Cakewalk

Chapter One

January 31, 1920

Saturday

Excited because Pollyanna, staring Mary Pickford, was now showing at the Capitol Theater on the corner of Frederick Road and Runnymede Square, Louise Hunsenmeir, nineteen, and her younger sister, Juts, not quite fifteen, hurried through the light snow.

The elder sister shot out of her job at the Bon Ton department store as though she'd been fired from the cannon on the south side of the town's center square. Julia, called Juts, ran to catch up with her as she flew from the store.

"Wheezie, hey!"

Slowing down a bit, the slender Louise called over her shoulder, "Come on, we'll miss the first few minutes."

The two trotted, slipping a bit, reaching the theater. A line, not long but long enough, curved down Frederick Road.

"Good. They won't start the movie with people still outside." A puff of frosty breath escaped Louise's lips, artfully enhanced with a light shade of lipstick.

"Isn't Orrie going to meet you?" Juts named Louise's best friend.

"You know Orrie, she slides in at the last minute." Louise peered up the line, then whispered, "Get a load of Lottie Rhodes."

Juts stepped a bit out of the line to look at the attractive young woman: too much lipstick, too much of everything.

When the line started moving, Juts then said, voice low, "She's got the same coat you do, only yours looks better on you."

The two fought night and day but were best friends when they weren't fighting. Louise smiled. "You know how she is in summer. At least she's covered up in the snow."

"How do you know? You can't see the front of her and she loves to show it off. Maybe she has snow in her cleavage. And you know who is just as bad? Dimps. She pushes her bosoms on the boys at school, then pretends she has to squeeze by them. Ugh."

Delilah Rhodes Jr., called Dimps Jr., as her mother is Big Dimps, obviously had studied her sister Lottie's ploys for male attention. Both of the Rhodes girls, drilled by their mother,

Rita Mae Brown is the bestselling author of the Sneaky Pie Brown series; the Sister Jane series; the Runnymede novels, including Six of One and Cakewalk; A Nose for Justice and Murder Unleashed; Rubyfruit Jungle; and In Her Day, as well as fifty-six other books. An Emmy-nominated screenwriter and a poet, Brown lives in Afton, Virginia, and is a Master of Foxhounds.

"[Cakewalk] is brimming over with [Rita Mae Brown's] distinctive Southern voice that infuses every page with merriment, which allows her vibrant characters to take over the story and touch readers' hearts. Her depictions of the inhabitants and the era are pitch-perfect as are the many subplots. Readers will feel as if they are living in Runnymede; running around with the teenagers, eavesdropping on the matrons planning the annual cakewalk and hiding in the closet of the wealthy families. An utterly delightful story."-RT Book Reviews

"Brown has said that the Runnymede novels, starting with Six of One, are the ones she was born to write. . . . This is more loving domestic comedy of small-town life when times were simpler. Recommended for fans of Brown and beyond."-Library Journal

"A delightful romp through small-town America, with all of its gossips and laughs, passions and rivalries, and through it all the importance of the thread of family."-Historical Novels Review

"A feel-good novel told by an expert storyteller who delights in creating colorful and quirky characters."-Shelf Awareness

"Two independent and free-thinking sisters, Louise and Julia Hunsenmeir (called Wheezie and Juts), push against the old-fashioned ways of drinking, dancing, and courting. . . . Characters were inspired by Brown's own mother and sister, adding realism and depth to this uplifting story. Fans of Amy Hill Heath and Mary Kay Andrews will eat up this multigenerational 'slice-of-life' novel."-Booklist

"There seems to be no end to [Rita Mae Brown's] imagination, inventiveness, or storytelling artistry. . . . What is [Cakewalk] about? Life, love, baseball, war, peace, good whiskey, fashion, sex, religion, friendship-all in a rollicking and lively story that just keeps rolling along at a brisk pace. Ms. Brown paints such vivid scenes. . . . [Cakewalk is] entertaining, outrageous, thought-provoking, nostalgic, and great fun."-My Merri Way

Praise for Rita Mae Brown's Runnymede