Pieces of the Heart by Bonnie S. Calhoun

Author:Bonnie S. Calhoun
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Abingdon Fiction
Published: 2013-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

15

January 18, 1943

You heard me,” growled her father’s voice. He restrained himself, but Cordelia could see the veins popping out on his forehead. “There will be no wedding!”

“I love him! The Army is going to take him away from me on Friday. Can’t you see this is my last chance? You’re ruining my life!” She stormed to the couch and threw herself on the end opposite her mother. Cordelia begged until she felt the heat radiating from her face, but neither relented.

“You can perform all you want, Sarah Bernhardt, but no daughter of mine will be a high school dropout,” said her mother. Cordelia understood her defeat. Her mother’s comparison of her to the dramatic actress meant her words were falling on deaf ears.

Cordelia furrowed her brows and dropped the drama. “What are you talking about? I wouldn’t quit high school.”

“Yes, you would,” said her father. “You’d need to get a job to support yourself because you wouldn’t be living in this house after defying me.”

Her glare traveled in his direction. “You would throw me out of the house because I want to save Bernard from going to war?”

Her father set his jaw. “Yes.” He turned away from her and looked to the ceiling. “I will do what I must to protect you from him.”

She jumped to her feet. “I hate you, and I will never forgive you for ruining our lives.”

Her mother touched Cordelia’s arm. “Darling, you need to listen—”

Cordelia yanked her arm away. “I’m done listening to either of you. When I graduate you will never see me again.” She stormed out.

“Cordelia—”

“Let her go,” said her father. “She’ll see we’re right in the long run.”

Cordelia darted into her bedroom and slammed the door with all the force she could muster. Why had this gone so horribly wrong? Yesterday at church she’d prayed with every ounce of strength she had.

God was a fraud. He hadn’t answered anything.

Her quilt lay across Grammy’s rocker. The pent-up rage boiled out. She screamed and snatched the quilt. Her hands wrapped themselves in the edges of the cloth as she tried to rip it apart. The material resisted. Tears welled up in her eyes. She lashed out and beat the material on the edge of the dresser. A brush, two combs, and numerous bobby pins flew everywhere.

Cordelia raged at the quilt. She slammed it into every piece of furniture in the room, until her arm grew tired and she couldn’t lift it anymore.

She slid in a heap to the floor at the foot of her bed, the quilt still wrapped around her right hand. She rocked. Bernard was going to war and she couldn’t save him. She refused to believe God loved her. He hated her like her parents did.

The quilt. What had she done? She panicked. Had she torn Grammy’s creation? She turned it over in her hands. Undamaged. The words thank God almost escaped her lips. She silenced them. Not thanks to God, but to Grammy, who’d sewn such a strong quilt.

She wrapped the quilt around her shoulders and continued to rock.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.