memories were replaced by ones to be cherished forever. Brook’s face was radiant and Lance couldn’t stop grinning. Both sets of parents were pleased to witness the happiness and obvious love shared by the couple.
Epilog
Shortly after the wedding as the couple settled into their new life together, a hiker wandered into the clearing in front of the dwelling. Lance warily opened the door at his knock. “Can I help you?” he asked.
“You wouldn’t by chance be Sullivan Proctor, would you?” the man asked.
“I would not,” Lance stated, firmly.
The man gave Lance a knowing look but didn’t question him further.
“Who would you be?” Lance asked, suspiciously.
“My name is Danny Norton. My dad owned all this land at one time.”
“At one time?” Lance felt a chill run up his back. “Who owns it now?”
“Well, my dad left his estate in trust to his children, but he also left instructions for us to allow one Sullivan Proctor unrestricted use of this cabin and the surrounding twenty acres. He took a liking to the man and he knew none of us wanted the old shack.” He stopped and looked around. “Although, it doesn’t look like much of a shack anymore.”
Lance stood, mouth open in surprise.
“May I ask who you are?”
“My name is Lance Matthew. I’m a close…friend of Sullivan’s. And you’re right; he has made a lot of improvements to the old place.”
The two stood in silence for a few minutes, gazing at the cabin. Finally, Danny turned and hefted a backpack from where he had set it on a stump. “Well, anyway, you might want to let Sullivan know about his legal right to use the land and cabin. Our lawyers are searching for him and hope to see him soon.” The man passed over a business card, tipped his ball cap in Lance’s direction, winked, and wandered on down the trail.
Lance dropped onto an old stump beside the door and laughed, his heart light and free for the first time in years.
Notes of Interest
Cover photo for
The authors of
Setting:
The authors took artistic liberty with the locations and geography of the great state of Colorado. Haylieville, Mt.Coley, Mt.Hazel, and the GarrisonRange are fictional. The beautiful WetMountains do exist.
Songs:
'The Darkest Hour' written and recorded by Ralph Stanley
'I Will Survive' written by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris, recorded by Gloria Gaynor
'Harvest Moon' written and recorded by Neil Young
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Author Website: wodke-hawkinson.com
Authors/Readers Website: findagoodbooktoread.com
Blog: http://wodke-hawkinson.com/blog1/
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Enjoy this excerpt from Wodke Hawkinson’s
upcoming novel,
The moon’s jump terminal was much like a large airport, only on a grander scale. Hovering above the building was the enormous E-H Transporter. Sleek and ovoid, it gleamed with the sheen of an opal. Ava stood speechless before it, gaping like a tourist seeing the great pyramids for the first time. Nothing could have prepared her for the sight. Ships of all sizes were being uploaded into the E-H. The giant transporter reminded Ava of a hive with busy bees swarming around it. Closing her mouth, Ava moved into the terminal where, due to her employment with Alliance, she was spared the usual agony of pre-flight check-in. She and Pisk moved past long lines of travelers, and went directly to the boarding station.
If she thought the outside of the transporter to be impressive then she certainly found the inside to be the opposite. Barren hallways led to the center of the transporter. Here, voyagers would stand in waist-high aisles in the order they entered. Seats could be dropped from the partitions if needed, and were being used here and there as the passengers waited for the uploading to end.
Air conditioning was not supplied, deemed unnecessary for a flight lasting less than a second. However, it seemed the designers of the ship had not considered the loading time. Ava was standing behind a rather heavyset man who reeked of body odor. Unable to move backwards, or even turn to the side due to the press of people from every direction, Ava took shallow breaths as she covered her mouth with her hand and prayed they would soon get under way. Pisk buried his face in her neck.
In answer to her prayer, a recorded voice announced that they would now make the jump. A mere nano- second after this announcement, the same mechanical voice welcomed them to the primary moon of Tangerine in
