Power of a Woman by Barbara Taylor Bradford Read Free Book Online

you, Mom?”
    “I haven’t agreed that you can go, Chloe.”
    “Grandma would let me live with her and Derek, and you know they love me…a lot,” Chloe volunteered.
    “Yes, they do. But you’re putting the cart before the horse. I have to think about this matter, and at great length. I’m certainly not going to make any hasty decisions.”
    “When will you decide?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “But, Mommy—”
    “No buts, darling,” Stevie interrupted. “You’ve told me what you’d prefer to do, and now I must give it some thought. I want you to think about it as well, Chloe. Think about what you’d be missing by not going to university. Think about those three years at Oxford and all that they would mean. Not just the education you’d get, but the fun you’d have, and the people you’d meet. Friends you make at university are your friends for the rest of your life.
    And I must admit, Chloe, I’m a bit baffled; you were always so keen about studying at Oxford. What happened?”
    “I’ve changed my mind, Mom.”
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    “Promise me you’ll think about this.”
    “Oh, all right,” Chloe muttered, looking suddenly put out.
    Stevie glanced at her quickly and said in a sharp tone of voice, “Don’t sound so grudging about it, Chloe. It doesn’t become you one little bit.”
    Chloe flushed at this chastisement, mild as it was, and bit her lip. Then, pushing the tray table away, she jumped up and sat next to Stevie on the sofa.
    Taking hold of her mother’s hand, she squeezed it, then reached up and kissed her on the cheek.
    “Don’t be angry with me, Mommy.”
    Observing her daughter’s worried expression and detecting the concern in her eyes, Stevie murmured softly, “I’m not angry, Chloe, but I do want to do what’s best for you, and you must try to understand that. After all, you’ve obviously been thinking about this for some time, whilst I’ve just heard about it…so please, give me a few days to get used to the idea.
    And let me talk to Gideon. And my mother and Derek.”
    Chloe nodded and her face brightened considerably as she exclaimed, “So you’re definitely not saying no?”
    “No, of course not…” A faint smile surfaced on Stevie’s face. “I’m saying… maybe .”
    Stevie had learned long before that when she couldn’t sleep it was far better to get up and keep Power of a Woman / 53
    busy, especially if she had a problem on her mind.
    To her way of thinking, it was much easier to worry when she was upright and moving around than when she was lying down.
    She and Chloe had both gone upstairs to bed at eleven. Stevie had fallen asleep at once, lulled into a deep slumber by the two glasses of red wine she had drunk at dinner.
    Then she had awakened suddenly several hours later, at three in the morning. Sleep had proved elusive thereafter; at four o’clock she had slipped out of bed, taken a shower, dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a sweater, and gone downstairs.
    After making a cup of coffee and a slice of toast, Stevie had walked around the house, collecting her many orchid plants. These she had taken to the plant room next to the laundry; carefully, methodically, she had watered them individually in the big sink, letting the water run through each one, then slowly drain away.
    Everyone knew she loved orchids, and so she frequently received them as gifts. In consequence, her collection was quite large; two or three dozen were scattered throughout this house, and there were more in her New York apartment.
    Mostly they were various species of the Phalaenopsis, with white or yellow blooms, plus pale, blush-pink cymbidiums. She also collected the miniature slipper orchid with pale green or dark brown blooms, and the dark brownish-wine-54 / Barbara Taylor Bradford
    colored Sharry Baby with its tiny flowers and delicious chocolate scent.
    But of them all her real favorites were the white and yellow Phalaenopsis, and she did very well with them,