The Summer of New Beginnings: A Magnolia Grove Novel by Bette Lee Crosby

Author:Bette Lee Crosby [Crosby, Bette Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 9781503901247
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Published: 2018-03-27T04:00:00+00:00

Finding Gabriel

Over the years, Meghan had learned it was always wise to have an answer at hand before she told her mama about a problem. So on Thursday morning when they sat down to breakfast, she avoided any mention of Gabriel. Later on when she and Tracy were alone in the Snip ’N’ Save office, she asked, “Do you remember a guy named Gabriel Hawke?”

Tracy turned with a puzzled look. “From where?”

“He was a year or two ahead of you in high school. Tall, dark hair, good-looking, played the guitar.”

“Oh, yeah, I remember. He hung out with the Jackson twins, right?”

Only vaguely remembering that part of his life, Meghan answered, “Possibly. Did you know Gabriel was deaf?”

Tracy thought for a moment, then gave a barely perceptible nod and turned back to the computer. “It wasn’t all that obvious.”

Meghan couldn’t have asked for a better lead-in. “That’s because his mama taught him how to talk. He was two years old before he said a word, then they found out he couldn’t hear.”

Tracy’s neck stiffened. With her brows pinched together and her eyes narrowed, she turned back to Meghan.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I thought because of Lucas it might be worthwhile—”

“Good grief, Meghan! Don’t I have enough to worry about without you trying to scare me over something like this?”

“I’m not trying to scare you, but if Lucas does have a problem hearing, it’s better to—”

“He doesn’t have a problem hearing!” Tracy snapped. “He has a problem paying attention. It’s got nothing to do with his hearing.”

“You don’t know that for sure.”

“Yes, I do! The day before yesterday, Mama was making breakfast, and the cast-iron skillet slid out of her hands. When it hit the floor, Lucas looked like he was going to jump out of his skin. There’s no question he heard that crash.”

“Okay, he reacted. But that doesn’t mean he actually heard the sound. He may have reacted to the vibration of the skillet hitting the floor.”

Meghan started to explain what Gabriel had said about the vibrations of sound, but Tracy cut her off with a thunderous huff and turned back to the computer.

Not taking her eyes off the screen, she grumbled, “If you don’t mind, I don’t want to talk about it.”

Meghan knew that was that. She’d heard Tracy say those same words countless times before, and once she’d said them, it was the end of the discussion.

“I just thought maybe . . . ”

Meghan sighed and turned back to her laptop. Although nothing more was said, you could almost see lightninglike sparks of tension bouncing off Tracy. It was as if an invisible wall had suddenly sprung up in the narrow space between the two desks in the Snip ’N’ Save office.

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