Heart of Gold by Beverly Jenkins

Author:Beverly Jenkins [Jenkins, Beverly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, African American, Contemporary Women, General
ISBN: 9780062207982
Google: Nd1zAgAAQBAJ
Amazon: B00FJ32ZY2
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2014-04-29T00:00:00+00:00

C H A P T E R

13

At the reception, Bernadine listened as Trent greeted their guests and thanked them for coming. As always, his remarks were short and sweet, for which everyone was grateful. In attendance were local politicians, business owners, men and women of the cloth, and plain ol’ everyday folks. Most were walking around the airy new store, assessing its offerings and checking out the displays of fresh vegetables, bread, and meat. Crystal and Eli were offering face painting, and there was a line of eager children waiting for their turns. Sheila and her committee had done a bang-up job of dressing up the interior with balloons and festive banners, and there was free ice cream, punch, and bite-size samples of meat and cheese from the store’s deli for the guests to nibble on. Bernadine was proud to have gotten this project off the ground. With Gary’s help, it was a dream come true for both the community and for the Clarks. The residents of Henry Adams now had their very own grocery store, and the recently divorced Gary and his girls had a bright future.

“This is quite a place you have here, Ms. Brown.”

She turned to the speaker and plastered on a fake smile. “Hello, Mayor Wiggins. Thanks for coming.” The blonde standing with him wasn’t someone she’d met. From her artfully tousled hair and deep tan to her peasant-inspired white blouse and tight designer jeans, she could’ve just blown in from, oh, Palm Springs, but the pricey handbag was a knockoff, as was the gleaming black leather jacket lying so casually over her arm.

“Let me introduce my wife, Astrid Franklin Wiggins.”

“Pleased to meet you.”

“Same here.” The eyes told the lie as she looked Bernadine up and down like a boxer sizing up an opponent.

Having had no idea that Wiggins was married or what his wife was about, Bernadine did her best to maintain a pleasant demeanor.

The wife glanced around critically at the goings-on, then turned back. “All the hoopla you’ve been causing since you came to town is making Franklin’s residents somewhat jealous.” There was acid hidden beneath the mild tone.

Bernadine shrugged. “Just doing what I feel is best for Henry Adams.”

“My family founded Franklin, and we’ve always been the center of things. We built the first library and the school. Had the first gaslit house and the first telephone. Franklin money built the first municipal pool.”

Bernadine wondered if she was supposed to be intimidated. “That’s a lot of firsts, but where’s this going, Ms. Wiggins?”

“Because of you, our people are demanding the same level of services. They want a new senior center, movies on Friday nights, a new school. New roads downtown. If Henry Adams has something, they want it to. I need you to stop throwing your money around.”

Wiggins’s eyes went big. “Um, honey . . .”

“Shush!” his wife snarled softly. Red-faced, he complied.

Bernadine found this very interesting. “Mrs. Wiggins, I will tell you what I told your husband last summer during the Big Box incident.

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.