Bonded Love by Renee Roman

Author:Renee Roman [Roman, Renee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781635555318
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2020-05-24T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-two

“Well, look who the tomcat dragged in.”

“It’s good to see you too, Pop.” After a fierce hug, Blaze sank into the chair next to his. He’d know something was eating at her and would gravitate to the one he always occupied whenever he was in the living room. “Momma around, or did you finally have enough and bury her in the yard?” Her father laughed. It was a standing joke between them, and one she never grew tired of.

“She’s out back, puttering with that damn rose bush.” Her father blew out a heated breath, but she knew his love-hate relationship with the rose bush was just a farce. He’d given it to her mother on their fifth anniversary and she had insisted it be planted beside the back stairs so she could smell it every time she walked out on the porch. She’d nurtured it until it was a monstrosity and the trellis she cajoled him into building had done little to keep the spreading vines from tearing at the clothes of anyone who wasn’t paying attention and got too close. He’d tried to cut it back, but her mother had nearly beheaded him with his own pruning shears when she saw what he was going to do.

“Aww. Glad to see you still love it as much as she does.” Blaze got up and went to find her. Josh had made a stop at the grocer, planning to cook on the old Weber their parents still owned. When she saw it sitting in the same spot it always had, she smiled. Memories continued to rush in with the simple times of family barbeques and laughter. Family. Her heart seized in her chest. She hadn’t thought much about how she’d grown up until recently. At one time she thought she’d never want children of her own, but when she thought of her grandfather and all she’d learned from him, she couldn’t imagine not having a role model like him in her life. She’d been with him in the end when he’d slipped quietly away while she held his hand. She missed him terribly.

“I think you love that bush more than you love Pop.” Blaze walked down the middle of the stairs. She reached out and touched her mother’s weathered face, amazed at how soft her skin felt even though she never lost her tan. Her mother was frailer than she remembered, too. Or maybe her eyes were more open.

“Only because it doesn’t sass me back like your father.” Her mother kissed her cheek and Blaze gave her a tender hug. “To what do we owe the honor? I didn’t think we’d see you until Thanksgiving.” She turned back to her beloved bloom-covered vines. Despite the late season, they remained until the first snow. In all the years Blaze had watched her tend to it, she’d never seen her bleed from a thorn.

“Josh came by and talked some sense into me. Told me to stop being a jerk.”

Her mother faced her. “He said that to you?” Shock laced her voice.

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