By Summer's End (Christian Fiction) (4 page)

Dear baby sister,

I’m so happy you are finally here.  I can’t wait to
meet you.  I just know you’re perfect.

I’m so excited to finally be a big sister.  You
don’t know how glad I was to hear you’re a girl and not a boy.  If you’d been a
boy, I would have loved you anyway, but
…
  Well,
you know what I mean.  Since we’re both girls, we’ll have more in common
…

She continued reading the letter, in
which Holly listed all the fun things she intended to both teach her and show
her.  There was no denying, Holly had been thrilled to have a sibling.

Brianna
glanced her way.  Her lips began to tremble.  “Why didn’t they show me this?”

Holly sighed.  “I … don’t have the
answer to that,” she said.  “I guess they had their reasons.”

“But … what possible reason could they
have for keeping us apart?”

Holly shrugged and turned toward her
briefly.  “Honey, I don’t know.”

“But…”  The girl was clearly distraught
and it killed Holly that she’d caused her pain.

“I’m sorry, Brianna.  It may have been
too soon to show…”

“No!” she cried.  “You should have shown
me sooner.  I was so angry with you!  And you didn’t do anything wrong.  I’ve
been awful to you. 
I’m
awful!”

Holly reached across the seat dividing
them and squeezed her sister’s hand.  “You didn’t know, and I just didn’t know
how to tell you.”

“You didn’t want me to be angry with my
parents.  Is that it?”

Holly blew out a breath.  “Yes.”

“You shouldn’t have worried.  I was
angry with them anyway.”  The girl drew silent and reached for the next
letter.  Once again, she read her sister’s child’s script—

Dear Sissie,

I hope you don’t mind if I call you that.  When I
think about you, I just automatically call you ‘Sissie’ cuz you’re my very own
baby sister.  Gosh, you’re over a month old and I haven’t gotten to see you
yet.  I don’t know why.  (If you could talk, you’d probably tell me.)  Anyway,
I’m sure I’ll get to see you soon.  At least, that’s what Dad said when I talked
to him last.  I called him again, but he must be busy, since he hasn’t called
back.

I asked Dad to send me a picture of you, but he
hasn’t been able to send me one.  I can’t help wondering if maybe, just maybe,
you look a little bit like me.  That’s probably silly, huh?  Anyway, I’m hoping
I’ll know soon what you look like
…

Brianna read on, her heart breaking for
the little girl Holly had been.  She could sense the sadness in her words and
knew that as she had done so often in the past herself, Holly had been
struggling to trust in their father, though he had ultimately failed her. 
He
must be busy
.  Yeah, he was busy all right, she thought.

She finished reading the letter and
pulled out the next.  She was still reading when Holly announced cheerfully,
“Oh, my goodness, this is it!  Our home! 
Brianna, this is it!
”

Brianna
glanced up from the letter she was reading.  They were parked on the gravel
driveway of a home several yards off a main roadway.  She’d been so engrossed
in reading the letters Holly had given her, she hadn’t even been cognizant of
the passing of time or miles.

“This is it?” she asked softly, taking
in the scene before her.

“I … think so,” Holly answered, her eyes
passing over the rolling pastureland behind the house.  The bright green fields
went on for what seemed like miles.  Evergreen trees towered in the distance. 
“Should we get out?”

Brianna seemed hesitant to leave her box
behind, but nodded and climbed out of the car.  She and Holly met at the hood
and both stared at the small home in front of them.

“I think it’s a modular home,” Holly
observed.

“Modular?” Brianna asked, her brows
knitted in confusion.

“A manufactured home.  Sometimes they’re
called mobile homes.”

“It looks sort of like a log cabin,” Brianna
observed.  “I like the porch across the front.”

“I do too,” Holly agreed.  “Shall we see
if anybody’s home?”

To Holly’s surprise, Brianna took her
hand and together they approached the front steps.  They paused at the base of
the steps, breathed deeply as if in synchronization, and then began the short
climb to the porch.

Holly rang the bell and waited.  No one
answered.  Before using the key, she knocked loudly.  No one came.

“I guess we’ll go in,” she told Brianna
and inserted the key into the lock.  She turned it and then tried the knob. 
“It’s open,” she said cheerfully.

She gestured for Brianna to step in
before her and then followed closely behind.  Inside, they discovered a tiny
foyer that led to a large, expansive great room.  The large room opened to the
kitchen.  The interior featured log construction and was sparsely furnished a
few pieces of rustic furnishings.

“I like it,” Brianna said, smiling.

“I do too,” Holly said.

Holly gestured for Brianna to follow and
they headed for a hallway off the great room.  Holly counted four doors.  “It
looks like there are three bedrooms and a bathroom.”

“It’s a good size house for two people,”
Brianna observed.

“Yes.  Shall we check out the rest of
it?” 

Brianna nodded and they entered the
first room.  A tiny bedroom, it stood empty.  Next was a bathroom.  “It’s
nice,” Brianna said.  “Pretty good size.”  She grinned.  “I guess this would be
my bathroom?”

Holly smiled at her.  Brianna actually
seemed to like the house.

They continued on to the next bedroom,
which was a decent size.  “Mine,” Brianna said cheerfully.  “The next one must
be the master bedroom.”

She dashed out of the room to which she’d
just laid claim and hurried into the largest bedroom.  “Holly, come look!”

Holly found Brianna standing in the
middle of the room.  Like the rest of the house, it was sparsely furnished, but
she was pleased to see a queen-sized bed and a dresser of drawers in the room. 
“You have your own bathroom!” Brianna cried.  “Come and see it.”

Holly stepped into the bathroom, which
was much larger than she expected it to be.  A four-piece ensuite, it featured
a double vanity. 

“Hey, I can always get ready for school
in here.  There’s a sink for both of us,” Brianna noted.

Holly was delighted her sister seemed so
happy about the house.  She was somewhat dismayed by her enthusiasm, however,
since the girl had lived in a gorgeous, upscale home.  Holly didn’t realize she
was watching her kid sister somewhat quizzically, until the perceptive teenager
spoke.

“You’re wondering why I like this place
so much when I’m used to living in a McMansion,” she observed knowingly.

Holly opened her mouth, to deny the
accusation, but bit back her denial.  Brianna was right.  “Well… I mean…”

“I didn’t like the house we were living
in,” she said with a shudder.  “We didn’t own it.  It was all for show.  God
forbid if we ever touched anything, or got a stain on the carpet…”  Her words
trailed off.  “This feels like … home.”  She grinned.  “We can make it feel
like home, anyway.”  She laughed outright.  “Of course, we’ll need furniture.”

“I’m so happy you like it, Brianna.  I
like it too.  It’s really spacious—compared to the apartment— and everything
feels brand new.”  She broke into a wide smile.  “To be honest, I’ve always
imagined myself living in a log cabin in the woods.  Of course, I imagined it
would be situated amongst tall trees, but I have to admit, the pastureland
behind us is gorgeous.”

“It is!  And Holly, did you notice…?”

“Notice what?”

“There’s a barn out back, just past the
fence.”

“I didn’t see it.”

“Let’s check it out.  It may be big
enough for a horse.”

Holly followed her exuberant sister to
the small red barn.  Just as Brianna had told her, it was situated just beyond
a makeshift fence out back.  In order to reach it, they had to duck between the
gaps in the fence.

Brianna was first to get to the barn and
quickly removed the wood board that held it closed.  The doors swung open,
revealing two stalls to the left and a large storage area to the right. 
Assorted tools hung on the wall in the storage area.

“Holly, there are stalls!  I
can
have a horse.”  She left the barn and Holly found her gazing out at the
pastureland.  “Is it ours, do you think?  If it is, I’ll have plenty of room to
ride.”

“I don’t know.  Oh!  That reminds me.  I
was supposed to call Uncle Benjamin’s attorney when we got into town.”  She quickly
checked her watch.  “It’s after five,” she said, sounding disappointed.  “I
guess we won’t know anything until tomorrow.  I’ll call him first thing in the
morning.”

“Are we staying here tonight?” Brianna
asked hopefully.

Holly was uncertain what to do, but her
uncle had sent her the key, noting he wanted her to have it so she could access
the home.  “I guess we may as well.  We’ll save money on a hotel room.”

Brianna spun on her heel.  “I’m going to
see if there’s any food in the pantry.  This country air is making me hungry!”

Holly couldn’t help smiling as she
followed after her sister.  Who was this girl?  She’d seemingly been
transformed upon their arrival in the country.  Perhaps this move was just what
the doctor ordered.

***

Brianna took a bite of her burger and
glanced around the fast food restaurant.  She smiled widely.  “It’s good to
know there are several fast food restaurants in Battle Ground.”

“Oh?  You like fast food better than my
cooking?”

Brianna laughed.  “I didn’t say that. 
But just look across the street.  That’s the high school.  I can always cross
the street if I’m craving a burger.”

“We’ll have to assure it’s not against
school policy,” Holly warned in a teasing tone, and then yawned.  “I’m feeling
tired, but we need to pick up groceries.  We can’t continue eating out every
day.”

“I saw a grocery store that way.” Brianna
pointed west and then reached for a French fry. 

“We’ll grab a few essentials.  Just
enough to tide us over until we know exactly what the future holds.  I’m really
eager to talk to the executor of Uncle Ben’s estate.”

Brianna nodded.  “I wish I’d met Uncle
Ben.  It’s really great of him to have left you a home.”

“I’ll say,” Holly laughed.  “But it’s
our
home,” she clarified.

Brianna watched her thoughtfully.  “It
would really be great if he left you a lot of money, too.”

Holly chuckled, but sobered.  The house
was blessing enough.  “Like I said, tomorrow will tell.   Hey, are you almost
finished?  I’m about ready for a warm bath and bed.”

As if on cue, Brianna yawned.  “Me too.”

The women tidied up their table, threw
away their trash, and headed for Holly’s car.  They made a quick detour for
groceries, and this time, as they drove out of town and toward the house, Brianna
watched the passing scenery.  “It’s really pretty here,” she observed.  “I
understand why they call Washington the Evergreen State.”  She suddenly
gasped.  “Holly, look ahead.  It’s a mountain, but it looks like…”  She
squinted.  “It’s missing its top.”

Holly laughed out loud.  “It’s Mount St.
Helens.”  She made a scared face.  “Wow, that looks awfully close.”

Brianna didn’t appear the least
concerned.  “Hey, when somebody gives you a house, you can’t really complain
about a volcano in the backyard.”

Holly burst out laughing.  “You make a
good point.”

Back at the house, the women unloaded
the car and Brianna offered to put the few groceries away so Holly could begin
getting ready for bed.  First, she made a beeline for the mud room off the
kitchen and did a quick search for cleaning supplies.  She’d noted a thick
coating of dust held to the fixtures in the master bathroom and she wanted to
do a quick general cleaning of the room.

Once done, she turned on the faucet in
the garden tub and allowed the water to heat up before she disrobed and climbed
in.  She eased into the warmth of the deep tub and gave a sigh of contentment. 
She’d never bathed in such a large tub and found the experience so pleasurable,
she hated to get out.  But …  she needed to hurry, so Brianna could have a
chance to have a soak too.

As she climbed out and toweled off, she
noted the window beside the tub was also large, and if the blinds hadn’t been
closed, would have afforded a fantastic view of the pastureland behind the
house.  In her mind’s eye, she imagined the view of the emerald fields in each
of the four seasons.  She found herself looking forward to the future, to
seeing new scenery, and starting life afresh.  She hoped Brianna was feeling
the same way, but suspected she was.  She hadn’t ever seen the girl so animated
and felt hopeful the teenager would continue to blossom in her new
environment. 

After dressing in fleece shorts and a
t-shirt, Holly left her bedroom to check on Brianna.  She found her lying on
her stomach on the floor of the great room and propped up on her elbows.  She
had spread out many items from the box she had given her earlier.  She was
currently engaged in reading a birthday card.

She turned, as if sensing Holly was
standing behind her.  Her face was wet from crying.  “You sent me all these
cards and gifts.”  She shook her head.  “You were just a kid yourself at the
time, and Dad kept you from me, yet you continued to send me things.”  She
wiped at her eyes.  “Why didn’t you stop?  Why didn’t you just give up?”

Holly smiled softly.  “Because you’re my
sister and I love you.”

Brianna rose from the floor.  She swiped
at her eyes once again and then stared searchingly into Holly’s face.  Holly
spread her arms and Brianna flung herself into them.  “I love you too,” she
said softly.  “I really do.”