Read Online Return to Sullivans Island by Dorothea Benton Frank - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Dorothea Benton Frank
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Besides, this family has enough malcontents.”
“Boy, is that ever the truth!”
“Listen, Beth. If I had a daughter, I’d want her to be just like you. If you ever need anything, not just this year, but ever, you come to me. Come on, let’s close up the house. It’s late.”
Beth thought she would sleep like a stone that night and start taking notes tomorrow. Maybe look for a job when they all left. They went inside, closing and locking the door behind them. Next, they went to the kitchen to make sure everything was put away. There was Teensy wearing a silk nightshirt of all things, sitting at the table, pressing a cold cloth on the back of her neck.
“It’s too hot and humid to sleep,” she said, “I don’t know why this house doesn’t have central air-conditioning. It’s miserable up there! You could die for a breath of air!”
“Oh, let me get you a glass of ice water, Teensy,” Sophie said, checking the knobs on the stove to assure herself they were all in the off position. “It’s only two nights, for heaven’s sake,” she mumbled.
“I’m at a delicate stage of life,” she said with a pout.
Sophie and Beth rolled their eyes at each other.
Beth said, “I’ll bet it’s hot in our room too.”
“Yes, but there are bugs in my room,” Teensy said. “Big disgusting cockroaches. Henry has already killed two. Heaven knows how many more are lurking about.”
“My hero,” Sophie said in a cartoon voice. “They’re palmetto bugs.”
“They’re the state bird,” Beth said, checking the lock on the back door and then the stove. Again. “Or maybe that’s the mosquito?”
Even Teensy had to smile, but she still went on like a whiny sissy.
“You all are used to this. I’m not,” she said in a last attempt to defend her case.
“Used to this? Come on, Teensy, let’s call it a night,” Sophie said. “In less than forty-eight hours you can go back to Atlanta, where apparently they don’t have summer. Or bugs.”
Teensy got up, smoothed out her nightshirt, which in her defense did have a streak of perspiration down the back, but Beth thought, Who wears silk in the summer? Morons, that’s who. She poured them all a glass of water. They went upstairs together and said good night to one another.
Sophie was in the bathroom. Beth checked on Lola and crawled into bed. She could hear her aunt humming as she brushed her teeth. She thought about Aunt Teensy and how pampered and spoiled she was to complain so much. It wasn’t all that hot. And then her thoughts drifted to her Aunt Allison, her temper and her wild ambition—greed really—and she vowed never to become like either one of them. But at least I wasn’t the only one being used for target practice, she thought, and that was a small consolation.
Her Aunt Sophie was so wonderful. She understood everything. And the more she thought about meeting Cecily, the better she felt.
They would be friends and that was nice to think about. But this was no vacation. She was determined to make the year mean something.
The tide had turned and there was a gorgeous breeze in the room. The next thing Beth knew she was dreaming that Confederate jasmine covered the entire house and she was laughing, chasing Lola down the empty beach right before dawn.
3
Family Jewels
W ITH THE EXCEPTION of Allison, who blew out of town so hard she initiated small-craft warnings, everyone else seemed to be relaxed and having a good time reminiscing about the past and big-timing one another about the present. But Allison had served her purpose. It always heightened the family’s mood when there was one relative to throw in the fire along with some mesquite chips. The general consensus was that success had gone to her head and perhaps she really was slightly insane.
It was Saturday night, many pigs had sacrificed their ribs for the occasion, and a classic southern barbecue was in full swing—pork, burgers, coleslaw, potato salad, cornbread, and, of course,
“Boy, is that ever the truth!”
“Listen, Beth. If I had a daughter, I’d want her to be just like you. If you ever need anything, not just this year, but ever, you come to me. Come on, let’s close up the house. It’s late.”
Beth thought she would sleep like a stone that night and start taking notes tomorrow. Maybe look for a job when they all left. They went inside, closing and locking the door behind them. Next, they went to the kitchen to make sure everything was put away. There was Teensy wearing a silk nightshirt of all things, sitting at the table, pressing a cold cloth on the back of her neck.
“It’s too hot and humid to sleep,” she said, “I don’t know why this house doesn’t have central air-conditioning. It’s miserable up there! You could die for a breath of air!”
“Oh, let me get you a glass of ice water, Teensy,” Sophie said, checking the knobs on the stove to assure herself they were all in the off position. “It’s only two nights, for heaven’s sake,” she mumbled.
“I’m at a delicate stage of life,” she said with a pout.
Sophie and Beth rolled their eyes at each other.
Beth said, “I’ll bet it’s hot in our room too.”
“Yes, but there are bugs in my room,” Teensy said. “Big disgusting cockroaches. Henry has already killed two. Heaven knows how many more are lurking about.”
“My hero,” Sophie said in a cartoon voice. “They’re palmetto bugs.”
“They’re the state bird,” Beth said, checking the lock on the back door and then the stove. Again. “Or maybe that’s the mosquito?”
Even Teensy had to smile, but she still went on like a whiny sissy.
“You all are used to this. I’m not,” she said in a last attempt to defend her case.
“Used to this? Come on, Teensy, let’s call it a night,” Sophie said. “In less than forty-eight hours you can go back to Atlanta, where apparently they don’t have summer. Or bugs.”
Teensy got up, smoothed out her nightshirt, which in her defense did have a streak of perspiration down the back, but Beth thought, Who wears silk in the summer? Morons, that’s who. She poured them all a glass of water. They went upstairs together and said good night to one another.
Sophie was in the bathroom. Beth checked on Lola and crawled into bed. She could hear her aunt humming as she brushed her teeth. She thought about Aunt Teensy and how pampered and spoiled she was to complain so much. It wasn’t all that hot. And then her thoughts drifted to her Aunt Allison, her temper and her wild ambition—greed really—and she vowed never to become like either one of them. But at least I wasn’t the only one being used for target practice, she thought, and that was a small consolation.
Her Aunt Sophie was so wonderful. She understood everything. And the more she thought about meeting Cecily, the better she felt.
They would be friends and that was nice to think about. But this was no vacation. She was determined to make the year mean something.
The tide had turned and there was a gorgeous breeze in the room. The next thing Beth knew she was dreaming that Confederate jasmine covered the entire house and she was laughing, chasing Lola down the empty beach right before dawn.
3
Family Jewels
W ITH THE EXCEPTION of Allison, who blew out of town so hard she initiated small-craft warnings, everyone else seemed to be relaxed and having a good time reminiscing about the past and big-timing one another about the present. But Allison had served her purpose. It always heightened the family’s mood when there was one relative to throw in the fire along with some mesquite chips. The general consensus was that success had gone to her head and perhaps she really was slightly insane.
It was Saturday night, many pigs had sacrificed their ribs for the occasion, and a classic southern barbecue was in full swing—pork, burgers, coleslaw, potato salad, cornbread, and, of course,
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