Free The Secrets of Silk by Allison Hobbs

average woman couldn’t hold a candle next to Silk, and she didn’t want to intimidate any of the plain-Jane mourners into putting up their guard around her. Nor did she want to provoke them into putting a protective circle around the grieving husband, and making Silk’s goal of seducing Buddy and roping him in, much more difficult than it needed to be.
    It was laughable that Clara thought Silk would get back on a bus and return to the South when everything she needed, minus the kids, was right here in this house. For starters, there was a closet filled with clothes as well as bureau drawers stuffed with undergarments and other womanly paraphernalia that wasn’t currently being used. She gazed at the vanity table top and selected from an ample collection of Avon perfume, a scent called Unforgettable. Smiling, at her reflection, she spritzed herself with the fragrant mist.
    Clara tapped on the door. “Are you decent?” she asked.
    â€œCome on in,” Silk replied, as if she were already the woman of the house.
    â€œThat dress is a little loose on you, but you still look like a million bucks,” Clara complimented.
    â€œThanks, I feel much better. But I feel so silly not being able to hold on to my belongings, I dread facing your family and friends—especially your brother. I feel awful intruding on him during his time of sorrow.”
    â€œBuddy’s having a rough time, but he has good manners and a charitable heart, and he told me that it was okay for you to stay here. He’s at the hospital right now, visiting the twins.” Clara shook her head. “Those babies are barely clinging to life, but Buddy goes to visit them for a few hours every day. Handling the funeralarrangements, going through all the red tape with that insurance business, and seeing about those twins is keeping him so busy, he’ll hardly notice you at all.”
    That’s what you think! Buddy’s gonna be doing a lot more than merely noticing me.

CHAPTER 10

    â€œIs there anything I can do to help out around here and earn my keep?” Silk asked.
    â€œNothing I can think of off the bat. There’s lots of food on hand and the ladies from Ernestine and Buddy’s church are keeping the house nice and tidy.” Clara gazed upward in thought. “With you being a teacher and all, you’re probably good with kids. Maybe you can keep an eye on the children and keep them in line. With their mother gone on home to glory, and their daddy distracted with funeral business and the baby twins, the boys are running around like wild heathens. My niece has always been the quiet type, but she seems to be withdrawing even more. That child is going to need a mother even more so than her brothers. And those sickly, newborn twins…” Clara’s expression turned grim. “I don’t know what Buddy is going to do about them.”
    Taking care of snot-nose kids was the last thing Silk wanted to be in charge of, but she smiled demurely and said, “I’ll make sure the children spend their time constructively.” “Spending time constructively” was a phrase she’d borrowed from one of her former teachers.
    Though her beauty couldn’t be denied, she’d made herself look as nonthreatening and innocent as possible by scrubbing her face clean of rouge, powder, and lipstick and by styling her hair in aplain bun. When Clara introduced her to small group of church ladies, Silk presented a bashful smile.
    â€œYou poor dear, we heard about your misfortune,” said Sister Beverly, who was holding Clara’s baby. Beverly had on a beige hat with a cluster of white flowers in the front. She appeared to be in her forties and was obviously the spokesperson for the group of church women.
    â€œPhiladelphia is full of con artists; it’s not a safe place for a righteous woman to be wandering around alone,” said Sister Beverly.
    Silk nodded. “I found