Mail Order Bride: Ramona Read Free Page B

make
their dreams come true if they were willing to work hard and make sacrifices.
    I want Lizzie and her folks to know how much I
appreciate them and everything they’ve done for me. They have been so kind to
me. I don’t know what I would have done without them.
    When Ramona walked through the front door of Elizabeth’s
apartment that night, she found the sitting room and kitchen empty.
    “Lizzie?” Ramona entered the small bedroom they shared.
     Elizabeth was sitting on the bed. “Ramona, there’s
something I have to talk to you about. I’ve been speaking with my parents.”
    Ramona’s face dropped. She sat down on the bed, beside Elizabeth,
smoothing the creases in her dress and tucking one foot elegantly beneath the
other.
    “You can stay here for a week or two longer but after that,”
Elizabeth’s eyes were filled with turmoil, and her lower lip trembled as she
spoke, “you’ll have to find somewhere else to settle.”
    “Your parents don’t want me staying here anymore, do they?”
    Ramona sighed loudly. She knew that Elizabeth’s parents had
always thought that Ramona’s artistic leanings and lack of supervision were a
bad influence on their daughter. They refused to encourage any such outlandish behavior
in their own daughter. Elizabeth’s steady job as a maid earned their pride, and
they looked forward to the day when she would be married to a sensible man with
a solid job of his own. They saw her friendship with the untraditional Ramona
as a threat to the security of Elizabeth’s future.
    “They say it’s time you learned to take care of yourself.
I’m sorry Ramona.”
    Elizabeth tried to mask her dismay at having to relay this
information by staring at the cracked floorboards. “It’s a small apartment,
Ramona. It’s nothing personal against you, I promise. It’s just that four
people living here is such a strain on them.” She managed a small smile. “But
I’m sure you’ll come up with a plan for what to do next. You always do.”
    Roman’s forced a smile across her full lips.
    “It’s fine Lizzie. I promise you, I’m not worried about it
at all. I’ll find some way out of this. Perhaps I can get our old apartment
back. I’ll go and speak to Mr. Mason about it.” She nodded. “Yes. I’ll come up
with a plan, don’t you worry about me.”
    But Ramona couldn’t come up with a plan. She had no practical
skills and without the money to pay Mr. Mason there was no chance of Ramona
returning to her old apartment and she knew it. Ramona watched as Elizabeth
stood, straightened her skirts, and smiled down at Ramona with pity in her
eyes.
    She thinks I should have taken her advice and trained as
a governess or a maid, not a performer. Ramona sighed. Elizabeth had told
her seven years ago that she was living with her head in the clouds when the
two of them were only twelve years old. Elizabeth and her parents had just
moved in across the hall, and Ramona had exposed her dreams of fame and fortune
to her new friend. Elizabeth hadn’t approved, and for the first time in her
life she believed Elizabeth had been right all along. Now that she was entirely
alone in the world, how was she going to support herself with nothing but a
dream to keep her warm?
    ***
    Two nights later, as Ramona and Elizabeth prepared for bed,
Elizabeth asked “So, have you come up with a plan yet?”
    Elizabeth’s face flushed red as she fluffed her pillow, and
Ramona wished she could embrace her and tell her that she didn’t blame her for
anything that was happening. She knew it wasn’t Elizabeth’s fault. Her parents
didn’t want Ramona to stay, and Ramona understood why. It was no one’s fault,
except perhaps her mother’s.
    Even so , thought Ramona, I don’t hold it against Mother.
She was lonely and afraid of spending the rest of her life on her own. She
worked so hard to pay the bills, and it always seemed as though the money she
earned was never quite enough to cover our expenses, especially