mother had cherished was hers.
    Her mind wandered to the stories her mother told her about growing up in Holtsville. The spacious, grass-filled land to run and play in; the animals her father raised; miles and miles of empty, uncongested land with tall trees and wildflowers; the still of the night; the fresh, home-grown foods and home remedies for whatever ailments they had; and the tight knit community, where no one was a stranger even though the nearest neighbor could be a quarter-mile away. Life moved at a slower, more easy-going pace.
    South Carolina. Known as “down south” to anyone who lived “up north”.
    Chloe could only imagine it because she couldn’t remember anything about the yearly trips she and her mother made there. She had only been an arm baby and later a toddler. The trip stopped suddenly when she her grandparents had been killed by a drunk driver in a tragic automobile accident. Her mother had been an only child of two people who also had no siblings, so there weren’t any more family members to travel to see in