Chapter One: Things a Spa Day Cannot Hide
"What's the special occasion?" her hairdresser Nikki asked as she draped Summer in the salon's logo-bearing cape in one swift motion...
"What's the special occasion?" her hairdresser Nikki asked as she draped Summer in the salon's logo-bearing cape in one swift motion...
That first night Carlone cried herself into a stupor. It was not until rationalizing to the point of delusion that she forced herself to...
Carlone was immediately rushed into a meeting she would have preferred to never have had. The two men she was to report directly to were...
The trek from the coast to the Capital was a new route that Carlone found to be very foreign to her. Buloke knew the way through though....
When she was once again in town, Carlone sold off all but two of the smallest, yet most beautiful of the moonstones that she had found....
The distance that had taken Carlone months to travel on foot after she had run away from the farm, took a few short weeks with a...
When Carlone cashed out her pay at the clerk's office she was astonished by the vast amount that she had accumulated. The clerk, an...
Carlone had hoped to be a part of mining quartz, one of her favorite stones, however, it was limestone that was used mostly for steel and...
At the beginning of Carlone's journey, she pointedly rarely used any striking stones to ignite a fire despite them being prevalent in the...
The first night on her own Carlone was too sick to eat or do much more than to sip at a nearby creek's water. Her cough was a hard...
That night was somber. Carlone and her mother went to bed in the hayloft, but neither of them felt at ease. When Carlone realized her...
The farm was run completely free of technology. Nothing but the labor of Carlone's uncle, mother, and some seasonal workers who were...
"My God, the morning is beautiful," Addy thought as she got ready for work. The sun was shining through her window as she dabbed on her...
Addy and Frances didn't speak to one another for months after their fight. This did not stop Emmet or his efforts to land Frances a...
It was not until the spring that Addy had any visitors. Emmet was less and less frequent in his communication with Addy, which they both...
Emmet was at work when Addy took her winter things from the closet to put in her luggage. The tight sweaters Emmet required of her to be...
There was never any ease that came with Addy's marriage, unlike what she had expected to set in over time. Emmet had her inside, alone...
Addy would have loved to say that her honeymoon was the opportunity to get to know her now-husband on a much more personal and intimate...
Everything had gone wrong leading up to the big day. However, with every hiccup, there was a singular solution which was Mr. Madison's...
"Mrs. Adeline Taylor. I love how that sounds!" Mrs. Madison squealed as she gestured for Frances to serve the champagne flutes to Addy....