The Deception by Laura Gallier

Author:Laura Gallier
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Religious / Christian / Social Issues, YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Thrillers & Suspense
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Published: 2019-09-02T16:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-ONE

BEFORE I COULD READ through Ray Anne’s text a second time, Betty called and insisted I come over, even though it was almost midnight.

I ventured inside my place to grab my keys, which thankfully were by the door.

Betty and I sat at the breakfast table in her cozy, rooster-adorned kitchen. She asked me how I was doing, and I spilled my guts, telling her everything about my father and Lucas, too. Then I delivered the big news about Arthur—how all this time, it was her ancestor who’d been appearing and guiding me. She became teary eyed but kept quiet as I explained Ray Anne’s unfortunate reaction to the whole situation and how she would bring up Bible verses that couldn’t possibly apply to what I was experiencing. And I told her how Gordon had gone so far as to punish me by moving the Bible study out of my place—so ridiculous.

When I finally paused, mainly to catch my breath, Betty started rebuking me. Rebuke, I learned, is a churchy term that basically means someone tells you you’re flat-out wrong and that you’ve totally blown it. I can’t say she was mean about it—she didn’t outright insult me—but she did side completely with Ray Anne and Gordon, and at one point, even referred to my actions as ignorant.

I pushed back from the table and paced her kitchen floor—covered, by the way, in the same glistening footprints that had first led me to Betty at Masonville High. “I don’t understand any of this. It’s like everyone I know and trust is warning me not to trust others I know and trust.” I slammed into my chair and bent over, dropping my forehead onto a spongy place mat. “It’s so freaking confusing.”

I remembered what Veronica had said about how I would have to choose sides. It irked me to admit to myself that she’d been right.

Betty leaned over and put her hand under my chin, lifting my head to look at her. “I don’t know if that old black man in the woods is an angel or some kind of demon, but I can promise you this: he isn’t Arthur. My great-great-granddaddy is in heaven, with the Lord.”

Just like Ray Anne, her mind was made up. Mine was all over the place.

Betty sat with me in the silence for a while, giving me comforting pats on the shoulder. Had I been even a little bit younger, I think I would have begged her to adopt me. “I can help you out of all this confusion,” she said. “But right now, I need to show you what I found today.”

I followed her into the living room, fully engrossed as she explained how, in the final hours of his life, Arthur had shared something with Dot—his granddaughter, Dorothy—that was so important, he had her write it down word for word. Betty opened a desk drawer and pulled out a small envelope. “I drove to my relatives’ house in Louisiana, where Dot keeps some of her belongings, to get this.

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.