Best She Ever Had (9781617733963) Read Online Free

Gibbons family rules of gold digging. They had been passed down for generations, starting with the family matriarch, Althea Gibbons, who had used her feminine wiles to go from being a poor sharecropper’s daughter to a millionaire’s wife. But so far Clarissa wanted no part of her family legacy.
    Pity, Cynthia thought, eying her daughter again. Clarissa was a natural beauty and graceful. Many a man would jump at the chance to be with her once she learned how to use the natural gifts God had given her. She could probably go far in gold digging if she gave it a chance.
    â€œGive it time, Cindy,” Yolanda had assured her when Cynthia expressed dismay that Clarissa didn’t want to follow in the family footsteps. “She’ll fall into the fold just like all of you did. Just be patient and give her time.”
    â€œAunt Dawn called while you were out,” Clarissa said casually, pulling her mother from her thoughts. The young woman pushed her magazine aside, stood from her stool, and reached for one of the grocery bags. “She said you still haven’t returned the RSVP for Aunt Stephanie’s engagement party.”
    Cynthia groaned as she opened one of her oak cabinets. She put a box of crackers in the open space on one of the shelves.
    Clarissa frowned. “You don’t want to go to the party?”
    â€œIt’s not that I don’t want to go, sweetheart. It’s just . . . It’s just that I don’t understand how your Aunt Steph could marry a man like that.”
    Clarissa opened a grocery bag and took out a carton of milk. Her frown deepened. “A man like what? What’s wrong with Keith? He seems nice to me!” She opened the fridge and put the carton on one of the shelves.
    â€œYes, he’s nice, but nice doesn’t cut it. He’s just not the caliber of man I thought someone like Steph would go after.”
    â€œUmm, Ma, it’s not like she’s marrying a homeless guy.”
    â€œHe’s a private detective! Do you know how much he makes doing that?” Cynthia snorted. “I bet not enough to buy Stephanie all those designer shoes and purses she likes! Married to him, she might as well start getting used to shopping at Payless and Walmart!”
    Clarissa sighed as she placed bananas on the granite counter near their toaster. “It’s not always about money.”
    â€œSpoken like a girl who’s always had it,” she replied, making Clarissa roll her eyes in exasperation. “Your Aunt Dawn isn’t much better. She’s lucky she has that inheritance from her father coming to her! It was her bad luck to hook up with a corporate lawyer who up and decided to quit his job as soon as they got together. Now he works full-time at a broke-down community center. He probably makes half of what she does—if that! She’ll be the one taking care of him financially!” Cynthia shook her head in disgust as she balled up an empty grocery bag and tossed it into a nearby recycling bin. “It’s like Dawn and Stephanie forgot all the fundamentals that we’ve learned since childhood. They just threw away the family rule book!”
    â€œPlease,” Clarissa muttered under her breath as she emptied a bag of oranges into one of the refrigerator’s plastic storage trays, “not the family rule book again.”
    â€œNow Stephanie is pregnant again! That’s the real reason why they’re getting married! I swear that man cannot keep it in his pants!”
    â€œEwww! Ma!”
    â€œAnother baby on the way. . . . How in the hell are they supposed to—”
    â€œBut they’re in love! ” Clarissa argued, gazing into her mother’s eyes. “They’re in love and they’re happy. That’s what’s important . . . not how much money Keith makes.”
    â€œAww, honey.” Cynthia raised a hand to her daughter’s cheek and rubbed it lovingly. “You are so