Heart Block by Melissa Brayden Read Free Book Online Page A

was now well past lunchtime. I’m a horrible mother, destined for parent jail . She decided she’d take Grace out for a bite to eat, just the two of them, before dropping her off with her mother, where she could have more fun for the rest of the afternoon. She still had work to get done at the house.
    The scene she walked in on in the kitchen was not at all what she expected. There was Grace, munching on a plate of Oreos and coloring alongside none other than Emory Owen herself, who interestingly enough seemed quite content coloring a rabbit of her own. Sarah watched them, shocked but still able to enjoy the serenity of the quiet moment as the two artists concentrated in tandem silence.
    “I take it you two have met?” She hated to interrupt their work.
    Emory looked up. “We have. Grace was rifling through the china and I walked in just in time.” Sarah was horrified, but Emory calmly held up one hand. “Joking. Your daughter has been very polite company and even lent me the use of her crayons. How old are you again?” She turned back to Grace.
    “Eight. How old are you?”
    “Grace!” Sarah was beyond embarrassed. Maybe add manners to her motherhood to-do list.
    “It’s okay.” Emory offered Grace a wink. “I’m thirty-two.”
    Sarah moved further into the room, stopping behind Grace’s chair. “I hope it’s okay that I brought her here. No summer camp on Saturdays and I didn’t want to get behind.”
    Emory gestured as if to wave off any of Sarah’s concerns. “It’s fine. She caught me off guard at first, but it’s turned out to be a nice morning.” Emory smiled at Grace, who beamed back at her with about as much hero worship as was conceivable.
    “Mom,” Grace said. She turned around to face Sarah with a tight grip on Emory’s first picture. “Emory said I could keep it. Can you believe how real it looks?”
    Sarah took the page from Grace’s hands and studied it, impressed as Grace was at the intricate detail Emory had added to the once basic outline. “Wow. She’s kinda good at this, huh?”
    “Yep, she’s going to show me how to shade sometime.”
    Sarah glanced apologetically at Emory, who’d clearly gone above and beyond to be nice when there were surely things she’d rather be doing. “Um, we’ll see. Ms. Owen is a very busy woman. Now pack up your backpack and head to the car. We’re going to Burger King and then Mami and Papi’s. I need to talk to Ms. Owen.”
    Grace gathered her things together, and with a wholehearted wave to Emory, was out the door.
    Emory raised an eyebrow in amusement. “You’re sure she won’t just drive away?”
    “I keep the keys with me.”
    Emory laughed and Sarah noticed her dimples for the very first time. “She’s really something, a likable kid.”
    “Thank you.” Sarah was pleased with the sincerity in Emory’s voice. “If you have a minute, before I go, there’s something I came across of your mother’s that I thought you should see.” No, need to see, Sarah amended internally.
    Emory studied her with a look of restrained annoyance. “I don’t feel like going through any of Mother’s things today. If you could just place whatever it is in a marked box for me, I’ll find time to go through it all at some point.”
    Sarah held up a hand. “Please just hear me out and take a look. If you’re not interested, I’ll pack them up.”
    “Them?”
    “Just wait here a moment.” Sarah quickly retrieved the journals and returned with the small stack in her hands.
    Emory stared at the books, unblinking. “What are those?”
    “I came across some writing your mother did, journals she kept over the years. The entries are sometimes frequent and sometimes not. There are months that go by without anything and then weeks where every day is chronicled.” Sarah heard the excitement in her voice and commanded herself to slow down. “Please forgive me for this next part, but I did read a portion of what she wrote. At first, I was just