In a Moon Smile Read Online Free PDF Page A

quietly in control as always, she continues to be the queen of the local ladies tennis league. She is invited each new season to model holiday wear for specialty shops. She wears her beauty like a silent trophy. Never admitting that she knows about it, but always willing to go to great lengths to preserve it.
    Madelyn smiled warmly and Chesney’s heart melted.
    “How are you, darling? It’s wonderful to see you. Would you like some wine?”
    Why do you do this? Your favorite daughter Charlotte is the one who guzzles wine with you. I’m not nor have I ever been a wine drinker, unless, of course, I’m grieving a failed relationship.
    Instead of nicely declining, Chesney wrinkled her nose like a child then immediately cursed herself for not trying harder to seem more womanly and mature.
    I wonder when I last saw my mother with a naked face, clean of foundation, rouge, mascara and that subtle, coral color dotted on her lips. It was probably 1997, when the whole family had that nasty flu.
    Madelyn’s soft blonde hair was bundled into an old-fashioned French twist which, for some reason, did not at all make her look stuck in a past decade. Instead, a beautiful, breathtaking grace made her lovely; a significant femininity, a confidence in herself that still turned heads. Madelyn’s closet was a breeding ground for all colors of flat, slip-on shoes. Because she stands just shy of six feet tall, Madelyn Blake wears flats to offset her height. Chesney spent her little girl years disappointed by the fact that her mother didn’t own a single pair of high heels. Playing dress-up wasn’t possible with all those flat shoes or the boring, taupe tunics. There was nothing in the closet worth draping or strutting around in. It was filled with simple, tailored earth tone s eparates. Not a single boa to be found. Not one single blouse covered with rhinestones or ruffles or even lace. No plunging necklines, either.
    But then one afternoon, Chesney and her neighbor friend Ruth Ann sneaked into the bedroom of a mom who was very different from Madelyn Blake. While Chesney’s mother requested that Ruth Anne refer to her as Mrs. Blake, Ruth Anne’s mom wanted Chesney to only call her Cookie, like everyone else. Cookie Reynolds did not play tennis or belong to the country club. She did not have a husband. But she did have a stereo in the small, sparsely furnished home she shared with her only child. And she did blast music and laugh and dance with Ruth Anne and her friend. Cookie allowed the girls to wear their shoes inside, unlike Madelyn who even had a small sign on the front door that read, ‘Shoes off, please.’ She allowed them to eat corn dogs on the couch, as long as they held the snacks over paper plates. And when Ruth Ann and Chesney rummaged around for dress up clothing, they found a regular gold mine in Cookie’s closet. There were neatly folded, fluttery see-through black gowns and lace panties and two bras with holes in the lace of the bra cups.
    “My mom wants to poke her nipples through her bra,” Ruth Ann said proudly. “She is very proud of her ta-tas. She says I will grow some one of these days, too.”
    For a long while, Chesney fantasized about becoming Cookie’s second daughter. She did not dare confess to her boring mom that Cookie Reynolds liked to show off her nipples. In the stuffy Blake household, there was no talk of boobs. Chesney instinctively knew that a conversation about nipples or see-through panties would not be welcomed. She kept her mouth shut about snooping through Cookie’s underwear drawer to find pink panties with feathers on the crotch. Chesney was fairly certain that saying anything about colorful Cookie Reynolds would result in being forbidden from ever visiting Ruth Anne’s house. She certainly did not want that to happen since Cookie Reynolds talked so openly about life. She talked about when the girls would someday start their periods. She talked about the importance of choosing good,