Best Lesbian Romance 2014 Read Free Page A

would have lied for Lizzie, willingly.
    Back in the house, the party was, if anything, even more exuberant than before. The absence of the birthday girl did not appear to be hampering the proceedings to any noticeable degree. A few young men were wandering around as if in a very halfhearted game of hunt the parcel, but even they seemed more interested in the champagne.
    Annie did not run into Mr. Fitzpatrick, so was spared the need to be inventive with the truth. No one else paid her any attention, the black maid’s uniform rendering her invisible, unless she was carrying drinks. Unfortunately, this was the fate suffered the first four glasses of champagne she acquired, but shewas eventually able to get away safely, drinks and bottle in hand.
    By the time she returned to the summerhouse, the moon had moved on, and now enough beams reached the interior for her to see Lizzie’s face, highlighting the plains of her fine high cheekbones and small upturned nose. The colors Annie had to provide from memory, the gold in the ringlets of Lizzie’s hair and her cornflower blue eyes.
    Annie handed over a glass of champagne and looked around, wondering where to place the other. A bench ran the full circumference of the walls, but it was not level enough to stand the glass on without risk, and there was no table. She bent, about to place the second drink and the open bottle on the floor by Lizzie’s feet.
    â€œNo. That one’s for you.”
    Annie placed a hand on the ground for balance and looked up, uncertain. “I don’t…”
    â€œOh, for god’s sake, Annie, sit down and drink it. I want to ask your advice.”
    â€œWhy me?”
    â€œBecause I trust you and you know me better than anyone else. Like you’re the only one who knows I can’t stand Beth and prefer to be called Lizzie. Now sit down.”
    Annie did as she was told, taking a safe position at the other side of the summerhouse, and sipped the champagne. The bubbles tickled her nose. “What are you wanting advice about?”
    â€œDaddy’s given me an ultimatum.”
    â€œAnother?”
    â€œHe’s serious this time. I have to get married.” Lizzie gave a humorless laugh. “He’s even given me a schedule. I’ve got my choice of the young bucks here tonight, with a view to announcing our engagement within six months. I’m to be married by nextChristmas, and he went as far as to hint at a grandchild by the end of the following year.”
    â€œYou’re wanting to know how to wriggle out of it.”
    Lizzie laughed and pointed the now half-empty glass at Annie. “That’s why I’m asking you. Do you know, any of my friends would have assumed I wanted advice about which man to pick.” She tilted her head to one side, appraising Annie. “You really do know me. We used to be close.”
    â€œWe used to be children.”
    â€œTrue. Growing up isn’t all it’s made out to be.”
    Annie smiled, slightly sadly. In truth, it had all been so much easier when they were children. She had started work at the Fitzpatricks’ straight off the boat from Ireland and needed to lie about her age to qualify for employment. It had been such a strange new world she found herself in.
    Lizzie had been a scant year younger than herself, equally lost. Her mother, Margaret Fitzpatrick, had succumbed to cancer a few months earlier. Notwithstanding their difference in station, they had become friends, supporting each other as they adjusted to their new situations. At the time, it had felt like being sisters. But as they became older, things had become more complex. Things always do. The way Annie now felt about Lizzie was not an iota less affectionate, but it could not be described as sisterly.
    When Lizzie had been sent to finishing school in Switzerland, Annie had tried telling herself it was a blessing. She would be spared the daily torment of seeing Lizzie and the