Made of Honor by Marilynn Griffith

Author:Marilynn Griffith
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Man-woman relationships, Christian, Christian - General, Religious & spiritual fiction, Religious, Female friendship, Religious - General, General, Christian fiction, Popular American Fiction, African American women, Christian life & practice, General & Literary Fiction, Fiction - Religious, Domestic fiction
ISBN: 9780373785544
Publisher: Steeple Hill
Published: 2006-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

“Why did you let her see you looking like this? Man, Dana, you just don’t care, do you?”

It was my cousin Lynn talking. My no-job-having-always-borrowing-something-even-though-she-has-money cousin. I looked down at my soap-splashed shoes and my Wonderfully Made sweatshirt, pitted from a fragrance oil spill this morning. My smock had taken the brunt of it.

Not that any of the women in my family would understand, especially Dahlia, the fair flower who’d just left with the man she stole from me—though he was never really mine—three hundred dollars worth of product and their love child. The word free had never passed her lips. When it came to Dahlia, your money was always safe. Your man? Well…My premature birth allowed Dahlia to be conceived and she took that as a cue to help herself to the rest of my goods.

I watched as my three cousins and my aunt, all on my father’s side, rummaged through my shelves. After Jordan skipped town all those years ago, this crew had made themselves scarce, but since my grand opening, they were becoming a weekly effect. I pinched my eyes shut, hoping Dahlia didn’t plan to adopt that trend.

No. She and Trevor would never stay in Leverhill. I had that at least on my side.

I might not look perfect, like Lynn and Page in their cute seventies outfits, or sophisticated, like Aunt Cheryl in her sharp pantsuits, but at least I paid my own way. And I cleaned up good when I had the time. “Dahlia saw me like she saw me. I wasn’t expecting her.” Or him. “This is my uniform—”

“That tired outfit? Dana, please. You need to—”

“Let’s not tell each other what we need to do, okay? We could all do to make some better choices.” So my little sweatshirt with the store logo wasn’t the hottest thing going. Good enough for me. Being good enough for them was out of the question.

“You could use a little makeover yourself,” I said. She was looking a little thicker around the middle than usual. Even thicker than me. Maybe middle age had finally caught up to her.

My aunt decided to step in here. Telling Lynn the truth about anything is specifically off-limits, her being the special child and all. As I kid playing with these two, I’d been convinced I was abandoned by some other species, but a trip to the courthouse for my birth certificate told the torturous truth—I was related to these people.

“Dana, don’t talk to your cousin that way. And don’t be so defensive about your appearance. You’re both beautiful girls.”

I looked down at my hips and over at Lynn’s widening form. Booty-full was more like it. Now with Dahlia back in town, looking like my twin minus forty pounds, I felt especially unhungry. Looking at Lynn quieted my growling stomach, too. Ole girl was looking straight plump. And a little ill maybe? Her eyes looked glassy, yellow. Best to leave it and pray for her later, I thought, mentally adding her to the list of my own problems.

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