Far from the Tree by Donna Grant

Author:Donna Grant
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group
Published: 2000-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

13

“…waiting for the but.”

By the time the clock radio alarmed at six A.M., blaring a disco beat, Ronnie felt like she’d been run over by the Lexington Avenue Express. Her backache wrapped around to her belly like a girdle. This dawn patrol Celeste had them on was not Ronnie’s cup of tea in the first place. Sunrise was closer to the time she would come dragging in from the night before, but this night had been anything but a party. Ronnie’s worries had taken turns haunting the night, and sleep had been snatched in agitated naps between long bouts of wakefulness, all of it accompanied by the wheeze and snore of the air conditioner. She twisted the radio volume off, then dragged herself up on her elbow and reached for the phone to check her service. Usually she called in every hour, on the off chance someone meaningful was looking for her, like an agent or casting director. It dawned on her at 2:37 A.M. that she hadn’t checked it in the three days she’d been in Prosper.

Ronnie needed her whole situation to be different in a hurry. Celeste seemed content to catalog every doodad and shoestring in the house like it would change the course of history. Ronnie had played along, figuring Celeste would get tired of this game and get down to business. Besides, as much as Ronnie grumbled, and she did make sure Celeste knew they were doing a whole lot of work for nothing, Ronnie enjoyed exploring the musty trunks and boxes, making up stories about the cotton slips, silk stockings, embroidered handkerchiefs, and other relics she found. Ronnie had cleared out a drawer in the big bedroom and started a collection of things she wanted to keep because they were pretty or odd, or she felt a strange connection to them, like the faded deck of playing cards she found stuffed in the foot of a white ankle sock. Blue ballpoint mustaches had been drawn on all the face cards that didn’t already have them, queens included. Ronnie just knew they were Della’s. Her mother taught her to play hearts and pinochle and rummy, and Ronnie loved to hang over her shoulder and help her play solitaire at the kitchen table. Sometimes Will played too, but Celeste rarely did. Said it was boring. Ronnie hadn’t shown her stash to Celeste yet, but they still had a lot of business to discuss.

Ronnie let the phone ring a long time before the desk clerk grunted a sleepy greeting and gave her an outside line. She poked at the numbers, then entered her code and listened. Kayla…Yeah, yeah. Same sad story. No love or fame connections in the Hamptons, but if there’s a way, my girl will be out there trying again next weekend. The whole jitney and party-hopping scene seemed a million miles away at this moment, like maybe on Pluto. Ronnie reached across the bed for her shoulder bag, which was under the clothes she’d dumped

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.