Read Online The Year of Chasing Dreams by Lurlene McDaniel - Free Book Online Page B

cleared.
    “Not as enthusiastic as I once was. It’s one thing to give in when it’s something that’s offered. Another thing entirely when some outsider comes in to drive you away.”
    “Why, Mama, you sound like a Beauchamp,” Ciana said with a smudge of a smile.
    Alice Faye snorted. “No need to insult me.”
    Ciana’s smile broadened. “Wonder what Eden will say when she comes home to Jon living here?”
    “Used to be, generations all lived together. Don’t know when we got the idea that families had to break apart and live separately. I’ve missed having a full house.”
    There was a tinge of sadness in Alice Faye’s voice, reminding Ciana that ever since her father’s death, Alice Faye had been alone. Certainly she and her grandmother had lived in the house with her mother, but Ciana had been a child and oblivious to her mother’s inner pain. For years Alice Faye and Olivia had revolved around each other. Ciana had been their touch point; she now understood that she had also been thefissure that divided them. She had run to her grandmother, not her mother, for most everything, further isolating Alice Faye. A mistake, Ciana realized. But how could she undo the damage now that so many years and memories stood between them?
    “Did I ever thank you for handling the hay harvest while I was in Italy?” Ciana asked, suddenly remorseful over the divide. “Maybe I shouldn’t have run off and left you.”
    Alice Faye looked up, startled. “Goodness, I’ve done it before, Ciana. It’s what we farmers do … plant fields, gather in crops, muck stalls.” She scraped corn bread batter into a baking pan. “And at the time, I had enough money to hire help. I was glad you and your friends were on vacation. Besides, you’re here now. In time for spring.” She put the empty bowl in the sink under running water. “Turned out for the best. What with Arie getting sick and all.”
    And dying
, Ciana thought, filling in the unspoken. “Sure can’t hire anyone this year. Jon will be a big help come April.”
    Alice Faye caught Ciana’s eye. “He’s a good man.”
    “I know.”
    “Man should have a reason to stay around after planting season.”
    Ciana bristled at the implication. She wasn’t about to discuss her and Jon’s complicated relationship with her mother. “Man loves the rodeo circuit,” she said curtly, leaving the conversation and the kitchen.

“We’re going to have a good time today!” was pretty much how Garret greeted Eden every morning when she came bleary-eyed into the kitchen for coffee, and after her first cup of caffeine, she was ready for any itinerary. He took her all around Sydney, showing off his city like an art dealer with a prized collection. They rode public transportation when possible, partly because it was simple and plentiful, and partly because gasoline was expensive and made driving costly. They rode buses, city trolleys, trains, and they walked—for miles. As a benefit of the exercise, his body began to fill out. The gauntness left his face, and he began to look more like the Garret she’d met in Italy. Maggie beamed continuously, and Trevor, a quiet man, often peeked from behind his newspapers and legal briefs to flash approving smiles at Eden and his son.
    “You’re good for him,” Maggie often said to Eden.
    Eden basked in the approval.
    Lorna and Tom invited Eden and Garret over for aSaturday afternoon at their apartment, so they went into the city early and walked across the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge. There was a sidewalk protecting walkers from traffic, and at the midway mark an opportunity to don an elaborate harness and scale the metal heights to the bridge’s top. Eden rejected Garret’s suggestion that they try it. Instead she ogled the famed Opera House in the harbor below, its white roof gleaming in the sun.
    On the far side, they paused at the Circular Quay, where ferries shuttled people across the sparkling blue water. The area teemed with