A Girl Named Alabama

Richard Ford

Description

Romance leads to a reality that can scarce be believed, where there is a timeless devotion to the very best in a woman—all women.
Alabama Valens is a pretty, young woman who is secure in the belief that she is in charge of her life—until a phone call from her brother brings her to the sudden realization that life can change abruptly and with frightening speed.
When tragedy strikes and upends her whole world, Alabama is forced to quit her job, bury her beloved father, and return home to take care of her now incapacitated mother. As she desperately clings to what remains of her now shattered life, she unexpectedly meets a handsome, charming stranger who quickly captures her heart. He grasps the enormous weight of her responsibilities and eagerly helps her as she begins to rebuild her life. But it is not long before Alabama is confronted with the need to change and move far beyond her former life in order to stay with the man she has now fallen deeply in love with, and to a world she never dreamed existed and where character is everything.
In this intriguing tale, a young woman whose life is upended by tragedy falls in love with a stranger who introduces her to a new reality she never imagined in her wildest dreams.

Sujets

• Women
• Horses
• Dieta
• Comanche (etnia)
• Tipo de dato carácter
• Friendship
• God
• Responsibility
• Woman
• Character
• Light
• The Women
• Caring
• Horse
• Romance
• Comanche
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: iUniverse
• Date de parution: 17 avril 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 4
• EAN13: 9781663251534
• Langue: English

Extrait

A GIRL NAMED ALABAMA
 
RICHARD FORD
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
A GIRL NAMED ALABAMA
 
 
Copyright © 2023 Richard Ford.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
 
 
 
iUniverse
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Bloomington, IN 47403
www.iuniverse.com
844-349-9409
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6632-5152-7 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6632-5154-1 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6632-5153-4 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023905266
 
 
 
iUniverse rev. date: 04/14/2023
FOR ANNETTE, MY LOVING WIFE
Among the various objects found in one of the oldest tombs in Egypt, which is believed to be the tomb of a woman who lived some five thousand years ago, were several inscribed with hieroglyphs that translate as Benerib 1 —quite literally, sweetheart.
Is there not, here, an evocation of our deepest of human emotions and a sense of the timelessness of our shared humanity across the ages?
Women have one mission in life: to be beautiful.
—Agustina del Carmen Otero Iglesias, La Belle Otero
November 4, 1868–April 10, 1965
Spanish actress, dancer, and courtesan
Never married, numerous wealthy and prominent lovers
Front cover: Photograph of Maude Fealy, stage and film actress, taken around 1901, by Lizzie Caswell Smith. Picture courtesy of Lucien P. Smith (1901 Antique Maude Fealy, Photograph Dressed in Lace—Etsy)
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1     Turning Point
Chapter 2     Alabama and Maude Fealy’s Picture
Chapter 3     Alabama’s Dance with the Eyes
Chapter 4     Shaundra
Chapter 5     A Weekend Getaway
Chapter 6     Breakfast
Chapter 7     A Day at the Beach
Chapter 8     A Romantic Dinner
Chapter 9     Getting to Know One Another
Chapter 10   Dinner with Shaundra
Chapter 11   Johns Hopkins
Chapter 12   A Falcon’s Perch
Chapter 13   Getting Some Perspective
Chapter 14   Tallah Carter Thompson
Chapter 15   Dressed Like Royalty
Chapter 16   Guest of the Manor
Chapter 17   The Proposal
Chapter 18   The Walk with Cynthia
Chapter 19   Flying Back Home
Chapter 20   Breaking the News to Shaundra
Chapter 21   Transitioning
Chapter 22   Cynthia
Chapter 23   Bringing Kobe Parker Home
Chapter 24   Engagement Rings and the Announcement
Chapter 25   Trashy Behavior in Girls
Chapter 26   Alabama after Midnight
Chapter 27   Sisters Catching Up
Chapter 28   A Gathering of Beautiful Birds, Daughters of the Light
Chapter 29   Forever and Ever
Chapter 30   Tragedy Strikes
Chapter 31   A New Beginning
Chapter 32   Decision Time
Chapter 33   Rough Times for a Mother and Her Daughter
Chapter 34   My Son, Robert IV
Chapter 35   The Unchanging Order of Events
Chapter 36   Thousands and Thousands of Days
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My deepest gratitude to Michelle Wagner, who helped enormously with the character development, storyline, and overall direction of this book and with its editing. Without her timely comments, recommendations, and advice, this book might never have been finished. Thank you!

ONE

TURNING POINT
W ithout doubt, it was the biggest turning point in my life, marking the end of my youthful innocence and the beginning of true adulthood. Until that moment, I’d just drifted along, secure in the belief that I was in charge of my life. Then a phone call from my brother brought me to the sudden realization that life can change very abruptly and with frightening speed.
My brother informed me that our parents had been in a terrible car accident. They had been visiting friends and were heading back home when they had been broadsided by a drunk driver. Since my brother lived hours away, and I was close to the hospital where they’d been taken, he asked me to check on them.
Immediately after talking to my brother, I called my best friend, Shaundra, and told her what had happened. I asked her to meet me at the hospital. We arrived at about the same time and went to the front desk to inquire about my parents. We were directed to the waiting room of the emergency center, where we were met by a trauma surgeon. He told us that Mama was in critical condition, but unfortunately, my dad had not survived. He expressed his condolences to me, and I burst into tears.
After a couple of minutes, he asked, “Do you feel up to identifying the body? We need a positive identification.”
“Yes,” I said quietly.
“Your mother is in the Intensive Care Unit,” he said. “You can see her, but she’s unconscious.”
“OK.” It didn’t feel that it was me speaking; I was in a state of shock. I tried to gather my thoughts as I turned to Shaundra.
She held me close and asked, “What do you want to do first, Homes? Alabama?”
I just shook my head without speaking.
She grabbed my shoulders and shook me gently. “Alabama, what do you want to do first?”
After several seconds, I said, “Mama.”
Shaundra held me close by her side as we walked to the Intensive Care Unit. A nurse met us and led us to my mother’s bed. She was connected to all kinds of tubes and monitors. I barely recognized her, but then I saw her left hand on top of her covers, and I knew it was her from her wedding band. I picked up her hand and held it close to my face, saying, “Mama … Mama.” She didn’t respond.
Shaundra put her arm around my shoulders as I leaned into her. Neither of us said a word. I let go of Mama’s hand and turned to hug Shaundra. I put my head on her shoulder, as she pulled me close and rubbed my back.
After several minutes, the nurse returned. “An orderly is waiting for you whenever you’re ready to go down to the morgue,” she said.
Shaundra and I stayed locked in our embrace, but I softly said, “No, no, no, no, no, no,” and then I went quiet again. After several minutes of standing in Shaundra’s arms, I said, “Let’s get this over.”
“Are you sure?” Shaundra asked.
“Yes. Let’s just do it, so this nightmare can end.”
As we both turned to leave, Shaundra put her arm around my waist and held me close.
In the waiting area, a young orderly approached us and said, “Follow me, please.” He led us down a hallway and into a large elevator. He pressed a button marked MORGUE , and the elevator began its descent. When the elevator doors opened, we exited, and the orderly led us down a short walkway, past some double doors and into a very brightly lit, cold room. A large window ran almost the full length of the wall to our left. Just below the window was a bar at waist height.
Beyond the window was a brightly lit room with several tables with very bright lights over them. Several people with masks and gowns were going about their business. The orderly stepped up to the window and picked up a phone mounted on the side of it. As he did, the lights in the room beyond the window blinked noticeably several times. One of the people in the room came to the window and answered the phone.
The orderly said, “Survivors of George Valens, here for a positive ID.”
The person beyond the window nodded and walked toward a wall that contained about a half dozen metal drawers. He opened one of the drawers, and another person in the room wheeled a gurney toward it. The two of them then pulled out a long tray with a body bag on it and placed it on the gurney.
The orderly turned to us and said, “Please grab firmly onto that bar, and when you are ready just say OK, and we’ll start the viewing.” As he finished his instructions, the gurney arrived at the window in front of Shaundra and me.
Shaundra pulled me close to her and held me tightly. “Are you ready, sweet girl?”
I stared at the body bag in front of me and nodded.
Shaundra looked at the orderly and said, “OK.”
Inside the room, one of the men unzipped the bag—and there was my beloved daddy … my beloved daddy with his familiar nose, his hair, his ears. In wild-eyed terror, I screamed at the top of my lungs. I screamed and felt my entire body crumble to the floor. Shaundra tried to hold me up but couldn’t. I found myself on all fours, and Shaundra sat on the floor in front of me, holding my head tightly to her chest. I continued screaming until my breath seemed to give out, but then I babbled at Shaundra, “Please let me go, Shaundra, please! I can’t stay here. I just can’t. Please, Shaundra, let me go. Oh God, Shaundra, please let me go!”
She held me tight. And then my tears came, along with deep, prolonged sobbing. I reached up to hold Shaundra with both arms and rolled over onto my side as I did so.
Many long minutes passed, but everything that happened after I saw my father lying there on that gurney was a blur. Later, I remembered falling to the floor and Shaundra holding me, but I couldn’t remem