Free The Cherry Cola Book Club by Ashton Lee Page A

money!”
    â€œReally, Miz Mayhew?”
    â€œI wish I could, of course. But that’s a great idea you and your friends had. By the way, which character were you? Or should I say, are you?”
    â€œOh, everyone thought I was a Melanie,” Renette answered, growing quieter and hanging her head slightly. “I’ve been called a goody-goody too many times to be anything else. But that’s who I am—I like helping people.”
    â€œYou certainly do!” Maura Beth exclaimed. “You’re a star with our scanner, and you tell the patrons about their overdues with honey dripping in your voice. They never get mad—I’ve gotten so many compliments about you.”
    Someone calling out, “Hello?” from somewhere in the library broke up their exchange, and Renette turned, dashing toward the front desk to attend to her duties. But Maura Beth made a note to herself to find a way to give her pleasant young clerk a little more in her paycheck, even if she had to juggle a line item or two in the books to get the job done. Landing in her lap from an innocuous slumber party was the perfect angle for the upcoming Gone with the Wind outing.
    â€œDeclare your allegiance!” would be the challenge she would issue to Miss Voncille, Connie, and Becca over the phone with supreme confidence. “How do you see yourself in today’s world—as a Scarlett or a Melanie?”
    Suddenly, she could sweep aside the insecurities that had been plaguing her about her leadership style and choice of material. She could even tempt Periwinkle with the ploy, especially since her best girlfriend had already generously agreed to send some sherry custard along from The Twinkle as an extra dessert.
    â€œIf things start to go wrong,” she had told Maura Beth over the phone just a few days before, “you can at least get you a little buzz off the sherry. Sometimes, when I go home alone, that’s all I have to look forward to.”
    â€œNow, come on, Periwinkle. Enough of the lonely, sherry custard-eating, sob stories,” Maura Beth had returned before signing off with a friendly promise. “I’m going to find a way to get you to take a break from that kitchen and into our book club if it’s the last thing I do!”
    For the moment, however, she had to run Renette’s slumber party angle past her existing membership, and she decided that Connie would be the first she would dial up.
    â€œAre you busy?” Maura Beth said after Connie answered. “You sound out of breath.”
    â€œWell, you caught me. I’m out here on the pier grunting in a very unladylike manner with the fish scaler and hoping somebody will rescue me with a cell phone call like you just did.”
    Maura Beth made a sympathetic noise under her breath. “Douglas isn’t pitching in?”
    â€œNope, he’s off to The Marina Bar and Grill for a round or two with his fellow fishermen. He did invite me to join him, but they’re all about watching sports on TV and telling off-color jokes out there. Not my style.”
    Maura Beth changed the subject quickly, launching into the exchange she’d had with Renette. “So what do you think of the Scarlett and Melanie debate?” she concluded.
    There was silence at the other end for a while. “Your idea reminds me of something,” Connie said finally. “I know. Getting a Girl Scout badge for something that’s really a stretch. Only this one would be for adults. You know, who gets the Scarlett badge and who gets the Melanie badge to sew on her blouse.”
    â€œI wish I could see your face now,” Maura Beth added. “I can’t tell whether you like the idea or not from what you just said.”
    Connie broke the modest tension with a generous laugh. “Of course I like it. Maybe I didn’t express myself so well. It’s probably these fish fumes poisoning my brain