Diamond Duo Read Online Free PDF

fabric while a shiver of pleasure ran down her spine. They were pretty. Every single one. She’d take the plainest of the lot and still be as pleased as a suckling pup.
    “These just come in from New Orleans?” she asked without looking up.
    “Nope,” Mr. Stilley called. “Brought ’em back from New York. Got a good buy that I can pass on to you folks.”
    She looked over her shoulder at him. “That so?”
    Mr. Stilley nodded again. “Pick you out a nice color, Sarah.” He winked over at Henry. “I’m sure me and Henry can strike a fair bargain.”
    Henry traded with Stilley on occasion, hauling in hides on consignment and corn to sell outright. But the money they got always went toward the bare necessities.
    Sarah glanced at her husband. Might this be Henry’s surprise? It wasn’t the sort of thing he would think of. And she reckoned he knew nothing about her fondness for piece goods or her longing to have a new dress.
    Henry stood shifting his weight back and forth, his cheeks nigh to splitting from the grin on his face. One thing was sure. Whatever they had come here for was about to take place.
    Oh, please, please, Lord.
    “I ain’t come here for no trifling cloth,” Henry announced, still grinning like a dolt. “I got something sweeter in mind.”
    Sarah’s heart plunged to the muddy depths. She barely heard his next words.
    “I come here to buy Sarah a slab of that chocolate.”
    Stilley beamed. “The new milk chocolate? I see word gets around.” He reached under the counter, beneath the jars of candy, and pulled out a wooden box brimming with dark brown blocks in irregular shapes and sizes.
    Henry beckoned. “Get on over here, sugar, and pick you out a nice piece. I got enough corn in the back of the rig to cover whatever you want.”
    Whatever I want?
Sarah sighed.
If only you knew.
She forced a smile to her lips as fake as George Washington’s teeth.
    “Special occasion, Henry?”
    Because Mr. Stilley had asked the question she’d wondered all day, Sarah looked up. The pleasure on Henry’s face made his dark cheeks glow. “No, sir. No special occasion to speak of.” His voice grew soft with embarrassment. “Jus’ wanted to show my wife a little appreciation for how hard she been working. Heard about your chocolate and figured she might like some.”
    “A fine choice, Henry. I understand you can mix it in milk to make a sweet drink or eat it right out of your hand. It’s all the rage up north.” He winked at Sarah, and Henry turned to face her.
    “Sarah?” Henry King had the look of Christmas morning on his face. “Ain’t you coming, girl?”
    She pulled her shoulders back, gave the bright bolts one last glance, and headed for her husband’s side. “ ’Course I’m coming. Mr. Stilley, scoot that box a little closer if you please, so’s I can reach it better. I got to pick me out a piece of chocolate.”
    “Did you say chocolate?” someone bawled behind them. “That sounds like just the thing I need.”
    The bold, strident voice seemed better suited to a man, but when Sarah turned, she found a powerfully beautiful woman standing on the threshold, flanked by two girls. When they stepped into the store behind the woman, Sarah realized she knew them both.
    It took one look to know their companion wouldn’t be welcome to Sunday supper. But daring as day and big as you please,Bertha Maye Biddie and Magdalena Hayes congregated with her like long-lost friends. If their mamas were anything like Sarah’s had been, those two would feel the sting of a hickory switch before nightfall.

S arah watched the fancy white woman stroll to the counter, plant the tip of her parasol on the floor, and cross her delicate hands atop the handle. She aimed an unexpected smile and nod at Sarah then fixed Mr. Stilley with an amused expression.
    “Am I to understand that there’s chocolate for sale in this establishment?”
    Mr. Stilley’s face lit like sunshine. “Step back, folks.” He waved a