How Sweet It Is Read Online Free PDF Page B

purchase my
ticket for the flight home, my card was denied for insufficient
funds. You didn’t happen to use it, did you?”
    They remained silent for a moment. Her mother
traced a finger along a scratch in the scarred coffee table. “You
had purchased a round trip ticket, no? Why would you need to buy
another?”
    “There was a computer problem.”
    “Ah.”
    She watched them with increasing anxiety as
they avoided her gaze.
    Finally her mother spoke.
“ Hélas , we did. We
had to make the rent payment. The landlord was most pressing. Most
pressing, chèrie .”
    “ Maman , I gave you money for the rent
before I left. What became of that?”
    Clarice’s faded, pretty face
clouded for a moment, making Delphine feel she really didn’t want
to know what mischief they’d embroiled themselves in. It would only demoralize me
further .
    “Well,” her mother said in a defensive tone,
“as you know, your father and I have not had much in the way of
entertainment as of late…” She looked away.
    Delphine felt sweat dot her
brow. “ Maman ,
the money! ”
    “With you enjoying yourself in Paris, we
decided we needed to have a little fun, too.”
    “Traveling to Paris and Belgium was a
business trip. A trip calculated to start a business to provide us
an income. Again, I ask you. The money?”
    Her father leaned forward on the sofa
cushions. “My dear, we only went to Palisade Winds for a nice
dinner and some games with friends and—”
    Delphine shot out of her
chair. “You went to a casino? And it cost you several hundred dollars?” Her
voice shook with anger, anger long repressed in hopes her parents
were innocent. “Do you know that I had no money for the fare home?
That I was stranded in another country? ”
    “But here you are!” Clarice said, her hands
fluttering in the air like restless birds.
    Delphine gritted her teeth. “A businessman
and his family took pity on my plight and paid for my ticket. I now
must find an extra amount of money to pay them back! What were you
thinking? Or did you think of me at all?”
    Clarice rose and put her arms out to her
daughter. “You are too young to fret so. Only see how it worked
out. What an adventure!”
    “No, Maman . Not an adventure. A nightmare.”
Delphine bit her lip, knowing her words weren’t exactly true. She’d
enjoyed her time with Brad more than she wanted to
admit.
    Leone rose from the couch and tugged on his
wife’s arm. “Come, dearest. Only see how fatigued our daughter is
from her journey. We shall let her rest.”
    Once they’d left the living room, Delphine
collapsed onto the rocker. She clutched her head in despair,
blinking back useless tears. Though her parents had always been
unwise with money, they’d never done anything like this before.
Since she’d started working and had taken control of the finances,
life had stabilized somewhat, and she’d assumed her parents would
no longer be tempted to make rash monetary decisions.
    How could I have been so
wrong? In the last several years, it seemed
as if she and her parents had changed places. She’d become the
parent, and they, the children.
    And the money. How would she ever pay back
Mr. Larsen?
    Money, money, always
money . She was sick of her financial
troubles. What had seemed like a good business move going to Europe
was nothing more than an extravagant folly.
    How could she blame her parents when she’d
spent so much more on her trip?
    Delphine stood, grabbed her luggage, and went
into her bedroom, closing the door firmly behind her. The small
room contained only a twin bed covered by an old-fashioned
crocheted bedspread, a nightstand with a small lamp and clock
radio, and an old wooden rocking chair, one of the last few
remnants of her childhood. The floor was bare wood with a small
oval rug at the bedside.
    Delphine pushed back the sheer curtains and
lifted the shade over the window. Sunlight leaked into the room,
highlighting the Spartan quality of the décor. She hoisted her