Molly

The Dixie Virgin Chronicles:
Molly

Book
Three

Peggy Webb

Copyright 2013 by Peggy Webb, second edition

Copyright © 1990 by Peggy Webb, first edition

Cover Art Design 2013 by Kim Van Meter

Smashwords Edition

From: Molly ([email protected])

To: Bea, Janet, Clemmie, Catherine, Joanna,
Belinda

Re: Daddy’s wedding

It’s wonderful to be home and finally free!
I’m so glad Daddy decided to postpone the wedding until I finished
my art degree and he could get a little house. OMG, Bea, your
mother and your brother are driving over to meet us, and I can’t
wait to see them again! I think I still had braces and a bad case
of zits the last time I saw Sam.

Much love,

Molly

From: Janet ([email protected])

To: Molly, Bea, Clemmie, Catherine, Joanna,
Belinda

Re: Your Future

I’m thrilled to have you back, Molly! I know
you don’t like to plan anything ahead, but now is a good time to be
thinking about your future. Are you going back to Paris or staying?
If you decide to stay, Dan can help you find a job teaching art in
the city schools. Your Parisian art degree will be very impressive!
And
everybody
loves and respects the Coach! Including me,
of course!

XO

Janet

From: Belinda ([email protected])

To: Molly, Bea, Clemmie, Catherine, Joanna,
Janet

Re: The House

That is the cutest little house, Molly! I’m
so glad it’s close enough that Janet and I can both walk to see
you. Oh, do stay in Tupelo! We’ll have such fun together,
especially when Clemmie can drive over and join us. Wouldn’t it be
wonderful if we all ended up in the same city!

By the way, Janet, Betsy and Mark adore that
little puppy you and Dan gave us. They call him Peanut, and he
makes every step they do. They love to argue over whether he looks
more like that lovable mutt Harvey or his wife.

Quincy is still with us, thank goodness! She
pretends she hates the idea of having a dog in the house, but she’s
just bluffing. I see the way she gives him treats when she thinks
nobody is looking! Not hot dogs, Janet. I’ve told everybody that
the granddog of a doctor has to eat healthy food!

XOXO

Belinda

From: Catherine ([email protected])

To: Molly, Belinda, Janet, Clemmie, Bea,
Joanna

Re: Wedding Dress

Bea, tell your darling mother I’ll pick out a
wedding dress down here in New Orleans. Better yet, you drive over
and Molly can bring Glory Ethel down here, and we can all go
shopping together! OMG, you should see the party dress I got on
Canal! It’s silver with a sequined bodice. We’re having a spring
bash at the Vet school, formal no less, which is perfectly
shocking! I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing something tacky, but
you ought to see these other women in the school of veterinary
medicine. You’d think they were auditioning for the part of the
dogs they treat! OMG, I’m turning into a real….

Cat

From: Clemmie ([email protected])

To: Molly, Janet, Belinda, Catherine, Bea,
Joanna

Re: Food

Molly, do you want me to bring some food over
before Bea’s mom gets there? I know you hate to cook, and your
daddy doesn’t make casseroles. I have this delicious squash
casserole that freezes well. It’s a favorite with the boarding
house regulars. And there’s this wonderful hamburger casserole
recipe I found in
Southern Living
that I know Mr. Jed
would love!

Much love,

Clemmie

From: Joanna ([email protected])

To: Molly, Janet, Belinda, Catherine, Bea,
Clemmie

Re: Geriatric Sex

I’m just DEAD WITH ENVY! Molly’s out of
school and I’m still stuck here in Madrid with the nuns! I’ve spent
a lot of time in the library lately. They think I’m studying, but
I’m actually looking up GERIATRIC SEX! OH MY, I just had a thought!
All I have to do is ask Janet. Is it possible for somebody OLD like
Bea’s mom and Molly’s dad to have ANOTHER BABY? I mean, don’t your
eggs dry up or something when you turn forty?

Big Hugs!!!

Joanna

From: Bea ([email protected])

To: Joanna, Molly, Belinda, Catherine,
Clemmie, Janet

Re: SEX!!!

OMG, Joanna!!!
Wash your mouth out with
soap!!!!
My brother already has his jockeys in a wad about
Mother getting married. He’s have a
heart attack
if she
got pregnant. BTW, I don’t think that can happen at their age, and
besides, if there’s any possibility, Mother has
sense
enough
to use
protection!!!

Dang, I always imagined I was born by
Immaculate Conception,
now you’re got me to thinking about
my
mother
with
Molly’s dad!
I don’t even want to
picture it! Besides, it’s totally not fair that I’m sitting out
here in Texas with no suitable man even close enough to say
howdy
to my Virginia, much less saddle up and yell
Yee
Haw!!!

Hugs,

Bea

“Mother, this is a foolish thing to do.”

“Bea has grown fond of the idea.”

“You know what I think about my sister’s
opinion.”

Glory Ethel Adams studied her son. Her Sammy
was a fine figure of a man: tall, handsome and well built, with the
black hair and eyes of his daddy. He was smart, too. President of
the bank and on every board that was worth being on in Florence.
The governor of Alabama even consulted Samuel Adams on financial
matters.

There was no doubt about it, Samuel was a
powerful man... and a son to be proud of. But she did wish, just
this once, he’d remember that family didn’t need so much bossing
and telling what to do.

She shifted in her chair and fanned herself
with the letter in her hand. It was hotter than usual and it made
her wish she’d lost that fifteen pounds she’d been planning to lose
since Christmas. But it was too late for that now.

Rising from her chair, she smoothed out the
letter and placed it on her son’s desk.

“Just read the letter, Sam. It might change
your mind.”

Samuel didn’t usually lose patience with his
mother, or with anybody else for that matter, but this business of
marrying a man she had met through Match.com was enough to make a
saint curse.

He shoved the letter aside.

“I know all I need to know about Jedidiah
Rakestraw. He’s some old codger who is clever enough to take
advantage of a lonely divorcee with money.”

Glory Ethel burst out laughing.

“I don’t see a damned thing funny about that,
Mother.”

“I’ve never had a lonely day in my life, and
Jed is
fifty!
Furthermore, I don’t give a hoot about the
money. I’d give it all to the first beggar who came along if you
didn’t have it tucked away in
safe
investments.”

His mother was impossible. That’s all there
was to it. Impatiently, Samuel picked up the letter and scanned its
contents. It was even worse than he expected.

Folding it into a neat rectangle, he stood up
and came around the desk. Maybe he could reason with her.

“He sounds educated enough, I’ll grant you
that.”

“He’s brilliant. He’ll give me plenty of
intellectual stimulation. And now that I’ve made you sweat, I’ll
let you in on a little secret. He made so much money in the stock
market, he was able to retire at the age of forty-eight!”

“It’s not intellectual stimulation I’m
worried about; it’s his family. Just listen to this.” He reopened
the letter and began to read selected passages. “You’ll love the
way Molly has turned out. She’s grown into something of a hellion—a
woman after your own heart, if I’m not mistaken. As you know, she
went to Paris to study art and became an artist’s model. I expect
every art collector who is anybody knows about the famous nude
statue
Venus de Molly.”

Sam lifted one sardonic eyebrow to show what
he thought of that.

“I think it’s cute, Sam.”

“What I think won’t do to tell in polite
society.”

“Good lord. You act as if I’m marrying a
perfect stranger. He’s Molly’s
daddy,
for goodness’ sake.
You remember that cute little girl who went to summer camp with Bea
and remained her friend all these years.”

“Mother, you act as if we
know
these
people. I could count on my fingers the number of times Bea has
actually
seen
this girl.”

Glory Ethel chuckled. “It’s not the end of
the world.”

No, he thought. It was just the end of
everything he’d worked for these last fifteen years—rebuilding the
family fortune and the family name.
Venus de Molly. Good
Lord
!

He studied his mother. He didn’t want to hurt
her; all he wanted to do was convince her not to make a foolish
mistake. Briefly he consulted the letter again, looking for
arguments to win his case.

“And if that scandalous daughter isn’t
enough, there are his friends. What kind of man has friends who
have a double wedding with their dogs... and serve an Alpo wedding
cake at the reception?”

“A lively man. And I intend to marry him.”
Ethel picked up her purse, the hefty straw bag that held everything
from lipstick, which she seldom used, to a dog-eared copy of
The Canterbury Tales,
which she did use. Sometimes she
fancied herself to be the Wife of Bath.

Samuel knew that stubborn look on her face.
He tried one last ploy.

“There’s no telling what impact this man will
have on us. His daughter is a nude model. We don’t need another
scandal in the family. Just think about it awhile longer.”

“I’m fifty-two. I intend to strike while the
iron is still hot.”

Sam didn’t even want to think about his
mother’s smoking iron.

She patted his cheek. “Sam, you’re a smart
man and I respect your opinion, but I’ve never taken orders from my
children, and I don’t intend to start now. I’m going to marry
Jedidiah Rakestraw. And there’s not a damned thing you can do about
it.”

“He’s already got you cussing.”

“That’s not all he’s liable to do. I might
even take up gambling and lying and heavy petting.”

“Good Lord, Mother! Can’t you be serious? You
don’t even know this man.”

“Yes, I do. He came to Florence last month
for the specific purpose of getting to know me. And if you weren’t
so all-fired stubborn, you’d know him, too. He wanted to meet
you.”

“I had a business meeting in Montgomery.”

Glory Ethel relented a little. After all, it
wasn’t Sam’s fault he was so bossy. He’d had to be the man in the
family since he was fifteen. She patted his stern face once
more.

“Sammy...Sammy. Come with me to Tupelo.
Jedidiah and I want our children to get to know each other before
the wedding.”

“He knows Bea. That’s enough.”

“
All
our children.”

“I can’t think of a single reason I’d want to
know a woman who gets paid for taking off her clothes.”

“For starters, she’s going to be a member of
the family.”

Not if he had anything to do about it. But he
knew better than to tell his mother that. His legendary
stubbornness was inherited from her.

“I’m going to Tupelo with you, but this
doesn’t mean I’ve changed my mind about the Rakestraws. I’m only
going to take care of you and look after the family’s
interests.”

Glory Ethel smiled. Sam was a dictator, but
he was a benevolent and reasonable one. She was counting on the
Rakestraws to change his mind… especially Molly. Venus de Molly.
How intriguing.

Samuel kept one eye on his mother as he
picked up the phone to make arrangements with the Rakestraws. He
knew that self-satisfied smile on her face. It meant nothing but
trouble.

o0o

Molly Rakestraw loved gardening.

She straightened from the flower bed where
she had been planting a row of bright red petunias. She’d found
this lovely old house on Robins Street for her dad last week, and
she wanted to do everything she could to make it bright and
cheerful and homey before his fiancée arrived. Bea’s mom! She still
could hardly believe her luck. Molly loved her already.

She wiped her sweaty face with the back of
her hand and leaned over to give her daddy’s two dogs a hug—Mickey
and Minnie, offspring of Harvey, a big lovable stray, and
Gwendolyn, his pedigreed poodle “wife.” She wished she could have
been there when Janet and Dan had their double wedding with the
dogs. How cute was that!

Molly released the dogs and sat back on her
heels to survey her work. The petunias looked a little wilted, but
a good spraying with water would help that. She turned on the
faucet and picked up the hose. The petunias perked up under the
sprinkle, and so did Mickey and Minnie. Somehow, watering the
flowers became a circus, with Molly as ringleader. That wasn’t
unusual. Most things she did usually turned into a celebration of
some kind.