Annie's Rainbow - Fern Michaels [2]
“Not this hair you wouldn’t. I’ve been cursed. As soon as we get to Charleston, I’m getting it cut. We’re doing the right thing, aren’t we, Annie?”
“I think so. We promised ourselves a year to work part-time and to do whatever we wanted before we headed for the business world. It won’t be like we aren’t working. We proved we can live on practically nothing for the past six years. We can do it for one more year. You’re going to paint, and I’m going to serve coffee and tuna sandwiches in a hole in the wall. It is entirely possible we’ll become entrepreneurs. We agreed to do this, and we’re not switching up now.”
Always a worrier, Jane said, “What if our cars conk out?”
“That’s why we decided to take both of them and follow each other, remember? If that happens, we ditch one car and transfer our stuff to the other. It’s not like we have a lot of stuff, Jane. Clothes and books, that’s it. We can do this, I know we can. Guess what, Elmo is coming to our graduation and taking us to dinner. I didn’t tell him about the part-time thing or our hope to go into business. He’d just worry about us. He said he might even have a present for us. We’ll be just like everyone else who has someone to kiss and hug them when it’s all over. We’ll be friends forever, won’t we, Jane?”
“We lasted six years, so there’s no reason we can’t last sixty more. That will make us eighty-six, and at that point we probably won’t care if we’re friends or not.”
Annie laughed. “What’s for dinner, or are we going to grab a burger and fries?”
“I’m throwing everything in the fridge in one pot. Whatever it turns out to be is what we’re having for dinner. Everything’s ready for the new tenant. Sunday morning we’ll get up, strip the beds, and roll out of here as soon as it gets light. Do you want to pack up our cars tonight or wait till tomorrow night? Bear in mind that we’ll probably be drinking wine with Elmo tomorrow night. We’ll have hangovers Sunday morning. It’s your call, Annie.”
“We can do it after dinner. Instead of taking all our books, why don’t we sell them to the exchange? We can pick up a few dollars, and it will be less of a load on our springs and shocks. It will give us more room for your paintings. There’s no way you’re leaving those behind. Someday you are going to be famous and these first paintings of yours are going to be worth a fortune.”
“I love you, Anna Daisy Clark. You always make me feel good. We’re both going to be famous someday,” Jane said, hugging her friend. “I just hope it’s sooner than later.”
“We’ve worked like Trojans for six years. We held down jobs, and we’re graduating in the top ten percent of our class. I think that says something for both of us.”
“Don’t forget you helped your brother with your mother’s nursing-home bills. I’m sorry she can’t be here, Annie.”
A lump formed in Annie’s throat. “She’ll be here in spirit. I hope I make enough money someday so I can transfer her to one of those places that has rolling green lawns and lots and lots of flower beds. She still loves flowers and gardening. She has little pots of flowers on the windowsill of her room. Sometimes she forgets to take care of them. I’ll be able to visit her more often so that’s a plus.”
“We’ll both visit her. If I make more money than you, and that’s probably the joke of the year, I’ll help you with her care. I never knew my parents, so that will make me happy. Is it a deal, Annie?”
“It’s a deal,” Annie said solemnly. “You know what, Jane? I know there’s a pot of gold at the end of our rainbow. I just know it.”
“The eternal optimist!” Jane laughed. “Tell me, are there any red-blooded men at the end of that rainbow?”
“Of course. They’re going to sweep us off our feet and make us live happily ever after. Of course I don’t know exactly when that’s going to happen, but it will happen.” Annie