Read As I Breathe (One Breath at a Time: Book 2) for Free Online

My mother mumbled under her breath, I heard only a few of her words. “Why...is she doing...not again—I don’t understand—it’s too much...” I could hear her sniffling between barely audible words. My heart sank. What were they talking about? It was in a secret code that only they knew.
    Grandmother Katie ignored my mother’s tears, and repeated there was no harm in inheriting the gift. A gift was what Grandmother called the curse.
    “ Brandy, this isn’t about Brielle, is it...?” she asked. “What is really bothering you, darling? Is this really about—” My mother interrupted Grandmother Katie?
    “ Of course, Mother, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Why would you ask me that?” She mumbled some words under her breath. “And I don’t want to talk about it anymore, please, do not take me—us—back there.” My mother lifted her red watery eyes and sternly said, “You need to promise me that you will not encourage Brielle to develop any of these so-called gifts,” my mother pleaded. Grandmother sat there quietly allowing my mother to rant. I suddenly felt awful for not keeping my promise to her . I cringed. “And don’t tell her the voices are—are—”
    “ Ghosts?” Grandmother’s eyes sharpened.
    Did she say Ghosts? No way. The voices are not ghosts. Grandmother wouldn’t communicate with ghosts and neither would I.
    “ Ghosts, angels—whatever. Don’t make excuses, we know the truth...please just stop, Mother.”
    “ How do you know that they’re not angels talking to her?” Grandmother raised a brow, pointedly.
    Mom interrupted, “That is absurd and you know it. We know what’s going on here. I can’t talk about this anymore. Please, stop.” My mother begged her.
    “Well, I never said they were ghosts, did I. I only asked the question.” Grandmother Katie glowered, narrowing her eyes and said, “But what if they are—”
    “ Mother, please, I’m begging you,” my mother stammered as she pushed up from the table.
    “ Fine, have it your way,” Grandmother said, conceding, but she was clearly offended. She folded her napkin politely and stared past my mother’s stern gaze. “But, if our little Breezy ever asks me about them, what am I supposed to say to her? Do we just sweep this under the rug and ignore what might be going on?”
    “ If she does, tell her the voices are nothing but her imagination. You have a way with Brielle,” she admitted, frantically wiping the counters as if she wanted to wipe away the conversation. “Brielle will listen to you, and she will stop feeding into the idea that voices exist in her head. Just encourage it. If you really wanted to, you could heal this curse.”
    “ Brandy, I’m not going to listen to this anymore. I’ll do no such thing. She’s not six anymore. And, it’s not a curse, so stop with this nonsense!” Grandmother raised her voice to a titter. She sounded exactly like my mother did when I was six years old when she tried to convince me the voices were my own voice; it was kind of funny to hear. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Grandmother’s face flushed. She raised her fingers and rubbed her temples, exhaling a long sigh.
    I wanted to run into the kitchen and tell them to stop arguing over me. My grandmother was old, and she wasn’t in the best of health.
    “That’s what it is to me. A curse,” Mom insisted, full of conviction. She slapped both palms hard against the granite countertop and hung her head.
    Although I didn’t understand the entire conversation between them, somehow, I felt it was my fault they were arguing. I’d never heard them talk so ugly toward one another before.
    Grandmother sighed and pulled out a large yellow deck of cards. “I know you’re upset, but Brielle’s almost a teenager now; don’t do this to her. You should tell her the truth about what happened and why you are so scared. She needs your support. Imagine how she must feel. Dealing with this on her own