Leota's Garden Read Free Page A

worst thing I ever did was send you to that church camp. You haven’t been the same since!”
    Tears welled in her daughter’s eyes, but Nora refused to weaken. She couldn’t if she were to see her daughter beyond these crossroads. Anne had to take the right path. Nora knew that if she gave in for one moment, every hope she had ever had for Anne would be lost.
    “I love you very much, Anne-Lynn,” she said, taking a soothing tone. “If I didn’t, I’d let you do whatever you want. Trust me. I know what’s right for you. Someday you’ll thank me. Now go up to your room and think things over again.” Seeing Anne open her mouth to speak, she raised one hand. “No more right now. You’ve hurt me enough as it is. Now please do as I’ve asked.”
    Anne rose slowly and stood at the table, her head down. Nora watched her, measuring whether she was going to have to fight more to make sure Anne didn’t throw her life away. She was such a beautiful girl, tall enough to be a model, hands perfect for playing the piano,grades high enough to go to any college in the country, but not a bit of common sense. Nora’s eyes burned with unshed tears she didn’t bother to hide. What cruel irony was this? Did Anne now mean to strip her of all her dreams?
    “Mom, I have to start making decisions for myself.”
    Nora clenched her teeth, sensing the gulf widening between them. “Since you’re so fond of the Bible these days, perhaps you should look up the part about honoring your father and mother. Since you have an absentee father, you’re to honor me . Now go to your room before I really lose my temper.”
    Anne left quietly.
    Trembling again, Nora leaned back against the kitchen counter. Her heart was drumming a battle beat. It had never occurred to her that Anne would resist the plans made for her. Perhaps she shouldn’t have been so pleased about Anne’s graduating from high school early. That had given Anne too much time to think of other things to do.
    Relaxing slightly, Nora sighed. She’d been so proud of Anne, eagerly telling her friends how she had graduated in January with a 4.0 GPA, actually higher than that with the few college classes she had completed. But how can you have a better-than-perfect average?
    She should have gotten Anne into something to keep her mind occupied. Then Anne wouldn’t have had time to go visiting Susan in her flat and thinking how grand and exciting an independent, poverty-stricken life would be.
    “I’m going to move in with Susan. . . .”
    Susan Carter! That girl would never amount to more than a hill of beans. The Carters were nice enough, but they lacked class. Tom and his blue-collar job, and Maryann with her low-paying nursing job. How they managed to feed and clothe six children was beyond Nora’s understanding. It was a pity Tom Carter didn’t have more ambition so Maryann could have stayed home and minded her children. Their son Sam had landed in jail, and Susan was trouble waiting to happen.
    Nora went into the dining room and took a crystal-stemmed wineglass from the mahogany china cabinet. Returning to the kitchen, she opened the refrigerator and took out a bottle of chilled white Chablis. She needed something to calm her nerves. She filled her glass, then recorked the bottle and replaced it before going out into the sunroom.She sat on the white wicker chaise longue with the plump flowered cushions and stretched out her slender legs.
    The old resentments bubbled. What Nora would’ve given to have the opportunities she was giving Annie. And did her daughter appreciate them? No. Like a spoiled child, Anne-Lynn wanted her own way. She wanted to make her own choices. She hadn’t yet said, “It’s my life and I want to live it.” But it all came down to the same thing.
    “I won’t allow it. She’s not going to ruin her life.”
    Inhaling through her nose, she released her breath slowly to calm herself. Then she sipped her wine. She needed to think about Annie and