The Storm Read Online Free Page B

another Lucky Strike. “I’ve caused a lot of women to feel passion.”
    â€œUh-huh. Chopin gives the inside story of an unhappy marriage. Her book’s about the wife of a New Orleans businessman and her torrid affair with a younger man. I hate the ending.”
    â€œShe goes back to her husband?”
    â€œShe commits suicide. I wanted her to meet the woman of her dreams and live happily ever after.”
    Eric snickered. “You’re a romantic. Never going to happen. What else did Willie tell you?”
    â€œJust that a freed slave inherited her former master’s entire plantation near here. He’d fathered a lot of her children, and one of their sons ended up with the place.”
    â€œA colored woman and her half-breed offspring owning a big plantation? That’s where I draw the line.” Eric took a big drink from the bottle. “Coloreds need to know their place and stay there.”
    Her spine stiffened. “What about Willie?”
    â€œWhat about her?”
    â€œShe’s an octoroon and used to own one of the biggest houses in Storyville.”
    â€œShe’s just a whore. She doesn’t count.”
    â€œA lot of the high-society women in New Orleans used to send scouts to see what she was wearing so they could get in on the latest fashions. She counted to them .”
    â€œFashions? Huh. They’re silly.” Eric picked a piece of tobacco off his tongue and flicked it out the window.
    â€œIs driving four hundred miles and changing a flat tire silly?”
    â€œNo.” He stared straight ahead.
    â€œIs driving an ambulance in France silly?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œIs agitating for women’s right to vote silly? You know I picketed in Washington this past fall before I went home.”
    One side of Eric’s mouth twitched. “I don’t doubt that. And most men really think that’s silly.”
    â€œAre you like most men?”
    He faced her, his expression serious. “In some ways I am. Being away from home all these years has made me a little more open-minded, but I’m still a country boy at heart.”
    â€œWell, I hope your heart isn’t too country. If it is, you may have to stay in New Hope by yourself.”
    â€œWhat about that annulment?”
    â€œYou wouldn’t—”
    He held up his hands. “I’ll give it to you. Let’s go get Pop settled. Then we’ll drive back to New Orleans before it rains so hard we can’t make it.”
    â€œI’ll hold you to that.” She hoped she didn’t regret this little adventure.

    *
    Molly pulled on her heavy work gloves. If she jammed one of her hands into an old board with a nail in it under all this mess on the barn’s dirt floor, she might not be able to play for church Sunday. She couldn’t bear to miss accompanying the special trio she’d been coaching since Christmas.
    The manure-coated hay almost gagged her, especially after Mother Russell had glared at her throughout breakfast. If Patrick hadn’t chirped like a cricket during the entire meal, it would have seemed like a funeral.
    She had tried to ignore Mother Russell’s hateful glances and forced herself to eat a few bites of egg and biscuit. She’d tried a little ham, but it almost gagged her. She could still hear that poor pig squeal and see the blood on Mother Russell’s and Mr. James’s clothes when they slaughtered it last fall.
    Her stomach felt even more upset now, and she didn’t know where to start looking for the diamond. It could be anywhere, especially since Mr. James hadn’t cleaned up his mess after he shucked dried corn for the horses yesterday.
    After what seemed like hours, Mother Russell spoke up. “Did you notice any chickens in here while you were milking?” She was down on her hands and knees brushing hay and cornhusks every which way.
    The dust tickled Molly’s nose and she sneezed. She wished