The Savvy Sistahs Read Online Free PDF

Bennett who could play that game. At least until I met Quinn.”
    A concerned glint appeared in Taye’s eyes as she gazed at Brandy. “I hope you don’t plan to cut all men out of your life just because of what Lorenzo did, Brandy. I went through a similar thing after finding out that Monica’s father was a married man. I thought all men were liars, cheaters, and the scum of the earth. It took me ten years to find out how wrong I’d been in thinking that way.”
    “I haven’t become a man-hater, Taye. I’m just not ready to get seriously involved with anyone. I want to be by myself for a while, to get to know the real Brandy Bennett.”
    “And after you get to know the real Brandy Bennett, then what?” Rae’jean asked, eyeing her curiously.
    Brandy smiled as she remembered the last conversation she’d had with her grandfather and the things he had asked her to consider. She had called to tell him she had broken off her on-the-rebound engagement to Grant and that she had accepted a teaching position in Singapore. He had told her that there was no place she could run to for happiness until she was happy with herself. After talking to him that night, she had decided not to take the teaching position and instead stay in the States and take control of her own destiny. That was when she’d made the decision to manage and operate her hotel.
    “After getting to know the real me, then maybe I can find true happiness,” she said, finally answering Rae’jean’s question. “This has nothing to do with Lorenzo but is all about me. I need to figure out what will make me happy and content. I’m striving to become a take-charge woman, a woman who’s strong, self-reliant, and, more than anything, self-confident. I don’t want to be a need-a-man kind of woman,” she said softly. “I’ve been there and done that.”
    “Then my prayer is that you find true happiness, Brandy,” Rae’jean said, reaching out and giving Brandy a hug.
    “Ours, too,” Alexia and Taye chimed in, also giving her hugs.
    Brandy sighed deeply when they released her. It was times like this that it was hard to believe that while growing up they didn’t get along. Rae’jean, Taye, and Alexia had always been close, but thanks to her mother Valerie, Brandy had always felt like a step-cousin. That insecurity had always kept the four of them at odds with each other.
    “Okay, this is not the time to get sentimental,” Rae’jean said, wiping a tear.
    “Yeah, but I bet Grampa Ethan and Gramma Idella are in heaven smiling from ear to ear. They’d always wanted peace, harmony, and love between us, you know.”
    Yes, Brandy did know, and she was glad that her grandparents’ wish had truly come to pass.
    A few minutes later, Brandy found herself alone when Quinn, Ryan, and Michael came to claim their wives for some task or another. She then caught sight of her brother in the swimming pool. She and Victor Junior, who was three years older than she, had the same father but different mothers. He was a married man but still managed to take the word
player
to another level. From the looks of things it seemed that he had conveniently left his wife at home.
    Brandy was crossing the room to refill her punch glass when she happened to notice a man whose profile was toward her. He was standing alone on the patio watching the kids play in the pool. She wondered who he was, and when he leaned against a wall she had an unsettling thought of just how alone he appeared. He turned slightly and she got a better look at him, and the resemblance to Quinn was astounding. He was definitely a good-looking man and the woman in her couldn’t help but appreciate just how good he looked.
    “It’s good seeing you again, Brandy.”
    Brandy shifted her gaze from the intriguing gentleman to the woman who’d come to stand next to her at the punch bowl. She smiled. “It’s good seeing you again, too, Quinece. I can’t believe how big the twins have gotten,” she said of the