Forever Country (26 page)

I kiss and hug everyone, and as soon as he
closes the door I look at my cell phone, well, Abel Lee’s cell
phone. Still nothin’ from Ethan. This isn’t right. I know Ethan
would be here. Wouldn’t he? Before Heather Sue got pregnant, I know
he would want to be here for his son. Has he changed that much
since he’s been with her? I send him a text and hope that he
replies.

Savannah Mae: Ethan, this is Savannah Mae,
can you please call me? Sawyer Jackson is in the hospital.

I sit and watch my son and hope for my phone
to beep with a reply message. I pray that Sawyer Jackson wakes up
feeling better. Neither happens. Sawyer Jackson sleeps and the
phone might as well be broken. As least my son is sleeping.

Abel Lee walks into the room. He looks tired
or worried, I’m not sure which.

“
I got you some soup and a
dinner roll from the cafeteria.”

“
I’m not
hungry…”

“
Eat. It’s only soup. You
need to have something in your belly.”

I watch as he removes the lid from the
Styrofoam bowl and removes the spoon from the plastic. He hands it
to me, and it smells delicious. “Thank you.”

He sits in the chair closest to my son and
watches over him as I eat. My intentions were to act like I was
eatin’ some of the soup, but I was hungrier than I thought. I
devoured the entire bowl and ate the roll that was with it. It’s
funny that when you’re that worried about someone you love that you
forget to take care of yourself.

I stand to throw away my trash when Abel Lee
asks, “Do you want something else to eat?”

“
No, thank you. That was
plenty.”
And it was.

Abel Lee and I talk about my son and about
the progress being made at the old school. He speaks with
enthusiasm, with a spark in his eyes. He tells me Johnny’s idea of
turning the upstairs into an apartment.

“
What do you think of me
living so close to you?”

“
I think it’ll be nice. You
won’t have far to walk to my house.” I laugh at the thought of how
close we’ll be.

“
Do you think it’s too
close?”

“
No, not at all. I won’t
have far to go when I need to borrow eggs, sugar, or
milk.”

He smiles. “I’m glad you’re in a better
mood.”

I look at him and he watches me. “I’m happy
that you’re here with us. I think just havin’ you here is helpin’.
It was a pretty rough day today.”

“
You had company all day,
right?”

“
I did, but it wasn’t you.
You make everything better.”

Abel Lee takes my hand and leads me to sit on
his lap. I snuggle into him and inhale his masculine scent. “I wish
I could make Sawyer Jackson better,” he says honestly.

“
I wish his dad would come
and see him. This is exactly what I was afraid was going to
happen.”

After awhile, Abel Lee stands to walk out of
the room. I move over nearest to Sawyer Jackson. The mail he
brought from the house is sittin’ on the bedside table. Most of it
is junk mail, but a letter with no return address is tucked inside
the advertisin’ flyers.

I quickly open it and I’m shocked by what I
see: a snapshot photograph of a person in a hospital bed. Ice runs
through my veins at the image. I can’t tell if this is a man or a
woman. The photo reminds me of how they described Megan Rose when
they found her. They said she was unrecognizable. This person looks
horrific. Who would do this to someone? Why are they sendin’ me
this photograph? I stare at the picture. The person is black and
blue, and it looks like the person is on a ventilator. I look
closer and the person’s right arm is in a cast. Is this a boxer he
fought during his fighting career? I read the note enclosed.

Savannah,

Do you know who did this?

Your boyfriend, Abel, did.

Oh, my God!
It’s a girl! Isn’t it? I think this is a picture
of a girl, but I’m not sure. I can’t tell. The person is so beaten
and battered, I can’t tell if it’s a male or a female.

Abel Lee walks into the hospital room. “I got
ahold of Ethan. He’s on his way.”

I can feel the blood drain from my face. My
hands shake, but I continue to clutch the photo and note in both
hands. “What’s wrong?” he asks. He slowly walks closer to me. “Did
they get the test results back from the spinal tap?” He looks
fearful. I try to blink and swallow, but I don’t think I do either.
I stare at Abel Lee. Is he capable of doing this? “Savannah Mae,
please, what is it?”

I slowly lift my hands from my lap. I set the
note and photograph on the bedside table. “D-d-did you do
t-t-this?” I stutter.

I watch him closely. He closes his eyes and I
already have my answer, but I need to hear him say it. “Abel, did
you do this?”

He opens his eyes and they are red. He looks
broken. “I can explain,” he murmurs.

“
Abel, are you responsible
for this? Yes or no?” I demand. I need to hear the words.
Please say no. Tell me you’re not responsible for
harmin’ a human being this badly.
Please
don’t be capable of causin’ these kinds of injuries to
anyone.
“YES OR NO, ABEL?” I
yell.

He hangs his head and whispers, “Yes.”

BOOKS BY BRENDA KENNEDY

I support Indie Authors. If you read this
book, please take the time to go to the purchasing site and give it
a review. Independent authors count on your reviews to get the word
out about our books. Thank you for taking the time to read my books
and taking the extra time to review them. I appreciate it very
much.

Disclaimer: People and places in this book
have been used fictitiously and without malice.

The
Rose Farm Trilogy

Book One:
Forever Country

Book Two:
Country Life…Spring of 2016

Book Three:
Country Love…coming 2016

The
Starting Over
Trilogy

Book One:
A New Beginning

Book Two:
Saving Angel

Book Three:
Destined to Love

The Freedom
Trilogy

Book One:
Shattered Dreams

Book Two:
Broken Lives

Book Three:
Mending Hearts

The Fighting to Survive Trilogy.

Round One:
A Life Worth Fighting

Round Two:
Against the Odds

Round Three:
One Last Fight

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My husband, Rex: Thank you for supporting me
and for coming with me on this ride. Thank you for understanding
that although I am in my pajamas, I am indeed working. You are my
partner for life, and I love you.

My children: Carey, John, Derek, Nikki,
Chastidy, Rex, Brittany, Amanda, and Katie: Thank you for reminding
me what is important every single day. I love you.

My grandchildren: Desmond, Samantha, Autumn,
Evan, Derek, Dayquan, Darius, Draden, Alyssa, Hailey, Lucca,
Tanner, Giovanni, Cain, Lelila, Kylie, DeVonte’, Adrienne, Amaya,
Dominic, Damien, Caden, and Gemma: Thank you for reminding me that
I am somebody; I am your grandma and nothing else matters. I love
you all.

My sisters and brothers: George, Martha,
Rosa, Carla, and Frank: Thank you for your support. I love you.

My other brother,
David:
Without you, I wouldn’t have been
able to publish the first book. Thank you for making my ideas
better and for all you do. Editing, proofreading, polishing,
formatting, ideas, articles, and research websites. See, I do pay
attention. Thank you. Thank you for pushing me until I get it
right. Maybe someday, I’ll learn the right place to put the commas.
I love you and I can never thank you enough. David writes
collections of anecdotes such as
The
Funniest People in Comedy
, and he retells
classics in such books as
William
Shakespeare’s
Macbeth
: A Retelling in Prose
. His books can
be found for sale on all leading online electronic book sale
platforms.

Christina Badder, Owner and Operator of CBB
Productions: My P.A., and my friend. Thank you for taking care of
all of my promotional needs. The blog tours, author spotlights,
book cover reveals, give-a-ways, Rafflecopters, Thunderclap
campaigns, ARC’s, and everything that I don’t know that you do or
things I forgot to mention. I hope you know how much I appreciate
your hard work and dedication. Girl, I love your work and your
vision. One more thing I need to thank you for is this book cover,
and for the other covers in this trilogy. You are so amazing and I
am so glad I found you. I plan on keeping you, forever.

Thank you to all of my Beta readers: Too many
to list. I appreciate your honest opinions and reviews and I love
the bond that we have developed. I also appreciate that I can trust
you and count on you. Thank you for encouraging me to write and for
giving me ideas. You never disappoint. I love you guys!

Thank you to “Brenda’s Street Talkers” for
pimping my books, making teasers and banners, and just for the love
and support I receive from you every day. I love you girls.

Thank you to all the
bloggers who shared in the author’s spotlight and the blog tour
for
Forever Country
. I appreciate you more than you know.

A very special thank you to author DB
Jones.

To my readers: Thank you for reading and
reviewing my books. Thank you to my loyal readers who have followed
me from the beginning and to those who are new to my books.

Info for David Bruce, My Brother

Smashwords (Books for Sale, and Free
Books)

http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/bruceb

Wordpress Blog

https://davidbruceblog.wordpress.com



ABOUT THE AUTHOR

When I first started
writing, I wanted to write about real people whom others could
relate to with real-life problems and real jobs. I love to read
about the billionaire 20-something-year-old, but knew this wasn’t
the kind of story I want to write. When my first trilogy,
The Starting Over Trilogy
, took form, I was thrilled to be able to make the book as
close to realistic as I could.

I wanted to touch on
real-life problems. Not because I want to show the weakness in my
characters or to show the disturbing truth, but because I wanted to
show my characters’ strengths.
The
Starting Over
Trilogy
dealt with domestic violence:
a problem that is all too familiar to too many women and
men.

Next came
The Freedom Trilogy,
a
spinoff of
The Starting Over
Trilogy
. The series started off with the
All-American military family and the real problems some face during
deployment. I picked my daughter’s brain and used her real emotions
during the deployment stage. Thank you, Amanda. Then the story
turned to drug abuse and rehabilitation.

The Fighting to Survive
Trilogy
focuses on battles of a boxer,
depression, and how to move forward after the loss of a child. It
shows two families who are fighting the same battle.

I hope in my future books I am still able to
continue to write about problems most of us face while continuing
to give my characters the happily ever after that they deserve.

One a lighter note:
I moved to sunny Florida in 2006 and never looked
back. I love freshly squeezed lemonade, crushed ice, teacups,
wineglasses, non-franchise restaurants, ice cream cones, boating,
picnics, cookouts, throwing parties, lace, white wine, mojitos,
strawberry margaritas, white linen tablecloths, fresh flowers, and
Pinterest. I also love to read and write and to spend time with my
family.

My books, thus far, have been inspired by the
things I love and the people who influence me, every single day, to
be a better person.

You may follow me on:

FB author page
:
 
http://on.fb.me/1ywRwmI

GoodReads
:
 
http://bit.ly/1szWiw5

Tsu :
 
https://www.tsu.co/BrenKenn

Twitter
:
 
https://twitter.com/BrendaKennedy_

Brenda’s Street Talkers
:
 
http://on.fb.me/1BqgdEr