Queenie Baby: Pass the Eggnog by Christina A. Burke

Author:Christina A. Burke [Burke, Christina A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Gemma Halliday Publishing
Published: 2013-11-13T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

Granddad insisted on walking to the car. He may not have been fast, but he was surefooted. I wish I could say the same. I'd face-planted twice in the snow. One of those times, I'd taken Kyle down with me. One minute he was helping tighten my snow shoe, and the next we were flapping around in three feet of snow.

We arrived at the house a few minutes before two. Hungry, wet, cold and tired, but victorious nonetheless. Bill Sprague promised to collect the rest of Granddad's things and drop them off later in the week. Granddad gave him an unsure look but didn't argue.

"I haven't set foot in that house in over fifty years," Granddad said, staring out the window. "It looks pretty good for its age. Kinda eerie, like it's been frozen in time."

I could see that. "It'll be okay," I assured him.

"What's your mom like?"

Hmmm… "Wonderful, wacky, dramatic, caring," I ticked off.

He nodded. "Sounds just like Babs."

"Why didn't you ever come back?" I asked bluntly.

Without missing a beat, he said, "Because I was drunk and selfish most my life. I woke up sober, old and lonely; figured it was my penance and didn't want to burden my daughter with my presence. Maybe I was wrong."

I patted his hand. "Well, let's make it right, c'mon."

Kyle gave me a smile as he opened the door and helped me down.

As we approached the walkway, the front door opened. A shrill voice called, "Take one more step Dub Wilson, and I'll put a bullet in your head."

We all looked up to see Aunt Pearl balancing a shot gun on the edge of her walker. She was leaning heavily against the walker, but her hands were steady.

"Put that down, Aunt Pearl," I gasped.

"Nothin' doin'," she yelled. "I'm going to do what I shoulda done a long time ago."

My mom appeared at the door behind Aunt Pearl. "Pearl what are doing with that gun?" she cried. She looked out at us.

"What's going on, Diana?" she asked. "Who's that with you?" Granddad let out a gasp. "It's her voice. She sounds just like Babs."

"Mom," I began, "maybe we should go in and sit down. Aunt Pearl put the gun down before there's an accident."

Without even a glance at Aunt Pearl, my mom whipped the gun right out of her hands. "Who's that, Diana?" she asked more warily this time.

"It's your father, Mom," I said, taking a step forward. Granddad started to follow me.

My mom let out a primal growl and brought the gun up. "I should've let Pearl shoot you!" she hissed at Granddad.

"Mom, put the gun down!" I cried. The door opened behind her and The Parents and The Grands filtered out. They uttered a collective gasp when they took in the standoff.

My stepfather walked up and wrenched the gun from my mother's grasp.

"What happened to the caring part?" Granddad said out of the corner of his mouth.

"Give her time," I replied, watching my mom collapse into Dave's arms. "Remember, you've got a lot of making up to do.

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.