Stranger in Paradise (Home Front - Book #2) by Barbara Bretton

Author:Barbara Bretton [Bretton, Barbara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Women's fiction, Mid-Century America
Publisher: Free Spirit Press
Published: 2014-10-15T04:00:00+00:00

* * *

By ten that evening Jane had decided that Americans were the tallest, loudest, nicest people on the face of the earth. Men and women alike towered over her as they hugged and kissed her and welcomed her to her adopted country. The excitement of her arrival, coupled with the scores of people she’d met, had drained all her energy. While she loved telling stories about Queen Elizabeth and her royal prince and princess, it was hard to be witty and charming when you were doing your very best to hold back a most unladylike yawn.

Not that any of Edna’s friends would have held that yawn against her. Jane was surprised to find that so many Americans were dyed-in-the-wool Anglophiles, as besotted with the sound of a British accent as Jane was with American slang.

Twice she’d slipped into the kitchen during the party simply to stare at the enormous refrigerator with its shiny white doors and posh freezer compartment. What wouldn’t they think back home in England at the sight of so much food for one small family? She couldn’t imagine that the queen herself had a more impressive stock of food. Steaks were neatly wrapped and stored in the freezer, along with chicken and chopped beef and big yellow ears of corn.

It simply boggled the imagination!

Americans also seemed to have mastered the art of casual dressing. Casual attire back home meant wearing your second-best dress. In New York, it could mean anything from a siren sheath dress to toreador pants to Bermuda shorts. Mr. and Mrs. Bellamy’s daughter Carolann wore her hair in an Italian pixie cut, short and tousled and quite sexy with gold gypsy earrings and lots of mascara and eyeliner. In her pink-and-white halter-neck sundress with the tight waist and flared skirt, Carolann looked young and fresh and so modern that Jane longed to toss her tweeds into the dustbin and take a pair of scissors to her hair.

How stodgy and old she felt, surrounded by all these vibrant Americans! Even her mother-in-law, Edna, looked more fashionable in her morning-glory blouse with pleating across the bodice than Jane did in her best frock. Edna’s “Mamie” bangs were the perfect complement to her simple bob, and the triple strand of pearls at her neck shimmered in the lamplight.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Mac smiling down at her. “Tired?” he asked.

She nodded as another yawn threatened. “Overwhelmed.”

“We could slip upstairs to the guest room.” He brushed a kiss against her temple. “No one would notice.”

“Behave yourself,” she chided gently. “Your mother went to a great deal of trouble. We shan’t disappoint her by disappearing.”

“She’d understand,” Mac said, eyes twinkling. “Newlyweds can be forgiven almost anything.”

“Anything except poor manners.” Jane was adamant in her stance. The thought of everyone knowing she and Mac had gone upstairs to their room brought a flush to her cheeks.

Finally, at a little before eleven, the last of the guests said good-night and headed for home. Dot and Tom Wilson, who were obviously considered family, stayed behind.

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