Pretty Southern

Category: Pretty Southern Novel

  • Happy Holidays + New Stories from Pretty Southern

    Happy Holidays + New Stories from Pretty Southern

    Dearest family, friends, and members of the Pretty Southern squad:

    Hope all is merry and bright in your world. This has certainly been a wild year. Lord knows we’ve all been through a lot (some more than others) but we’ve stuck through it together. That’s just what we do 🙂

    It’s crazy to think it was almost six months ago when I first let y’all know what I was up to with the Pretty Southern novel stories.

    I was neither expecting a job change, nor the crazy timewarp that seemed to happen from football season through the holidays; but here we are, at nearly the end of another trip around the sun, and there is still so much work to do.

    All I can say is thank you. Thanks for your continued support as I try to balance working + writing + everything else. It only seems fair to let y’all know there is a plan in place, and if anyone is interested in checking out the master outline, I’ll happily share it.

    But first…

    ***SPOILER ALERT***
    I’ve published the epilogue, the end of the first “part” of the Pretty Southern saga. After Macy and Campbell’s wedding, Macy’s daddy, Randy, gets indicted on charges of running a pyramid scheme. 

    For something different, I put on my reporter’s cap and wrote Randy Cunningham’s Crimes & Conviction. Shoutout to Rachel Boyd for her copy editing/review + legal eagle Harry Dixon III for sharing his knowledge of white-collar financial crimes.

    I’ve also published a couple other PS stories, none of which are quite right, but here they are for your consideration:
    Grace Cunningham Falls in Love with the Boy Next Door
    Georgia Katharine Cunningham – The “Li’l Liberal”
    The Night Macy Got Engaged + the Pretty Southern Character Guide

    Your thoughts and feedback are much welcome and appreciated as this is still very much a work-in-progress.

    Fingers crossed I hope to get something big published before the end of this year so I (once again) don’t enter a new year feeling like a failure for not having finished this novel. Today, fearing I’ll once again fail, I was reminded of this marvelous quote from It’s a Wonderful Life: 

    “Remember, no man is a failure who has friends.”

    Thank you so much, dear reader, for always being there.

    Love y’all and happiest of holidays,
    Lauren

  • Randy Cunningham’s Crimes & Conviction – Pretty Southern

    Randy Cunningham’s Crimes & Conviction – Pretty Southern

    Editor’s note – the following is a story from the Pretty Southern novel series. Learn more about Randy Cunningham, the patriarch of the Cunningham family, and his alleged crimes.

    Prominent Atlanta construction CEO convicted of running a pyramid scheme

    Renowned developer Randy Cunningham was the epitome of the American dream. He grew his company, Cunningham Construction, into one of the top development firms in the South beginning with the housing boom of the 1990s. And he had even bigger plans financed by his firm, Cunningham Capital, to bankroll his projects through investments from hundreds of people across the country and outside the U.S.

    However, a federal jury found Cunningham guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud and running an elaborate pyramid scheme which came crumbling down with the housing market crash in 2008.

    After deliberating for almost eight hours, the jury ruled that Cunningham had embezzled nearly $10 million from his firm’s accounts including using the money to pay for the wedding of his daughter, Macy, to Campbell Brayden, son of Georgia’s governor, Bill Brayden.

    Cunningham was also found guilty on conspiring to commit bank fraud, wire fraud, securities fraud, money laundering, and multiple counts of making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Cunningham, who is out on a $1 million bond, could face decades in federal prison, although this will not be determined until a sentencing hearing to be held later this year.

    Legal analysts interviewed on the subject said Cunningham would most likely be sentenced to 10 years in prison, with three years of supervised release.

    The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is also initiating an asset forfeiture as part of this case with plans to seize Mr. Cunningham’s property and sell it off to provide restitution to the victims.

    The prosecution asserted Cunningham had begun to siphon off funds from both Cunningham Construction and Cunningham Capital as early as 2004. During the review of Cunningham’s business and personal accounts, the money was used to pay for an opulent lifestyle including mortgages on both his family’s homes: a mansion in Buckhead’s posh Tuxedo Park and a beach house on St. Simons Island.

    Cunningham also wrote large tuition checks for the education of his daughters, Macy and Katharine, as well as the private school tuition for his youngest daughter, Grace, to the prestigious Magnolia Academy, where all three Cunningham girls graduated before heading to college.

    During this period, he supported Macy in her pageants, who had won Miss Georgia, and competed as a contestant at the national level. After Macy graduated from college and moved to New York City to become a Rockette, Cunningham paid his daughter’s rent for her Brooklyn apartment before she became engaged to Governor Brayden’s son in late 2008.

    Six vehicles were also purchased during a five-year timeframe prior to Black Monday in 2008, including a Porsche 911, Cadillac Escalade, BMW 5-series, and cars for each of Cunninghams’ three daughters, though they were of more modest makes and models.

    There were also lavish trips abroad to Europe and the Caribbean islands for Cunningham and his wife, Caroline, who is a regular fixture in the Atlanta philanthropy scene. In addition to vacationing in the family beach house, there was a three-week trip abroad to Australia and New Zealand in the summer of 2007 when the housing market was at an all-time high. Financial records show Cunningham awarded himself a $2.5 million bonus at the end of 2006 paid out in March 2007.

    In his defense, Ernest Piedmont, Cunningham’s attorney of white-shoe Atlanta firm Piedmont, Candler, & Ware, asserted his client didn’t know that these millions of dollars in payments he made to himself had been drawn from the firm’s escrow accounts containing investment capital, which was not to be used for cash payouts like bonuses or other incentives.

    The defense laid the blame on Cunningham’s chief financial officer and lifelong best friend, Darius Youngblood V, claiming Youngblood was the one who managed the funds and Cunningham never knew that the money was coming from somewhere it shouldn’t have been.

    “People really want to believe in something, to trust someone, and to always see the best in others,” Piedmont said in the defense’s closing argument. “Randy believed in Darius and their business of building things. He trusted Darius as a friend for years, which could be his downfall if the ladies and gentlemen of this jury are to believe my colleagues at the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”

    Cunningham testified that he had nothing to do with any conspiracy to commit fraud. Throughout his week-long trial, Cunningham said he was responsible for overseeing the numerous construction projects and hundreds of employees, while Youngblood was in charge of the books.

    Although Youngblood was also charged in the indictment, he reached a plea agreement with the prosecution, avoiding prison time by agreeing to provide restitution to repay investors from personal funds belonging to the Youngblood family trust.

    Surprisingly, the prosecution did not call Youngblood as a witness. Youngblood’s counsel said he was unable to appear in court due to his early onset Alzheimer’s, a disease which also claimed the life of Youngblood’s mother, Lydia.

    The SEC investigation originally began in early 2008 starting with Youngblood, as he served as CFO of both Cunningham Construction and Cunningham Capital. Witness targets for this type of investigation can be indicted for any irregularity in the books or investor complaints, which in this case triggered the initial investigation.

    A group of investors who also bought into mit KryptowĂ€hrungen handeln in Cunningham Captial have also filed a civil suit against Cunningham Construction, the family-owned business which was the primary pool of the investors’ dollars. The civil suit brings a RICO action against Cunningham, alleging that he knowingly bilked their money and used it for promotional money laundering.

    Statements allege that Cunningham and Youngblood rented a mansion in Augusta for the Masters Tournament in 2006 where investors (predominantly men) were invited for a bourbon and cigar tasting, then quietly shuttled into a side room where Cunningham and Youngblood pitched them investment opportunities like the Ivy Terrace condominium project which never broke ground.

    “The Recession has hit us all hard, some harder than others. I built this business from the ground up and never expected any of this to happen,” Cunningham said as he exited the Richard B. Russell Federal Building and faced a crowd of reporters. “At the end of the day, I’m a self-made man who got to where he is with help from his friends and the love of his family. After losing both my parents at a young age and never attending college, I wanted to give my children the life I never had. I’m disappointed in today’s verdict and I plan on appealing my case to the Eleventh Circuit.”

    In support of his daughter-in-law, Governor Brayden’s office issued a statement: “Macy Brayden is the daughter we never had. She has been a light in our son’s life, as well as ours. Whatever may have happened is no reflection on her character and we ask the media to be respectful of Macy, her mother, and sisters during this difficult time for their family.”

    The Governor’s office declined to comment on the verdict of Cunningham’s trial.

    — Pretty Southern staff reports

    Editor’s note – Rachel Boyd and Harry Dixon III contributed with editorial review of this story. This is entirely a work of fiction and any names are purely coincidental. Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

  • Grace Cunningham Falls in Love with the Boy Next Door

    Grace Cunningham Falls in Love with the Boy Next Door

    Vivienne Grace Cunningham was the youngest daughter of Caroline and Randy Cunningham.

    Named after her great-grandmother, Vivienne, everyone called her Grace. It was a trend started by her older sister, Kate (the middle Cunningham child) whose full Christian name is Georgia Katharine Cunningham. As the youngest of the three Cunningham girls, Grace earned the nickname ‘Angel Baby’ for her sweet features and cherub-like disposition.

    Unlike her two blonde sisters, Grace looked the most like their daddy with the same auburn curls and bright blue eyes. Grace was a true little sister, being six years younger than her oldest sister, Macy, and four years younger than Kate. She was several grades behind her sisters, although they all attended Magnolia Academy, one of Atlanta’s premier private schools. The only home Grace has ever known is in Atlanta’s most affluent neighborhood. Grace was just a baby when her family moved from Marietta to their big house in Buckhead.

    The Angel Baby didn’t realize the world of privilege she was brought into, and how hard both her parents had worked to make a name for the Cunningham family. Grace simply knew that she was happy and loved her family very much.

    She grew up beloved by others. Everyone who ever met Grace said she was “just the sweetest” and “such a little Southern belle.” It was her mama Caroline’s best friend, Birdie Roberts, who bequeathed her the nickname of Angel Baby. Birdie and her husband, Trey, lived next door and had four sons—Jake, Caleb, Wesley, and Christopher—who were all about the same ages as the Cunningham girls. Grace and Christopher were in the same grade together, as were Kate and Wesley.

    One summer, when they were all at the country club pool together, Grace overheard Birdie say to her mama, “I hope one of your girls marries one of my boys.” Grace was only a little girl and not interested in boys yet, so she kept swimming without much thought.

    Until one day, when she was in the eighth grade, Vivienne Grace Cunningham fell in love with Wesley Wade Roberts.

    Although Grace had known the Roberts family since she was a baby, it wasn’t until a fateful day in spring when she realized Wesley was the man of her dreams.

    Grace had been invited to her first boy-girl party. When Mama Caroline heard from Birdie that Chris was invited to that same party Grace was also attending, she and Birdie came up with the brilliant idea of carpooling. They agreed Wesley would drop the kids off and Kate would pick them up later.

    At this point, Kate and Wesley were seniors at Magnolia Academy and both had their own cars. They were about to graduate then go off to college. It was a warm early spring evening, and the sun was starting to set as Wesley’s old Bronco came chugging up the Cunningham’s driveway.

    His car was lifted, raised up on muddy tires. Grace thought, “I shouldn’t have worn a skirt,” since she was going to be riding in that contraption. She glanced down at her patterned sundress with its Lilly Pulitzer flowers, hoping the inside of the car was cleaner than the outside.

    “Hey Grace,” Christopher Roberts said as he jumped out of the front seat to help her hop in the back. It as the first time she and Chris had been in the same car together. He was cute in his own right with his floppy brown hair and amber eyes. All the Roberts boys were good looking, and Grace was already a bit nervous to share a car with her cute classmate.

    “Hi there,” she replied climbing into the truck. She settled into the old fabric seat, trying to ignore the slight mildew smell.

    Then Grace saw Wesley Wade Roberts, smiling at her from behind the wheel. The butterflies in her stomach had a fit.

    “Hey Grace,” Wesley beamed. Grinning at her from ear-to-ear, she was drawn to his smile, a set of white, square teeth. She’d never seen any boy smile like this before. The only slight imperfection was a teensy gap between his two front teeth, to learn about this sort of deformations Click this link. That made him look rugged, even more dashing, and then there were dimples, tan skin, freckles, the hint of a beard—really peach fuzz—from not shaving for a day or two.

    Sweet Jesus, he looked so fine. And then Grace looked into his eyes: these blue-gray-hazel eyes which reflected the baby blue polo he was wearing. A dirty UGA cap covered his wavy blonde hair which curled naturally at the ends tucked behind his ears.

    “Sorry about the smell,” he said. “I went camping last night and forgot to roll the windows up before it rained.”

    “Oh it’s fine,” she said as her heart fluttered. Grace was apprehensive to say anything more because she had the most hideous braces. This was before the days of 360dentalcare when every adolescent kid was forced to wear chunky metal on their teeth for at least a good year.

    Dentistry is one of the oldest medical professions, dating back to 7000 B.C. with the Indus Valley Civilization. However, it wasn’t until 5000 B.C. that descriptions related to dentistry and tooth decay were available. Learn more from local expert dentists using the link.

    “Buckle up kids, and I’ll get y’all to your party. I’ve got my own event to attend this evening. Mom said to call Kate when you’re ready to be picked up, but if you need me I’ll swing back by.”
    “Nah, Wesley, we’re good,” Chris replied.
    Grace wanted to shout, “Take me with you!” Instead, she quietly wished she was going to his party.
    “I’m really sorry about the smell,” Wesley said turning around to face her. “If you roll your window down it will help but it might mess up your hair.”
    “It’s okay,” Grace said, taking a hairband from her wrist to pull back her long auburn curls. She rolled down her car window, taking in the fresh Georgia spring air. Pollen season had passed and the night was fragrant with fresh pine and blooming flowers. Grace stared at the back of Wesley’s driver’s seat the whole five minutes they cruised through Buckhead to that party. Her eyes were fixated on the way those blonde curls popped out beneath the bottom of Wesley’s baseball cap.

    When they arrived at their friend’s house, Chris popped from the front seat calling “Thanks, Wes,” as he bounced out of the Bronco. Grace took her time unbuckling her seat belt.
    “You got that?” he asked smiling.
    “Um, yeah,” she blushed. Looking up at him grinning at her in the rearview mirror. He made her flush even harder. “Thanks for driving us.”
    “Not a problem,” he smiled. “Be good and have fun.”

    She didn’t want to leave him. How had Wesley gotten so cute without her ever knowing? But what was up with him telling her to “be good” like a big brother? Would he always only think of her as little Grace, the Angel Baby?

    That night at the party, as all the other eighth graders gathered around for spin-the-bottle, Grace found herself on the back deck of her friend’s house, looking up at the stars and wishing that Heaven would see fit for her to see Wesley again.

    This was in April, and in May, Wesley graduated then went off to the University of Georgia. Even though Athens is only about sixty miles from Atlanta, Grace thought it might as well be a different planet. Her sister Macy was already a junior at UGA and she barely came home except for a few times a semester. The only time she’d see Macy is if her parents went up for a football game in the fall and they’d all tailgate together. Grace hoped she could convince Mama and Daddy to buy season tickets with the Roberts, or for Daddy’s business for Cunningham Construction, but that never happened.

    For the next four years, Grace loved Wesley from afar. She’d barely see Wesley except on the rare occasions he was home for the holidays or met up with the Cunninghams for a tailgate in Athens. When he was home during the summer, Grace spent as much time as possible at the country club where she’d scour for his figure on the golf course, or lay for hours by the pool hoping he would make an appearance.

    Alas, if Wesley did, he would always be too far out of reach. It’s not like Grace could try to flirt with him as he swam across the pool, not with Mama Caroline sunbathing next to her. Or if she was riding in Daddy Randy’s cart around the golf course and spotted Wesley across the green, it would take every bit of restraint in her not to dart across the grass to give him a hug.

    When Wesley did see Grace, he’d always make polite conversation. Afterall, he’d practically grown up with the Cunninghams. Wesley would give Grace a big grin showing off those rows of perfectly square teeth. His hazel eyes that always seemed to reflect whatever color Polo shirt he was wearing: navy, forest green, or even steely silver. Wesley’s eyes had Grace’s heart.

    But when a girl is under the age of eighteen, society doesn’t take kindly to the idea of her chasing after an older college boy. Heavens, though, he was all Grace ever wanted in a guy. Her affection for Wesley is why she’d never had a boyfriend, even though she was now a senior and about to graduate from Magnolia Academy. No other guy could measure up to Wesley Wade Roberts.

    Grace had grown up to be as pretty as Macy and nearly as smart as Kate, although not as pragmatic. Other boys would ask Grace out and, as politely as she could, she’d turn them down. Grace had earned the reputation of being a prude but she didn’t care. Her heart only pined for Wesley. But she didn’t tell a soul. Over the years, she kept wishing on the stars to be with Wesley and this secret stayed in the deepest place of her young soul.

    This perplexed Mama Caroline who wondered why Grace hadn’t had a boyfriend yet. When Macy was Grace’s age, Daddy was practically having to beat them away, and Lord knows how many boys Macy had gone through while at UGA. But not the Angel Baby. She just wasn’t interested in any other guy, much to Daddy Randy’s delight.

    By her calculations, Grace wasn’t sure when she’d ever be able to be in the same city with Wesley again. But then, by God’s grace, during the spring of her junior year, she heard from Birdie that Wesley would have to take a ‘victory lap’ to do a fifth year of college. Grace could finally be together with Wesley in Athens, away from Mama and Daddy, and start her own life with the boy she’d longed for.

    Knowing it would take good grades to get into UGA, Grace studied as hard as she could to make straight A’s. It was one of the sole reasons now that Grace wanted to go to Athens, for the promise of being with her handsome Wesley. She nailed the SATs and gained early admittance to UGA. Grace sailed through her senior year on cloud nine, for soon she would be heading to Athens and reunited with her love.

    While all this was happening in Grace’s world, her sisters were off having their own adventures.

    Macy had won Miss Georgia but didn’t even place in the national competition. After she’d graduated from UGA, Macy moved to New York to become a Rockette. Much to their parents’ delight, Macy was dating the son of Georgia’s governor, Campbell Brayden. Mama had told Grace she thought Campbell would propose soon.

    Kate had gotten into Georgia’s Institute of Technology, studied abroad in Europe for a year, then graduated with her undergraduate degree from in three years. Now she was finishing up her master’s at Tech and wasn’t even twenty-two. The same fall Grace was applying to UGA, Kate was taking the LSAT with hopes of attending an Ivy League school.

    And then, right after Thanksgiving, it was about eight a.m. when the phone rang in the Cunningham’s kitchen. Grace was wrapping up her breakfast and closest to the phone. She hit the speaker button and with a mouth full of biscuit saying, “Hello, Cunningham residence.”
    “Hey, Grace, good morning. It’s Campbell.”
    Grace about spit out her biscuit. “Oh, hi!” She wasn’t expecting it to be Macy’s boyfriend so early. “How are you? Is everything okay?”
    “Yes ma’am. Sure is. Any chance your daddy is around? There’s something I need to talk to him about.”
    “Yeah, one sec.” Grace finished chewing and swallowed hard on a big bite, knowing she shouldn’t be talking with her mouthful.
    “Daddy!” she called upstairs through the foyer. “Campbell’s on the phone for you.”
    “Comin’!” Randy hollered back. Grace listened, waiting for Randy to pick up the other end.
    “Hey Campbell, everything okay?”
    “Yes sir, all is well. I’m actually going to be in Atlanta today and wanted to see if I could stop by the house or your office to talk to you about somethin’.”
    Grace was intrigued but knew she probably shouldn’t be listening.
    “Angel Baby,” her daddy said, “If you’re on the other end, you can get off now.”
    “Ok, sorry.” Grace clicked off.

    About a minute later, Caroline came down into the kitchen asking Grace, “Who was that on the phone?”
    “Campbell,” Grace said. “He was callin’ to talk to Daddy.”
    “This early? Was something wrong?”
    “I dunno,” Grace replied returning to her biscuit. “Daddy made me hang up.”
    “Hmm,” Caroline said perplexed. Randy walked into the kitchen soon after. “What’s goin’ on honey?”
    “Campbell wants to meet with me today,” Randy said. “He’s coming to Atlanta and said he wants to ask me somethin’. I’m pretty sure he’s comin’ to get my permission to propose to Macy.”
    “Whaaaat?” Caroline drawled. “Seriously?”
    “You bet. I do believe so.” He said, smiling, then looked to Grace. “Looks like you might be getting a brother-in-law, Angel.”

    Grace smiled. Not only because she was excited for her sister, but also because she was thinking of the day when Wesley would call her daddy to ask for his permission to marry her.

  • Georgia Katharine Cunningham – The “Li’l Liberal”

    Georgia Katharine Cunningham – The “Li’l Liberal”

    Once upon a time, there was a girl named Georgia Katherine Cunningham but everyone called her Kate.

    Kate was born with entirely too much gumption. When she was a baby, she actually picked her own name. She was so independent that on her first day of life, lying in her hospital crib in the nursery–where Kate’s father, Randy, was trying to capture her first moments of life on camera–Kate refused to cooperate.

    He kept saying, “Georgia. Georgia. Look over here, Georgia,” yet Kate wouldn’t acknowledge his presence. So he tried, “Georgia Katherine. Katherine. Sweetheart. Sugar Bear,” and nothing worked. Finally Randy said, “Kate! Kate! Look over here.” At that, Kate rolled over and smiled at her father.

    Some doctors say newborns don’t smile, but Randy took it as a sign. He went back to the room where his wife, Caroline, was resting with their oldest daughter, Macy, and Jacqueline, Caroline’s mother, his girls’ “Grand-MĂšre”.
    “Well, we can’t call the baby Georgia,” Randy told his family.
    “Why ever not?” Caroline asked. “We already filled out the birth certificate.”
    “She won’t respond to her name,” he said.
    “Of course she doesn’t know her name,” Caroline protested. “She’s only a few hours old.”
    “I know, but she responded to Kate,” and Randy recounted the story of how their second daughter preferred to be called Kate.
    “There are lots of Southern women who go by their middle names,” Grand-MĂšre stated. “And wasn’t Kate your mother’s name?”
    “It was indeed,” Randy smiled.

    That was it. From then on out she was Kate. However, Kate knew she was in trouble whenever Caroline hollered, “Georgia Katherine!” But Kate was rarely on her mom’s rotten side. Her older sister, Macy, had that covered.

    As sisters only two years apart, Kate and Macy looked similar with the same light blonde hair but Kate had blue eyes like Randy while Macy had green eyes from Caroline and Grand-MĂšre. Despite the fact that Kate and Macy could almost be twins, the girls had very little in common. There are a couple of incidents with Macy, all before the age of five, which had a profound impact on Kate’s life.

    Kate’s first memory is from the day her younger sister, Grace, was born. She was at her preschool, taking her morning nap. It was dark in the playroom and Kate slept on a cot close to the floor. She remembers hearing Randy’s deep voice waking her up saying, “Kate, I’ve come to pick you up. Your baby sister was born this morning. I’ve got cookies and apple juice waiting for you in the car.” She doesn’t remember what happened next but there’s a picture of her and Macy crowding onto Caroline’s hospital bed with the three of them holding baby Grace.

    The rest of Kate’s early childhood memories are a montage. Kate remembers the day her family moved into their new big house in Atlanta, right before she started kindergarten. Though she can’t recall the tiny house in Marietta her parents first owned in the suburbs, Kate remembers standing in the long driveway of their new home with its whitewashed brick and wide front porch, thinking it was the prettiest house she had ever seen. She gazed across the yard with a few pine trees in clusters.

    “Dad,” she said to her father passing by, “did you have to cut down lots of trees to build our house?”
    Randy stopped, put the box he was carrying down, and said, “Well Kate, we did have to use wood to build our new house. You know houses are made of wood.”
    “I know that. I want to know if you had to chop down lots of trees to make room for building our house.”
    Randy stooped down to Kate’s level. “Sugar Bear, we did have to remove a few dozen trees so we could live here.”
    “That’s sad,” Kate said. “We shouldn’t have to kill so many trees.”
    Puzzled by his daughter’s statement, especially since Randy used to work in a timber yard, he thought for a moment before responding. “Tell you what, Kate. Why don’t you help me plant new trees? We can decide where to put them together, and we’ll buy even more baby trees than what we took down in the first place. How does that sound?”

    Kate hugged her father. One of her next memories is walking around their big yard, picking out places to plant more trees. They marked the spots by sticking a flag in the ground. A truck arrived with lots of saplings: oaks, maples, poplars, dogwoods and pear trees.
    “Dad, can we plant them now?” she asked
    “How about you get started digging the holes?” he said, handing her a small shovel plus a pair of child’s gardening gloves in bright light blue and a pink rubber knee pad. Kate remembers walking along the property, digging holes for a few trees before the landscaping crew, like the ones from landscape renovations in Hinsdale, came the next day to finish planting them all.

    Kate’s next memory was when she learned about cancer because the Cunningham’s black lab, Battle, was dying from it. Battle was miserable with pain and hiding under her parents’ big four-poster bed. Kate laid down on the floor trying to convince him to come out. Battle snapped at her, and Randy heard Kate cry out, rushing in to scoop her up out of the master bedroom. It’s Kate’s last memory of their dog. They had to put poor Battle down shortly after that.

    Her memories are crisp, especially the painful ones. The Cunningham girls had a big playroom on the second floor of their new house. Mama Caroline was always on them about cleaning up their toys “or else.” There was one afternoon where Macy was screaming at Kate to help her pick up the bevy of Barbie dolls scattered across their playroom. The floor was covered with Barbie’s dresses, shoes, and a variety of pink plastic accessories.

    “Kaaaa-te!” Macy screeched. “Clean up!”
    “I will if you do!” Kate shrieked back.
    “I am cleaning!” Macy shouted as she chucked Barbie’s pink Corvette right at Kate’s head. Kate turned around trying to dodge the toy car, but it smacked her right in the back of the noggin. Kate touched her hair and got a little blood on her tiny fingertips.
    “Mo-mmmmm!” Kate wailed. Caroline rushed upstairs into their playroom to find Kate crouched on the floor with blood on her hands.
    “What in the world! What are y’all doing up here? How did this happen?”
    “Macy threw Barbie’s car at me!”
    “Macy Bonaventure Cunningham!”
    “She started it! I was only trying to clean up.”
    “Go downstairs right now, Macy. Sit in the chair in the dining room. You’re in time-out.”
    “For how long?”
    “Until I say so. Now scoot.”

    Caroline carried Kate to the kitchen where she fetched her trusty witch hazel from the refrigerator. She dabbed some on a paper towel pulling back Kate’s hair from her scalp to place it on the cut.

    “Ow! Mom. That stings.”
    “We can’t have it getting infected. Does it hurt much?”
    “It just stings,” Kate whimpered.
    “Don’t be such a baby!” Macy called from her perch in the token ‘time-out chair. Macy’s arms were crossed and she kicked her feet dangling off the seat.
    “Macy, be nice. Ladies don’t act like that to one another. If you apologize to Kate, you can end your time out.”
    “She should apologize to me.”
    “Don’t be sassy, Macy.”
    “Kate wasn’t helping to clean up.”
    “That’s no reason for you to throw your toys. She’s your younger sister, and I expect better behavior from you.”
    “Fine Mama,” Macy huffed. “I’m sorry Kate.”
    “Say it like you mean it, and give your sister a hug.”

    Macy popped down from the time-out chair and padded down towards Kate. She put one arm around her sister for a half-hearted hug.
    “I’m sorry, Kate,” she simpered.
    “That’s nice girls,” Caroline said. “Y’all go finish cleaning up that playroom, and then I’ll fix you a snack.”
    Kate had stopped bleeding and left the kitchen to follow Macy up the back staircase.
    “You’re such a tattletale,” Macy said as they started picking up Barbie’s things. Kate didn’t reply back. She didn’t want to fight anymore with her sister.

    It’s moments like this that are so clear from Kate’s childhood. She can see Grace taking her first steps. Kate can also remember her fun moments from kindergarten, like when she put on her school uniform for the first time. She can still visualize her classroom at Magnolia Academy with its small cubbies, tons of books, the rice table, bright colored blocks, and the smell of bleach.

    Kate’s kindergarten teacher told her she would become the first woman president.

    That same year, Macy got a golden retriever for her birthday. It had been about a year since poor Battle passed, and when Randy asked Macy what she wanted for her birthday, she declared, “Daddy. I want a little gold puppy.” How could he say no to that?

    As a family, they went to the animal shelter together, Grace toddling holding Caroline’s hand with Kate standing back as Macy and Randy looked through every cage.
    “Daddy
” Macy whined. “They don’t have any gold puppies. I want a little gold puppy.” She said this in front of a rather sad-looking beagle that Kate thought would’ve made a great pet after the loss of Battle. But it was Macy’s birthday and the pup was her present. Shortly after, Randy saw an advertisement in the newspaper for purebred golden retriever puppies. One day the girls came home from school to find a fluffy golden ball of fur dragging a teddy bear around the kitchen.
    “It’s my gold puppy!” Macy screamed dropping her backpack to rush towards the puppy. She sat on the floor and pulled the dog into her arms. “Is it a boy or girl, Daddy?”
    “She’s a girl. What should we name her?”
    “Goldie,” Macy said.
    Kate went up to try and pet the pup. She got one good pat on her head before Macy turned around. “She’s my dog. You can hold her when I’m done.”
    “Now Macy, you have to share Goldie. She’s part of our family.”
    “Fine,” Macy rolled her eyes. “You can pet her, Kate.”
    Kate touched the puppy’s soft gold fur and it licked her hand. She giggled and sat there with her sister. Grace joined them on the kitchen floor, taking her baby blanket to cover the puppy. There’s a picture of all three little Cunningham girls cuddling Goldie.

    For her next birthday, Kate asked for a dog too, and Randy, always trying to be fair said, “Yes, Kate, you can also get a dog.” This time, Kate decided they would adopt from the pound. She found this scruffy little gray dog that looked part terrier and who-else-knows-what. When the family brought the mutt home, Goldie immediately adopted it like she was her own baby. Kate named her Gaia. She was big on Captain Planet at the time.
    “That’s a stupid name,” Macy quipped.
    “It means Mother Earth.”
    “Why would you name a dog after the planet?”
    “At least I picked something unique for my pet’s name, ’cause Goldie is such an original name for a golden dog.”
    “No one is going to know what Gaia means,” Macy said trotting off. “You’re so weird.”

    Kate sighed. Even as a little girl, Kate knew she didn’t quite fit in with the south. While Macy was off taking ballet classes, Kate would hole up in her room reading with both Gaia and Goldie at her feet. While Macy opted to play dress up, Kate liked to wear oversized t-shirts declaring “Save the whales!” and “Save the rainforest!”

    At Christmas when Kate was about seven, she passed on the ham declaring herself to be a vegetarian because she didn’t want to eat any more animals. Her Uncle Charley, Randy’s brother, asked her, “What’s up with not eating meat? And those hippie shirts? Are you some kind of liberal?”
    “What does liberal mean Uncle Charley?”
    “Well some folks think it’s a dirty word,” her uncle said. “It can mean radical, different, or open to new ideas. It’s the opposite of being conservative.”
    “I just want to help save the world,” Kate said. “If that makes me a liberal, then I think I’m on the right side.”
    Uncle Charley chuckled. “Good luck with that one, kiddo.”

    From that Christmas forward, Kate was the “li’l liberal” of the Cunningham family, and this was way before she ever really knew what was happening in the world.

    Editor’s note — fast forward fifteen years to Macy getting engaged to Campbell, from the Republican dynastic Boyd and Brayden families, and Kate was gonna cause a ruckus.more on Kate coming soon.

  • The Night Macy Gets Engaged

    The Night Macy Gets Engaged

    Editor’s note – this is one of the first stories in the Pretty Southern series.

    Macy suspected something was up when Campbell took a last-minute trip to Atlanta.

    When Campbell texted her, “Hey baby, gotta go to ATL today. Be back tonight,” Macy thought perhaps this was something to do with his father, Bill Brayden, the Governor of Georgia. She never thought Campbell was going home to collect his grandmother’s diamond ring he’d had reset, and that he’d already asked her daddy, Randy, for his permission. No, Macy never thought Campbell would propose on the anniversary of their first date. Those who are planning to pop the question may visit a jewelry shop to find the perfect 7 Carat Asscher Cut Diamond Engagement Ring for your partner

    Granted Campbell had asked Macy to move in with him after only six months of dating but that was out of sheer practicality. Macy was spending every night at Campbell’s condo. She didn’t want to keep asking her daddy for help with rent on an apartment she wasn’t using. Macy was also getting tired of taking a ‘shack sack’ with her on the subway. It was enough that she had to haul her stuff from Brooklyn to Radio City for her performances with the Rockettes, let alone her clothes, makeup, and anything she’d need for the next day after ‘shacking’ with Campbell.

    When Campbell asked her to move in and Macy told her mama, Caroline, her mother said, “He’s never going to marry you.” She heard the same thing from her best friend back home, Shannon, but what did she know? Shannon was only twenty-four and already getting divorced. But now, looking at this sparkling three-carat diamond with loose aquamarine gemstones Australia on her finger, Macy couldn’t wait to tell everyone how wrong they were. She was still on an adrenaline rush when she called Mama and Daddy to tell them the good news. Macy didn’t think to tell her mama, “See, he did propose!” Fools they were to ever doubt Macy Bonaventure Cunningham.

    It was just after midnight and Macy was too excited to sleep. Her fiancĂ© was snoring naked beside her. Campbell’s head was tilted up on the pillows, his jaw hanging open, as it did when he was drunk. They had popped a bottle of champagne before going to dinner where they had another bottle of red wine then came home to ‘officially celebrate’ their engagement. Campbell immediately passed out after but Macy was wide awake, conscious of the large diamond’s presence on her hand.

    Macy slid as softly possible out of bed. Naked, she grabbed one of Campbell’s old fraternity t-shirts sitting on top of the dresser, then tiptoed across the hardwood floor. She thought back to her childhood ballet class when the instructor taught her how to “walk lightly on the balls of your feet, up to your toes” preparing her to go on pointe. She crept across the condo to the kitchen where her cell phone was charging. The small Christmas tree they’d decorated with bright colored bulbs was a merry night light reflecting in the plate glass mirror looking out over lower Manhattan. Macy’s blonde hair, tousled from rolling around in bed, shone in the reflection. She drew closer to see her green eyes, her mama’s, peering back at her.

    She’d called Mama and Daddy as soon as possible after Campbell got down on one knee. Her little sister, Grace, was at home so she got to hear all the good news when Daddy put Macy on the speakerphone. But Macy hadn’t talked to her middle sister, Kate, yet. She knew Mama was going to make Kate be Macy’s maid-of-honor so she had to call her. Macy scrolled through her phone to her sister’s number, thinking back to the last time she talked to her the week before at Thanksgiving. The phone rang twice before Kate answered.

    “Hello there.”
    “You up? Did I wake you?”
    “I’m up. I was studying.”
    “On a Saturday night?”
    “LSAT is next week,” Kate said. “I hear you’re engaged.”
    “I am,” Macy smiled, looking down at her diamond. “Did Mama already call?”
    “Yeah, Mom called. Dad, too. They love that speakerphone but they really need to learn how to use it. Mom kept cutting in and out walking across the kitchen.”

    Macy giggled. She could visualize Kate holed up in her apartment near Piedmont Park. It was early December, which meant it was perfect weather for bar-hopping in Atlanta. Kate lived with their cousin, Autumn, within walking distance of the fun bars and restaurants in the tree-lined Virginia-Highlands neighborhood. But Kate and Autumn never went out like most college kids. Macy thought they were missing out, and at that moment she realized how much she missed that crisp late-fall air hinting at a mild, southern winter. Outside, it was a gray and rainy night in New York. Even the city’s lights had a gloomy haze from the fog.

    “So have you already started planning the wedding?” Kate asked.
    “Sort of. I had always thought about getting married down at St. Simons, but I haven’t brought it up to Mama and Daddy.”
    “I’m sure Dad would be down for having it at the beach house. He loves that place. But what about the Governor and Mrs. Brayden? Wouldn’t they want a big Atlanta wedding?”
    “I mean, St. Simons is still in Georgia and he is the governor of the whole state. Maybe we could do an engagement party in Atlanta,” Macy thought aloud. “But I do know one thing, I’d like for you to be my maid of honor.”
    “Really? I thought you’d ask Shannon.”
    “Of course not! You’re my sister. Plus, Shannon is going through her separation with Trent so I didn’t want to put this on her.”
    “So you’ll bestow the honor on me.”
    “Oh, it’s going to be fun,” Macy said, twirling her ring. “All you’ll really be responsible for is planning the bachelorette party, which I already know I want to do in New Orleans, but we’re not staying at Grand-MĂšre’s. Then at the wedding, you’ll have to do a toast, short and sweet. No big deal.”
    “Sounds like you’ve got it all planned out,” Kate said.

    Macy could hear her sarcasm on the other end of the phone. After more than twenty years of spats, the sisters knew which buttons to push to send one of them over the edge. Tonight was too happy a night to end with an argument.

    “I’ll keep you posted as plans really start coming together,” Macy said. “I’m so happy, Kate.”
    “Then I’m happy for you.”
    “Does Autumn know the news?”
    “Yeah, she was here when Mom called. We actually knew right after Thanksgiving when Campbell called to ask if he could come to see Dad. Mom called us right after to say he was going to propose.”
    “He told me all about that tonight. I had no idea what he was planning this whole time.”
    “Guess he’s a sneaky one.”
    Macy could almost hear her sister suppressing a smirk. She knew how much Kate disagreed with Governor Brayden’s politics.
    “I don’t know about that,” Macy said. “Surely the stress wore him out. Unfortunately we did not have HCC gummies at that time. ”
    “That’s why you’re talking so softly. Well, I better get back to studying anyways.”
    “Ok, talk soon. Bye, sister.”
    “Bye. And congrats.” Kate clicked off the line.

    Macy sighed. That went about as well as she could have expected. But she was still too excited to sleep and Campbell was really sawing logs in their bedroom. It was too late to call Grand-MĂšre who had probably been asleep for hours. Macy thought about calling her Uncle Charley, her daddy’s brother, and Autumn’s dad, but Charley would be at Spirit of Choice (his bar and restaurant) since it was a Saturday night.

    And here Macy was, a New York City Rockette, in the city that never sleeps with a passed-out fiancé. For a moment, her mind flashed back to her college days when she would be out with her sorority sisters until the bars shut down at two a.m. As much fun as those days were, she would much rather be here with Campbell than in a dark bar somewhere.

    She sought out the silhouette of the Brooklyn Bridge. Macy thought about Laurel — her sorority sister and roommate she ditched to move in with Campbell. She was out there somewhere across the river. Their sorority sisters back in Atlanta — Jordanne, Bridget, and Madison — would be out and about in Buckhead. Macy’s best friend Shannon, her oldest friend and also in their sorority, had gone to live with her grandmother in North Carolina to get away from all the drama with the divorce. Macy wanted to call all her friends before putting the news on Facebook. Campbell had asked her to wait as part of a coordinated media effort. The son of Georgia’s governor getting engaged to the former Miss Georgia was PR gold. Their family and close friends would all find out before it hit the newspapers on Monday.

    Macy decided she’d go ahead and text all her girls at once. She held out her hand with the Christmas tree in the background and snapped a picture of her ring. Thank God she’d gotten a manicure when Campbell was away. Her French-tipped fingers were camera-ready. She typed in “Guess who is going to be the future Mrs. Brayden!” then pulled up the message thread with Shannon, Jordanne, Laurel, Bridget, and Madison, and hit send.

    The first text back was in a hot second from Jordanne: “Yes!!! Congratulations!!!”
    Madison followed, “OMG! That ring!!! You go girl.”
    Bridget fired back, “Wowza!!!!! Yeah Macy!!! We’re so happy for you!”
    Macy smiled texting, “Y’all are the best 🙂 Thank you so much!”
    Then Laurel popped up, “CONGRATS! I wanna see you and this ring in person. Brunch tomorrow?”
    “I don’t know…” Macy typed. “I’ve got to ask my FIANCE!!!!!”

    This exchange happened for a few more minutes and Macy was beaming the whole time. Everyone replied back except Shannon. Macy would call her tomorrow, along with the rest of her relatives and friends. She heard Campbell rustling the covers in their room.

    “Baby? You okay?”
    “Mm-hmm,” she cooed back. Macy put her phone back in its charger, making her way back to bed where she slid in next to Campbell. “I was just texting my girls the good news.”
    “Did you tell them not to say anything yet?” He muffled. Even in his sleep, Campbell was playing the politician.
    “Oh, they know honey, no worries.” Macy rubbed his back. “Go back to sleep. I love you.”
    “Love you,” Campbell sighed.

    He rolled over so she could snuggle in beside him. Macy rested her head on Campbell’s shoulder, putting her left hand on his chest to gaze at her ring. He started snoring again softly, his gut rising and falling.

    “Maybe he’ll get that in shape for the wedding,” Macy thought to herself. She moved her hand over to his shoulder, down his bicep, feeling the hint of muscles along the way. If he’d hit the gym a few more times a week before the wedding, he’d look great with his shirt off for honeymoon photos. But which beach should they go to? Somewhere in the Caribbean? Bermuda? Macy finally drifted off to sleep running through lists of islands in her head.

    To be continued. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

  • Meet The Cunninghams – Pretty Southern Character Guide

    Meet The Cunninghams – Pretty Southern Character Guide

    The Pretty Southern world revolves around the Cunningham family.

    While our tale begins with Macy Cunningham’s engagement to Campbell Brayden, each of the characters has his/her own story to tell.

    The characters you see listed below will have their sections updated with links as we continue on this journey. We’ll also update this guide with more characters along the way.

    Editor’s Note — In the full Pretty Southern wedding story, the reader actually sees most of the wedding from the perspective of Grace (Macy’s youngest sister). I chose Grace as my heroine for the novel series because she’s young, naive, and literally sees her world turned upside down later in the saga.

    Here is a high-level introduction to the five essential characters you’ll follow along in the Pretty Southern stories: the Cunningham family.

    Vivienne ‘Grace’ Cunningham

    Once upon a time, there was a girl who lived in Atlanta. She had bright blue eyes, curly auburn hair, and a face full of freckles like her daddy, with high cheekbones and pouty lips she got from her mama. Her name was Vivienne Grace Cunningham but everyone called her Grace. Vivienne was her great grandmother’s name.

    Grace lived in a big house in Buckhead, Atlanta’s most affluent neighborhood. She was blessed to have a beautiful family: her mama, Caroline, daddy, Randy, and her two older sisters, Macy and Kate. Macy, her oldest sister, is about to get married to Campbell Boyd Brayden, the Governor of Georgia’s son. Kate, the middle Cunningham sister, is heading off to Yale Law school this fall. Grace is only seventeen (about to turn eighteen) and also going off to college at UGA, just a few weeks after Macy and Campbell’s wedding.

    While Grace had been to a few weddings in her life, she’s so excited to be in her big sister’s wedding because she’ll get to be a bridesmaid for the first time. Also, the love of Grace’s life, Wesley Wade Roberts, is attending the wedding. Wesley is one of four sons belonging to Trey Roberts and his wife, Birdie (Grace’s mama Caroline’s best friend). Grace has been infatuated with Wesley for years, and now that she was almost eighteen, she was ready to do something about it.

    Little did Grace know that her entire world was about to change.

    In the weeks leading up to Macy and Campbell’s wedding, Grace had been through some big life moments. She’d won Miss Magnolia, her high school’s beauty pageant then graduated from Magnolia Academy. Grace also attended her sister Kate’s graduation from Tech. Between those events–plus Macy’s bridal shower at the Peach House, her bachelorette party in New Orleans, and everyone stressing about the wedding–Grace never could have guessed her family was about to lose everything.

    Macy Bonaventure Cunningham

    For Macy’s entire life, she’d been told she was pretty. From her mama, Caroline and her French heritage, Macy had blonde hair, bright green eyes, and striking features. From her daddy, Randy, she got her height. At five-foot-eight, she was too short to be a model, but Macy’s long limbs and lean frame made her figure perfect for dancing. Macy started ballet when she was only three years old, a welcome distraction from her baby sister, Kate. Macy was on pointe by the age of nine. She took dance classes four days a week including jazz, tap, and other styles. As much as she loved to dance, Macy really loved to be the center of attention.

    Her grandmother, Grand-Mùre, called all three of her granddaughters “mes petites”. For Macy, she reserved a special nickname “ma petite prima ballerina”.

    When Macy wasn’t dancing her way throughout her childhood, she’d spend time with her best friend, Shannon. The girls all attended Magnolia Academy. In their junior year of high school, Shannon encouraged Macy to try out for their school’s beauty pageant, the title of Miss Magnolia. Macy won Miss Magnolia, then went on to be the runner-up at the Miss Junior Georgia pageant. It was at the Miss Junior pageant where Macy became friends with Jordanne.

    Macy, Shannon, and Jordanne all went off to UGA together, pledged the same sorority and became best friends with their ‘sisters’ Laurel, Madison and Bridget. In college, although Macy was busy with school, her sorority, and (of course) partying, Macy kept dancing. She tried out and won Miss UGA. She went on to become Miss Georgia, and then on to the national pageant where she didn’t even place. Macy hated losing at the top level.

    After her graduation from college, Macy moved to New York City with her sorority sister, Laurel. Macy became a Rockette. It was after a show one night when she was at a bar with Laurel that she recognized a handsome young man, Campbell Boyd Brayden, the good-looking son of Governor Bill Brayden and the first lady, Amelia Boyd, Georgia’s political powerhouse. The Braydens and Boyds were dynastic old Southern families, predating Civil War, and the whole Boyd-Brayden family had been featured in the marketing for Governor Brayden’s election campaigns.

    Macy played it cool that night she met Campbell. They started dating, and soon she had Campbell wrapped around her finger. He proposed the day after their one-year anniversary. They began planning a wedding with five hundred guests at the Cunningham family beach house on St. Simons Island. Now, Macy is about to marry into the Governor’s family.

    Georgia Katharine (‘Kate’) Cunningham

    Kate was born with entirely too much gumption. She was so independent that from the day she was born, when she was lying in her hospital crib in the nursery, and her father, Randy, was trying to capture her first moments of like on his VCR camcorder. He cooed “Georgia, Georgia, look over here.” With no luck, he sighed “Come on Georgia Katharine, Katharine,” then finally “Kate!” (his mother’s name) and at that Kate rolled over and smiled at her father. Randy went back to Caroline, his wife and shared this story, From then on out, she was Kate.

    In elementary school, Kate was the smartest student in her class. She even skipped the second grade. Kate could have skipped another grade but that would have put her in the same class as Macy, and that would have really pissed Macy off. The girls were so competitive. Kate and Macy even looked similar with the same light blonde hair, but Kate had blue eyes like her dad and little sister, Grace.

    Although Kate was pretty like her sisters, she never pursued dancing, boys, or pageantry. She had bigger concerns in her world. As a little girl, she grew up watching Captain Planet. Kate’s wardrobe consisted of ‘Save the Whales’ and ‘Save the Rainforest’ t-shirts. Her Uncle Charley nicknames her ‘The Li’l Liberal’ when she was nine years old.

    Kate graduated as salutatorian from Magnolia Academy. She went on to Georgia Tech where she majored in biology and environmental science. Kate lived with her cousin, Autumn, all four years of college, first in a dorm, then an apartment by Piedmont Park. Kate and Autumn also studied abroad together at Oxford University in England.

    Her mission in life is to protect the planet and to become an environmental criminologist. She wants to go to law school. While Kate is studying one night, her mom calls to tell her Macy is dating the governor’s son and she thinks “this is the one.” They get engaged, so when it’s time for Kate to focus on the LSAT, she’s also dealing with her bridesmaid’s duties as Maid of Honor. Kate says it’s, “MOH shit” than she can handle. She learns she got into Yale Law School right before her graduation.

    Macy’s wedding is only about a month before Kate heads north to Yale. Mama Caroline is hoping Kate finally meets the right guy at law school, though hopefully not a Yankee.

    Caroline Bonaventure Cunningham (‘Mama’)

    She was born and baptized Caroline Vivienne to Nicholas and Jacqueline Bonaventure of New Orleans. Caroline grew up in the Garden District in a historic home with her brother Peter, who was four years older. Jacqueline was a staunch Catholic, both her children attended Catholic School, Peter at an all-boys school and Caroline at an all-girls. On the weekends and in the summer, the Bonaventure children would be at the country club pool with their mother (“MĂ©re”) while Daddy golfed. Their father was a lawyer, and Mere was a stay-at-home housewife as this was the 1960s.

    When Caroline was fourteen and a freshman in high school, her brother Peter went off to college. That Christmas break, Peter came home and was drinking heavily with their father. MĂ©re got in a fight with them when she told Peter to slow down on the bourbon. Alas, when Peter went back to school for the spring semester, he overdosed when partying with his fraternity brothers: a combination of alcohol and cocaine. Peter died. The Bonaventure family was devastated. Caroline’s childhood came to an end

    Caroline was sheltered by her parents, especially her mother. For college, Caroline attended Loyola but was not allowed to live on campus. She studied psychology, fascinated by the way human minds work. When Caroline got her Master’s at Tulane, she finally moved out of her parents’ house into an apartment off Magazine Street. After graduation, she got a job offer to work at a hospital in Atlanta and decided to move away, much to MĂ©re and Daddy’s chagrin.

    During her first month in Atlanta, she met Darius Youngblood V when she was shopping at Macy’s to buy MĂ©re a birthday present (mango shampoo Malie). Caroline gave Darius her number, and they went out a few times but she never felt that “spark”. Darius said he and his friends were heading down to St. Simons Island for the Georgia-Florida game. She’d never been before and agrees. It’s on ‘frat beach’ where she meets Randy, who is actually best friends with Darius. Caroline immediately falls for Randy. They spend the night together, up all night talking, then watching the sunrise before tailgating the next day. After that weekend, Caroline and Randy begin a long distance relationship.

    Eventually, Randy gets a construction job in Atlanta. Caroline brings Randy home to New Orleans for the holidays after only six weeks of dating, and it’s clear her parents don’t approve (more on Randy’s story below). He proposes with a half-carat diamond, much to the Bonaventures’ chagrin.

    But Caroline and Randy get married. They bought their ‘starter home’ in Marietta. About a year later, Macy is born, then Kate about two years later, and finally Grace. Caroline had to stop working at this point because daycare was too expensive. She’s worried about money. Since Caroline doesn’t really have any friends (at this stage in her life it’s before she meets Birdie) and she can’t talk about this with her parents she tells Darius (since he’s Randy’s best friend) who ends up providing the financial backing for Randy.

    Editor’s note— I’m gonna stop here on Caroline because I feel like I’m giving too much away. Caroline has so many great stories, so for now I’ll just say she becomes a ‘Buckhead Betty’. She’s also fully immersed in her role as Mother of the Bride for Macy’s wedding.

    Randolph Erskine Cunningham (‘Daddy’)

    Randy Cunningham grew up poor in a middle-of-nowhere town between Macon and Savannah in the plains of south Georgia. He has light auburn hair (which he dyes to cover the increasingly gray and white hairs) and bright blue eyes. Randy is about six feet tall with a fit frame from his years of running Cunningham Construction, plus regularly walking the golf course with the golf radars he used.

    He and his younger brother, Charley, were born to alcoholic parents. When Randy was seventeen, and Charley was only fifteen, their father shot and killed their mother, then himself.

    The Cunningham boys went to live with Randy’s best friend, Darius Youngblood V, and his parents, Darius IV and Lydia–the wealthiest family in Youngblood County, the same family for whom they were named–until Randy turned eighteen, graduated from high school, and could become Charley’s legal guardian.

    Randy worked as a bank teller in their small town while Charley finished high school, then hauling timber for a lumber yard near a paper mill owned by Darius IV. When Charley graduated and went to college at Georgia Southern, Randy started working construction. The Youngblood family had a hand in all these businesses, and Darius IV looked out for the boys. Randy was “just trying to get by in a school of hard knocks.”

    About ten years after his parents died, Randy is at the Georgia-Florida game where he meets Caroline. He knows immediately she’s “the one.” The first time Randy goes to New Orleans to meet Caroline’s parents is awkward, to say the least. Jacquline (MĂ©re) and Nicholas Bonaventure are unimpressed with Randy’s background.

    Nicholas tries to buy Randy out of marrying Caroline. Undeterred, Randy moves forward. Randy buys a half-carat diamond ring and proposes to Caroline one night on the couch in her apartment. They get married at the Bonaventure family’s country club in New Orleans.

    Wanting to build a life he’d only imagined, Randy takes on an investment from the Youngbloods to start Cunningham Construction when Atlanta’s housing boom begins. Business takes off with tons of projects and additional financing from Darius V and his pool of investors. He and Caroline start their family with Macy, Kate, and Grace. His dream life is coming together: building a big house in Buckhead, putting his girls through private school, and golfing at a country club. Randy feels like he’s made it.

    But then it’s 2008, and the housing market crashes. There are no projects for Cunningham Construction which means there’s no money coming in. Randy (and Darius) can’t pay back their investors. Then Macy gets engaged to Campbell.

    As Father of the Bride, and future father-in-law to the Governor’s son, Randy knows he has to pay for an extravagant wedding for hundreds of guests. He’s about to go broke but Randy doesn’t tell anyone how bad things are. Instead, he goes to Darius for help.

    And that is where I leave you, for now, dear reader. More to come on these Pretty Southern stories