Choice of Love by Norma Gibson Read Free Book Online

numbers into her purse. “Thanks a bunch darling you are an absolute doll”.
    The two ladies chatted for a while until Mary finished her lunch. They hugged, said their goodbyes and left the deli; Yvonne, to continue selling raffle tickets; and Mary, upstairs to her boring little cubicle.
         Four more hours to go, great Mary thought as she walked, shoulders slumped as she made her way back to the office.
        Three days later, Mary struggled into her apartment which her hands full of grocery bags and holding her mail between her lips. As she kicked the closed she heard her cell phone ringing in her hand bag.  Plopping the groceries down on the kitchen table, she dropped her hand bag off her shoulders and dug around for the phone. Gripping it she quickly pulled it out and answered it before it could go to voice mail.
    “Hello, good evening” Mary Lou answered, propping her hip against the kitchen counter.
    “Good evening.  Miss Mary Lou Carpenter?”  An unfamiliar high pitched, way too excited voice greeted her.
    “Uh, yes this is she” Mary answered hesitantly, wondering who it was.
    “I am Amy Valicenti, Vice principal of Bernard Elementary School.”
    “Uh, ok...?” Mary hadn’t the slightest idea why the Vice Principal of an Elementary school would be calling her.
    “Congratulations Miss Carpenter! I am pleased to inform you that you are the winner of the raffle draw held this month.”
    “Oh. Wow. Thank you”. Awesome Mary thought, shocked and excited all at once. She never won anything. “This is great news Ms. Valicenti. Would you mind dearly reminding what I have won?”
    “Yes, of course dear. You have won an all expense paid trip for one week to Cooper’s Guest Ranch and Tours in Oklahoma.” Miss Valicenti answered excitedly.
    “A- A ranch? In Oklahoma? ”
    “Yes! Congratulations again. Please drop by Bernard Elementary tomorrow to pick up your package and receive further information. Thank you again for making our May 2015 fundraiser a success. Enjoy the rest of your evening, Ms. Carpenter.”
    “Bye. Thank you.” Mary hung up her phone, drew out a chair from the nearby dining table and slumped down in it, arms folded, sporting a disgusted expression.  A ranch, Ugh! What happened to a nice five star hotel here in the city? Hell, even a three star would do. What about the damn high powered blender “or something” as Yvonne had put it? She would be satisfied with that.
    “I am so not leaving the city for a ranch” Mary said aloud. “I am going to chew Yvonne’s freaking ear off” she continued, dialling her best friend’s number.
    “Hey sugar!” Yvonne answered.
    “Don’t you sugar me, I’m pissed. I just got a call from Kayla’s school. I won the stupid raffle draw” Mary huffed.
    “Well congratulations and what the hell are you pissed about?” Yvonne asked in confusion.
    “Well, a turn out the prize is a trip to a ranch in Oklahoma for one week?”
        There was silence at the other end of the line, then suddenly laughing; loud, hysterical laughter. Mary moved the phone from her ear and glared at it, whishing Yvonne could really receive the brunt of her withering glare.
    “Wait. What? You won a trip to a ranch? What is there for you to even do for enjoyment on a ranch?” Yvonne could barely get the question out between her bouts of excessive laughter.
    “This all your fault” Mary Lou huffed “If you had cared enough to get the full details of the fundraiser, you would have known what the winning prize would be. Now I’m stuck with some trip that I want no part of. You know what? I’m going to go to Bernard’s Elementary tomorrow and politely decline my so called prize.”
    “Oh come on, Mary cease the opportunity, take the damn trip. When was the last time you went on a vacation? And it’s all expense paid. A little country air might do you some good” Yvonne encouraged.
    “I will take my polluted city air over the country any day thank you very