The Rhubarb Patch (Men Of Gilead Book 1) by Deanna Wadsworth

Author:Deanna Wadsworth [Wadsworth, Deanna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Deanna Wadsworth
Published: 2022-11-10T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

All the envelopes in the box were addressed to Scott.

His hands shook and his stomach knotted. He sniffed once, then realized he had tears on his face. He wiped them away with the back of his arm. His hands shook as he stared at the first envelope.

The postmark was over twenty years ago.

Two decades had not changed his mother’s handwriting. On every single letter were three words:

Return to Sender.

He took a slow, steadying breath, his eyes still weeping.

He didn’t understand why he was crying. Anger, shock, frustration? Maybe a desperate sense of wanting to be loved and accepted by a family he never knew.

Nancy had been writing him for years.

And his mother had sent every single one of them back.

Why?

He brushed his face, determined not to allow the growing anger at Mom to affect him until he understood more. He looked at the envelopes, sorted by date. The one in front was first, postmarked December. A Christmas card.

How old had he been?

He tried to do the math in his head but was too frustrated. He grabbed the cell phone—ignoring the texts Davis sent about pillows and other accessories for his bedroom—and opened the calculator app.

Five years old.

His grandmother had sent him a Christmas card the year after they moved away.

He stared at the old green envelope for a long time. He traced each chicken-scratch letter of his name with an index finger, wondering what Nancy had been thinking when she mailed this first card.

Had she known her ex-daughter-in-law would send it back?

That one confused him. Why didn’t Mom just throw it away?

Scott had been a little boy. He wouldn’t have gone through the garbage. While he knew how to read before kindergarten, he wouldn’t have been able to read sloppy old-lady cursive at five, even if he had found it.

Then it hit him.

Mom wanted Nancy to know Scott didn’t get the letters.

One would think Nancy would’ve stopped sending cards, but the last one in the box had a cap and gown sticker on it. A graduation card.

Had Nancy continued sending them just because Mom returned them?

Shit.

This shoebox represented an unspoken, twenty-year battle between two very stubborn women.

His stomach twisted. Whatever had gone on between them, using Scott’s youth and innocence as some sort of way to carry out their grudge match was nuts!

He compared the addresses with the dates. There were a lot of holes in the dates as if Nancy hadn’t known where they lived. He let out of disgruntled sniff. So that’s why they moved so much. He always assumed it was because Mom wanted to be closer to some new boyfriend. Had she actually moved to get away from Nancy?

What the hell?

Scott chewed on his lower lip and glanced out the window. He had a strong desire to ask Phin to come over. He didn’t want to open these by himself. He paused before grabbing his iPhone. Scott didn’t have Phin’s phone number. He never had to call Phin. He would just walk outside and there he’d be with a happy smile saying, “Hey Mouse.

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.