Read Online The Sassy Belles by Beth Albright - Free Book Online Page B

fell asleep on my shoulder,
trusting me, as always, to keep her safe. And I would, even if I didn’t know
quite how at that moment. I knew I would figure something out. She was counting
on me. I was her Swiss Army knife.
    * * *
    We arrived at the plantation at almost nine that
evening. Harry pulled the car around the circular gravel drive. A fountain
spilled over its edges creating peaceful, soft splashes under the moonlight.
Vivi’s home was something special. A true Southern plantation, the main house
was huge and stately, typical antebellum Greek Revival architecture. Wide,
white, round columns surrounded a wraparound front porch, and floor-to-ceiling
windows doubled as doorways much of the year. The upper level held a sweeping
veranda, hugging the columns with a whitewashed wooden rail. Rocking chairs were
scattered around every few feet. Hanging baskets were full to brimming and
dripping with ferns, English ivy and petunias, while bell-shaped purple-and-pink
verbena hung at every window and spilled over the sides of the containers. The
gravel drive was long and shaded on either side by huge oak and magnolia trees
that reached across the road and lay gently upon each other, branch intertwined
in branch, forming a fragrant flowering tree tunnel all the way to the front of
the house. The side yards were full of pecan trees and tall pines. Just as you
reached the porch, the left side yard held a huge rose garden with every
colorful variety imaginable growing and blooming. The fragrance surrounding the
main house was mesmerizing on a hot summer night with a breeze drifting in the
humid air.
    Located on the right and to the far back of the main property
was Arthur’s new BBQ place. It had its own entryway down from the main road and
would eventually be a takeout BBQ spot for pickup. He was busy working on it
much of the time to get it ready for football season and the tailgating orders
that came with it. The Moonwinx was what he called it and he planned to just
serve good, sweet Southern BBQ. The whole plantation was regal and lovely and
had been Vivi’s home her whole life, and her father’s place before her, going
back for generations.
    Harry got out and opened the back door of the car to help Vivi
out. We all walked up the four gray-painted steps of the porch.
    A note from Arthur was waiting on the door. G’nite, Miss Vivi. Hope you had fun visitin’ with your Mama.
Tomorrow I think we should get those hydrangea bushes lookin’ good.
Arthur.
    Exhausted, Vivi went directly upstairs and into the large
master suite, and I followed her up to say good-night. She had taken the room
over after her 71-year-old mother went to the Center. Vivi had had the suite
redone in her favorite colors and fabrics, and the bedroom was spectacular,
covered in periwinkle silk and taffeta. Drapes fell into a pale blue puddle on
the wood floor, framing the old floor-to-ceiling windows. The night air drifted
in through the open windows and the fragrance of roses and honeysuckle blanketed
the room. I gave her a hug, but didn’t say a thing. We didn’t need words right
now, just the knowledge that we were there for each other was enough.
    Back downstairs, Harry was waiting in the hallway, the
moonlight bouncing off his glasses. “Let’s go,” he said, and leaned over and
kissed my cheek.
    His face was rough with evening whiskers, and I was shocked at
the closeness. He had let me in for a brief moment and I wanted to stay there,
pressed up against him a little longer, feeling his skin and smelling his
end-of-the-day cologne. He pressed his hand into mine and we turned and left the
house. He held on to me as if he would lose his way in the darkness if he let
go. We stopped at the bottom of the porch and Harry pulled me into him and said,
“Blake, I need to talk to you.”
    I remembered it was our anniversary, but I could tell he was
not thinking of that. I pulled away from him. I knew this tone and I didn’t like
it.
    “What is it,