“Cher, wake up,” Frank whispered, shaking her gently. “It’s late.” She opened her eyes and the bedroom filled with bright morning sunlight. At first she saw only the empty room, her clothes on the floor, the sheet she’d thrown over Frank the night before bunched at the bottom of the bed. Her back ached from […]
Novellas: The Old Home Place – Chapter 10
Frank was in bed in a white silk Old Home Place Inn robe reading a John Grisham novel. He began to dog ear the page, then stopped, frozen by the fury in Cheryl’s eyes. “I’m pregnant,” she announced. “I’m sorry? What?” “I’m pregnant,” she said again. “As in, knocked up. As in, with child. In […]
Novellas: The Old Home Place – Chapter 7
For the next hour Shaw v. Reno was forgotten, and in response to Cheryl’s steady prodding, Frank told her how his grandmother had used her position as the wife of a prominent local doctor to chip away at segregation in Lathrop, Virginia. Once, in the early sixties, he told her, when the city closed the […]
Novellas: The Old Home Place – Chapter 6
Out front, the lobby was mercifully empty, and she was about to start up the stairs when the bellman slipped in from the dining room, pulling the door softly shut behind him. Seeing her, he whirled around, whipping his hands behind his back as if she’d caught him stealing. “Evening, ma’am,” he said, bowing quickly. […]