Best Lesbian Romance 2014 Read Online Free

barrels. A boy crouched down, peeking between a donkey’s legs. A baby sleeping in a makeshift crib sculpted from sacks of oranges.”
    Annie couldn’t help but smile. “That sounds like you. Never doing what everyone else does. Do you have the photographs with you? I’d like to see them.”
    â€œI’ve got a few prints, but I sold the negatives.”
    â€œYou sold them? Who to?”
    â€œA magazine.” Lizzie’s tone gained a sharp edge of excitement and possibly pride. “It’s the first money I’ve ever made for myself.”
    Things were becoming clearer, and Annie could guess where they were heading. “How long could you live on it?”
    â€œOh, not long at all. But the magazine said if I had other photographs, they’d like to see them.”
    â€œYou’re thinking you can make a career of it?”
    â€œI don’t know. For the last year, I’ve been putting aside some money from my allowance. Daddy doesn’t know. It’ll see me through a short while, but beyond that…” She sighed. “I don’t know. I really don’t know.”
    â€œAnd this is what you’re wanting my advice about?”
    â€œYes, Annie. What would you do if you were me?”
    Wisdom be damned. Annie took a large mouthful of champagne, and then another. If Lizzie went, if she never saw her again, could she bear it? But how could she be less than fair? And what hope was there, even if Lizzie stayed? Either way, her own case was hopeless, but at least she could know she had been honest, she had been true. And at least one of them could be happy.
    â€œFor me, coming to America was a big step. But what with me Da not coming home from the war and me Ma with too many mouths to feed, there was nothing for me in Ireland. Myaunt gave me the chance to come over with her, but I didn’t know what to do. So I asked my Gran, and you know what she said?”
    Lizzie tilted her head to one side. The rhetorical question needed no answer.
    â€œShe said, in life it’s the things you don’t do you end up regretting the most. And my Gran was right. Life has been better for me here. I’d have been a fool to stay behind.”
    â€œYou think I should give the photography a go?”
    â€œYes. And I don’t think you’ve much to lose. Even if it doesn’t work out, if you came back with your tail between your legs I’m betting your father would welcome you back with open arms, just to show he’d been right all along.”
    â€œBut could I bear to give him that satisfaction?” Despite her words, Lizzie sounded happier.
    â€œThen don’t fail.”
    Lizzie’s answer was no more than the softest of laughs. Her body relaxed and her head dropped. For a long time she stayed in place. Clearly her thoughts moved to something else. At last she drew a deep breath and raised her head. “There’s one more thing.”
    â€œWhat?”
    Instead of answering, Lizzie left the doorway and picked up the bottle to refill her glass. For a moment it looked as if she would reoccupy her previous spot, but after two hesitant half steps, first one way, and then the other, she crossed the summerhouse and threw herself down on the bench next to Annie, so close their knees were almost touching. Annie felt the tension flare up inside, her skin at the same time too hot yet icy cold. What more could there be? She clasped her hands together around her glass, frightened they would reach out of their own accord.
    Lizzie held out the bottle. “You’re empty.”
    Annie let her fill the glass, fighting so the trembling of her hands did not betray her. She risked a sideways glance. Lizzie was concentrating on the task, her lips pursed in concentration—like a kiss. When Lizzie leaned to put the bottle on the ground, Annie quickly looked away, before their eyes could meet.
    â€œThe places I’ll be traveling,