Pawleys Island-lowcountry 5 Read Online Free PDF Page B

years. He would laugh and say there was more money in corn dogs and push-ups than there was in a zillion acres of cotton.”
    “And he never married again?”
    “No. No, he didn’t. I think he was so embarrassed by what Momma did that he swore off women forever. Manning is a pretty small town, you know.”
    “Yes, but it’s so lovely. I can remember trips with Chalmers, going up Highway 301 when all the wisteria was in bloom…It was just breathtaking.”
    “Yes. It still is, I imagine.”
    “Rebecca?”
    “Yes, ma’am?”
    “You are a very talented painter. I’d wager a bet that every single one of your paintings walks right out the door tonight. When Sallie Anne Wood gets here and sees them she’s going to, well, the poor dear. Let’s just be very nice to her.”
    “Don’t worry, Miss Olivia, I’ll just reach down in my psychoanalytic bag of tricks and fix her right up!”
    “What? Psychoanalytic bag of tricks? Whatever do you mean, child?”
    “Oh, a thousand years ago, I got my Ph.D. in psychology from Carolina. I worked in HR for Wal-Mart for a year, but then I married Nat and the babies started to come and that all went out the window…You know what I mean?”
    “Rebecca? Would you mind refilling my glass? I am so parched tonight!”
    “Oh! I’m sorry! I should’ve noticed!”
    She hopped up and left me in a dither. HR? Who was Nat? What babies? Huey told me she was living in a condo at Litchfield Beach! He didn’t say a word about her having a husband and family. Had she run off and left them like her mother did? I reached in my purse for a mint and tried to compose myself. I knew I was getting worked up and even though that fool doctor at the Medical University in Charleston said I was fit as a fiddle, I knew that getting riled wasn’t good for my heart. Mercy! A husband and children! Do you see what I mean about my Huey? She might be a good painter, but she also might go crazy and shoot the place up! Oh! My stars, Olivia! The girl’s not a crazy person! Yes, I had developed the unattractive habit of talking to myself out loud, but you can tell me about it when you’ve reached my age and not before. Now, where was I? Well, here she comes with my drink and it was time for me to gather myself together and get to the bottom of it.
    “Oh, thank you, Rebecca!” It looked like she was going to leave again so I said, “Now sit here with me for few minutes.”
    “Actually, Byron wanted me to help him.”
    I patted the seat and she sat.
    “Let him open all the wine bottles himself! That’s what he gets paid for! I want to hear about your husband and children. Are they here with you at Litchfield?”
    “No. Oh, Miss Olivia, it’s a long and complicated story and I don’t think you would really want to hear it. Honestly.”
    “Rebecca? I am so glad I still have my hearing that I’d listen to a politician! And let me tell you this. At my age, I have heard just about every story there is to tell. You cannot shock me.” I put my drink down on the table and folded my hands in my lap, indicating that I expected to hear her full story.
    “I feel awful that I might burden you with my mess on a night like this.”
    “Come on now, I’m not getting any younger.”
    “Well, all right then.” She took a deep breath and blurted it all out at once. “Just ten days ago, the day after my children left for their summer camps, I was served with a summons for divorce and a complaint alleging that I was an unfit mother. The next week I found myself in court and the judge granted full custody of the children and the house to Nat. So I packed up my watercolors, which Nat and the children made fun of all the time, and came to Litchfield to stay in my friend’s condo until I could get my brains together. That’s the story. The kids are in camp, Nat’s in the house and I’m here.”
    She shrugged her shoulders, her chin began to quiver and her eyes became bloodshot and watery. She didn’t make a single