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“Elizabeth?” Luke moved closer. He stepped slowly, as if afraid to spook her. “Is it really you?”
A serene expression swept her lips up into a smile that made my heart hopeful. Maybe it was her. We certainly didn’t look much alike, but that wasn’t a shock. The older women in Hanna used to say that I must take after my daddy. They were right. Luke and I had the same blue eyes, the same dark hair, and the same lanky height. I didn’t share anything with this beautiful ghost of a person.
“Lucas, it’s been a long time.” Her voice was sweet and light. “I’ve missed you.”
Luke pressed his hand to his chest and his face took on a pale pallor. “It is you. I...can’t believe it.”
Gabe took his arm to offer some extra support. I couldn’t help but notice his other arm never left the vicinity of the dagger at his hip. An alarm rang in my head. He didn’t trust this woman. Maybe she wasn’t really who she claimed to be.
“It’s really me,” the woman replied, looking right at me. “You can trust me.”
I shook my head. Surely, she couldn’t read my mind.
“I know you have questions. I want to answer all of them.” She smiled sweetly. “I’ve been waiting a long time to meet you, my daughter. Your absence has been like a hole in the heart.”
“Granny said you died,” I uttered, my voice breaking. I knew I should be celebrating my mother’s sudden return from the dead, but it felt like a trick. “We buried you. I spent time at your grave.”
In fact, I’d spent years visiting her gravestone in the small Hanna cemetery. Her tiny white stone stood near a twisted pine in the rear, slightly separated from the dozens of other headstones belonging to the women who’d claimed Hanna as a home over the past century. I used to trace my fingers along her name, etched in the granite. We shared the same name. It was the only thing she could give to me before she died. At least, that was Granny’s story.
Her almond shaped eyes narrowed. “My mother wishes I would’ve died. She took you from me and banished me from town. It was because of her that we were forced to part.”
That same familiar rage flared up inside of me. Of course, Granny would keep a secret like this from me. How many other secrets was she keeping? My own mother—alive. How dare she lie to me all these years?
“Oh yes, your grandmother is a liar,” Elizabeth continued. Beautiful rage poured into her fragile features, wrinkling her perfect nose and pouting out her bottom lip. “She threatened to kill us both if I returned, so I was forced out into the world without my child. Can you imagine the heartache I endured? The pain?”
I could imagine it. It was the same type of pain I’d felt every day growing up with Granny, dreaming of a mother who would’ve loved me. How many times had I imagined her there? Making pancakes in the morning, brushing my hair, tucking me in at night. How many times had I shaken those dreams away, knowing that it was all a fantasy and that my mother was dead?
I found myself standing suddenly and edging nearer to her. She reminded me of Kate, my best friend from Hanna. Slight and petite, she wore tall hiking boots, tan pants, and a thin white blouse that billowed in the slight breeze. The sleeves fell down to her tiny wrists and lace trim brushed against her pale skin. I wanted to touch her, afraid that this was all an apparition, another dream. Instead, I pinched myself hard on the thigh, tryin
g hard to wake up.
“Come, my child.” Elizabeth held out a hand. “Let me look at you.”
My fingers brushed against hers. She felt real enough. With a hesitant intake of breath, I reached out further and caught her hand. Solid and soft at the same time. Warm and welcoming. The top of her head barely reached my nose, but that didn’t stop her from pulling me into a fierce hug that crushed my ribs.
“Finally,” she muttered into my soaking wet shirt. “Finally.”
I allowed her to embrace me for a moment longer before the doubts swept in. If she was really out there all this time, why appear now? What made this the right moment to come back and find the daughter she’d given up?
Apparently, Luke had recovered enough from the shock to think the same questions. He brushed Gabe away and stood tall beneath the pines, his shoulders strong.
“Why didn’t you come back to me?” he demanded, his voice trembling and eyes shining with emotion. “We thought the demons had taken you, had killed you. Why didn’t you come back?”
Elizabeth smiled again. “They did take me. But I survived. The Reddings are survivors.”
Her brown eyes gazed into mine, the warmth of her hand never leaving my back. It was true. I’d survived a demon attack, too. Already, we had so much in common.
“You didn’t answer the question.” Gabe stood nearly covered in the shadows, but I could see his hand grip the dagger at his hip. “Why didn’t you come back?”
She turned her head in his direction, pursing her lips slightly. “So, this is the man that my daughter loves?”
My face flushed red. I’d never exactly said that I loved Gabe out loud. And he hadn’t said anything either. It was much too early in our relationship to be thinking about things like love. But still, I avoided Gabe’s eyes, just in case. If he were repelled by the idea, I’d die right there.
“My name is Gabe. And you didn’t answer the question.”
This was starting to feel more like an interrogation than a family reunion. I rushed to soften the line of questioning. “What he means is, why didn’t you tell Luke you were okay? He thought you were dead, all these years.”
There were a million other questions floating around in my head, but I started with that.
