A Crown & Bow by Briar Gates

Author:Briar Gates [Briar Gates]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: -
Publisher: BookBaby
Published: 2016-03-10T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15: Miracles

Eight more miles to go…

I pushed my hair back nervously as I checked the GPS on the dash of my rental car—less than ten minutes before I reached my grandparent’s country farm house. I hadn’t yet found the time to choose my new car, so I simply rented a cheap compact for the drive.

My palms began to sweat profusely as I passed the milling cows roaming the dairy farm at the corner of the road. Funny, I had nearly forgotten that the road itself was named after my mother’s ancestors. I guess those are the perks of being one of the first families to settle this verdant valley.

Even though I was seeing my grandparents under sad circumstances, I could barely contain my excitement. There were so many long, miserable years separating us. I was looking forward to seeing them both, but not necessarily facing my grandmother’s illness. An amorphous brain abnormality the doctors had called it. The medical jargon made me nauseous with all its ambiguity and blatant uncertainty.

My stomach pitched with fear—what if they hated me? What if they thought I was annoying or awful or I don’t even know. And what if she died just when we were given a new chance to be a real family? It was a selfish thought, but there you have it. Maybe I was just a selfish, bitter girl.

Sighing, I grabbed the handles of my leather weekender bag. I had managed to fit everything I needed for the week in it. I always traveled light—anything I had forgotten to pack could easily be attained wherever I was going. Plus, I liked having memories from my trips through the objects I found.

I concentrated on just moving one foot in front of the other until I finally made my way up the slate walkway. I tapped the brass knocker so quietly I barely even heard it. Sounds, light footfalls, filtered out into the night where I was waiting.

The door swung open widely on its hinges, and there she was. Her thin appearance shocked and frightened me to the core. My grandmother was pale, fragile, and looked completely unlike herself. Her thick, brown curls had been replaced by a short burst of now very light gray hair.

Both of my grandparents were fairly young. My grandmother and grandfather had been married at seventeen, only a few short months before my own mother was born. Following in their footsteps, my mother was only eighteen when she ran away to elope with my father, who was nearly ten years her senior. At least I had avoided their fate and remained unmarried and childless by my eighteenth birthday. Thank you, Jesus, I silently prayed.

Returning my attention back to the only family I had left, I now examined my grandfather, who had emerged behind her with a wide grin. As usual, he was loyally attached to my grandmother’s side, but he looked so different himself.

My grandfather had been a dashingly handsome man—tall, with thick dark hair. Now in

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