An Old Fashioned Southern Romance Novel Read Online Free Page A

while Annabella barricaded herself in the house sipping on the staleness of tap water. She was supposed to be having fun too. After all, it was her vacation. She was the one who nearly had a nervous breakdown after mowing down her neighbor’s girlfriend. She replayed the event over and over again in her head, convincing herself that subconsciously she did it on purpose in a jealous rage. She was about to start doing it again when she heard the sound of keys rattling at the door.
    “What do you have to say for yourself, young lady?” Annabella demanded to know.
    “One would have to have had carnal knowledge to become someone’s mother, Annabella. That being said, you most certainly do not qualify to be mine.”
    “Don’t you have any shame?” Annabella attempted to make her accountable.
    “The only thing I am ashamed of is that you are my closest and dearest friend. I shudder to think tha t I could do no better than you,” Caroline retorted.
    “Where have you been?” Annabella continued to press.
    “With Chad, of course.”
    Annabella tossed herself backwards onto the bed and collapsed with her arms in the air. “Just kill me! Just kill me now! I will never be able to live this down!”
    “Annabella, you are positively the most dramatic belle in all the south. But, in case you didn’t notice, we are not in the south anymore. Things are more progressive up here. ”
    “I am not the least bit concerned with the racial makeup of one Mr. Chadsworth Montgomery. I am sadly more concerned about your virtue, or lack thereof.”
    “Oh, please, Annabella. My virtue has long since dissipated. Even I don’t miss it anymore. Now, don’t you want to know all the details?”
    “Never! Lest I find myself impregnated by the mere lascivious details of your meaningless romp .”
    “I don’t know what you just said, and I’ve known you most of my life.”
    “I do not want to hear one word,” Annabella assured her friend.
    “Fine. I wi ll just go get some rest for our date tonight,” Caroline bragged.
    “Tonight? You are going to see him again?”
    “Of course. He is a lot of fun and he is so charming. He’s not like-”
    “Like what, Caroline?” Annabella pressured her friend.
    “Nothing.”
    “Go ahead and say it. You know you want to.”
    “I am not racist, Annabella.”
    “Me think ye doth protest too much, Caroline.”
    “He’s just not like other Black people I know.”
    “Caroline, what other Black people do you know?”
    “Like Hattie. He’s not gre edy, selfish, ignorant.”
    “How is it that my housekeeper always ends up in our conversation? Why do you hate her so much?”
    “You want the truth, Annabella?” Caroline asked.
    “Of course I want the truth, ” Annabella continued.
    “The truth is that she is the reason you are the way you are. She always put you on a pedestal and made you think you were the Queen of the World. No one and nothing was ever good enough for her Annabella. And now look at you. You are getting old, Hattie is on her way out the door, and you are about to be all alone.”
    Annabella was stunned. Sh e had no idea her friend felt the way she did. She was not hurt by the revelation, but certainly surprised. She thought for a moment before she spoke.
    “It’s funny how two people can take two different paths in life, yet end up in the same place. You had a housekeeper too. She left you too. And now look at you. You are a ll alone too. Your prospects are no better than mine. The truth is that we will probably end up alone together .”
    Caroline dropped her head and walked away.
    “So, is it true what they say?” Annabella tried to perk up her friend.
    “I wouldn’t know. He barely kissed me.”
    “Why Caroline Cordelia Collinsworth, are you saying you are an unscathed woman?” Annabella teased.
    “For now,” she smiled.
    Annabella and her longtime friend lay on the bed next to each other with their hands tucked under their chins and their feet in the air. They