Fireworks Over Toccoa Read Online Free PDF Page A

we’ll be staying at the company apartment at the Biltmore and—”
    “I’ll be fine, Mother. Don’t worry about me.”
    “Of course not, dear,” lied Honey as she headed down the front porch steps. “Of course not.”
    Lily watched her mother growing smaller as she moved down and away, under the enchanted sky.
    Though the firework was gone from sight, it remained, engraved in memory. Such a beautiful thing , thought Lily. Why, then, did it make her feel so emotional, so… melancholy ? No, it was more specific than that. It made her feel sad. Why?
    Her life was perfect. She had her dream house. And her husband was finally coming home to join her in it. She’d been thinking about him so much lately.
    Paul was easy to love pretty much from day one. He was so earnest and straightforward, being with him was effortless. He didn’t dance, but he didn’t mind if she did. In fact, whether she was dancing in the kitchen or telling an impassioned story over dinner, Paul was content just watching Lily.
    Toccoa, 1941
    Enjoying a lavish but casually tasteful company picnic, several well-dressed executives and their spouses ate Green Goddess salads and barbequed chicken near the back patio of the house at Holly Hills.
    In the middle of the sprawling green lawn behind and away from the house at the estate, on a beautiful knit blanket, Lily, seventeen and radiant, sat next to Paul Woodward, a tall, broad-shouldered young man in a flawless blue seersucker suit and white bucks. It was a picturesque and complete sight, of which Lily was well aware.
    “So tell me, Paul Woodward, what kind of a boss is my father?” said Lily with a teasing air.
    “A fair one,” replied Paul, holding his own with her.
    “And I suppose he would be even fairer to a bright young man with a promising future who showed affection for his daughter.”
    “No. I wouldn’t say that about Mr. Davis.”
    “No?” Lily clasped her hand to her chest as though shocked.
    “No, but I think he’d be quite positively inclined toward a young man for whom his daughter showed affection.”
    They shared a hearty laugh. Paul leaned back on his arms, enjoying the warmth of the sun on this fine afternoon, while Lily took a sip of champagne from a fluted crystal glass with which she’d snuck off.
    “Oh, I see,” Lily said playfully. “So courting me until I fall simply head over heels for you is a vital part of your career ambitions?”
    “Well, seeing as how we’ve only had two proper dates so far, getting you to agree to go to the movies with me on Saturday night was about the extent of my ambitions. My dreams, well, that’s another matter.”
    He looked confidently into her eyes, maintaining his glance until his words took full hold of her. After a long moment, when she could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks, Lily looked away, unable to keep herself from smiling. The attraction between them was clear.
    “I don’t cook, you know,” she said with her continued playfulness. “And my mother will tell you that I am disposed to be more than somewhat willful, particularly when it comes to having my own way about…well, most everything.”
    “I have been duly and extensively informed.”
    “Hmm, I’ll bet you have.” Lily snuck a look over her shoulder at her mother, standing next to Lily’s father, off in the distance near the house. “I’ll bet my mother simply adores you.”
    Lily was quite aware that handsome, well-mannered, well-moneyed Paul, with a very successful future ahead of him, was exactly the kind of young man her mother had always dreamed of for a son-in-law. Lily envisioned Honey visiting the Coca-Cola executive offices and interviewing young men for a special assignment. While Lily knew that her vision was part hyper-bole, she was willing to bet that it was not entirely pure exaggeration.
    “She’s a very nice lady, your mother,” said Paul.
    “I suspect she’s been giving you pointers about how to get me to fall for you, hasn’t