ONCE PECAN A TIME (MAGNOLIA POINT) BY ELLEN BROOKS – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Authors: Ellen Brooks
- Language: English
- Genre: contemporary romance
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
Gabby
THE HAND-CUT CRYSTAL CHANDELIERS sparkle like
constellations, casting a warm glow over the mingling guests. Of course,
my dad would select the most opulent, most visible Michelin-starred
restaurant on the forty-fourth floor of his Manhattan flagship hotel for his
fiftieth birthday party. With a three-hundred sixty-degree patio view of
Central Park and boasting a six-thousand-bottle whiskey cellar, it’s the
perfect place to celebrate. And this birthday is a celebration indeed.
“Gabby, darling, you look absolutely radiant,” my mom coos, plucking a
flute of champagne from the silver tray offered by a uniformed server as she
steps up to my side.
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“As do you.”
My mother’s beauty is effortless. Unlike me, she’s stunning when she
rolls out of bed first in the morning, without a touch of makeup—or a filter
—but now, in a form-fitting navy gown with a thigh-high slit and a rosy
flush to her radiant skin, she’s gorgeous.
“I sent you a picture. Didn’t you see it?” I ask, posing in my plum colored
kimono-inspired gown that was on the runway at the spring Paris Fashion
Week last month.
“No,” she replies. “I was busy…enjoying a private pre-party celebration
with your father.”
“Mom!” I whisper-hiss, glancing around to ensure the investors and
members of the board, who’d been invited to the celebration, didn’t
overhear.
By now, you’d think I’d be used to hearing about my parents’ close
physical relationship, thanks to frequent and embarrassing public displays
of affection and filterless oversharing, but I’m not. Especially when, even
after thirty years of marriage, they can’t keep their hands off each other.
But it’s hard to be mad when I’m just glad my dad is still here with us.
And their love would be endearing, really, if it weren’t a constant reminder
I’ve yet to find a man who makes me feel even a fraction of the emotion
they radiate daily. And not for lack of trying.
“I guess that’s a good sign,” I say instead, searching the room until I spot
my dad, the only man in the restaurant wearing a rose-hued paisley jacket
with metallic embroidery and jacquard trim.
“It is,” she agrees, flashing a perfect smile at the wife of the president of
the board across the room. “He’s having a good day. Plus, don’t be such a
prude.”
Rather than champagne, I select a tumbler of whiskey from the silver tray
passing by, nodding to the server, who recites the brand and age of the
whiskey, as well as its flavor notes.
“I’m not,” I insist when the uniformed man moves off. “And how the two
of you didn’t end up with ten kids instead of an only child, I’ll never know.”
“Maybe we’ll have ten grandbabies to spoil someday, instead.”
I spin toward her, only to find her familiar kohl-lined green eyes dancing
with delight.
“That would require a husband,” I snap, lifting my glass to my lips.
“Which, despite dad’s best efforts, I haven’t found yet.”
She shoots me a look. The kind that conveys all sorts of motherly
meaning. “What about Jonathon? I thought for sure the two of you would
work out.”
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