Plot Background

“Okay, George. I’ll be there. Are you sure you are okay with this?”

“Never more, Baby. It’ll work out. I have to make a few more calls. See you tonight. I love you.”

“Okay. George. I have to call my mama too. Goodbye.”

Carolyn Booth quickly hung up the phone and then took some time to compose herself before calling her mother to give her the news. Mrs. Booth was not happy to hear her only daughter announce her pregnancy.

“Is he going to marry you?”

“Yes, mama. We are going to Vegas tonight.”

“He can afford better than that.”

“Mama …”

“What’s wrong with a church wedding?” Carolyn had never heard her mother be so harsh.

“Mama, maybe we will have a church wedding later. I just need to get a ring on my finger for now. People will be talking soon enough as it is.”

“I expected better from you Carolyn Marie.”

“I know. I’m sorry, mama. Really, I am. I have to go. Okay?”

Carolyn replaced the phone receiver in the cradle and stared at it for what seemed a long time. George or Bill? She did not know which one fathered the baby. On the plus side, George had the most to offer and would be her ticket to a lifestyle that she yearned for. Carolyn had been drawn to George because he was well off, popular, and his family had deep community roots. However, Bill was the one Carolyn loved, but a life with him would mean hard work and a whole lot of not much. The die was now cast. She would not be poor and she would not allow herself to acknowledge that she would be the reason for the disintegration of a lifelong friendship between Bill and George. She hated herself for choosing money over love.

Carolyn placed both hands on the desk, pushed back, and sprang to her feet. She grabbed a fistful of tissue and ran to the bathroom to cry over the loss of her love and the direction she opted that her life would now take.