Read Saving Cassie (Fairfield Corners) for Free Online Page B

something hit
the floor in the living room.  “What now,” I mutter, “as if I don’t have enough
going on I have ghostly things going on in my house.  Gram is that you?”
    No answer so it must be my
imagination.  I go into the living room and find a book on the floor.  A semi
must have driven by and the vibration sent the book falling off the shelf.  I
bend down to pick it up and notice it’s not a normal book, it’s a journal.  I
open the front cover and see my Gram’s handwriting.  The first entry is dated
the day I came to live here all those years ago.
    My heart is breaking
for you, looking so lost and alone when you arrived.  I barely got a smile out
of you, you cling to me and hang on for dear life.  You have just lost your
parents and your whole life.  It’s your birthday and probably the worst day of
your young life.  You are only six, so young to have to face this kind of
heartache.  I hope that your memory of this day will fade, that the good times
will overshadow the bad.  I can’t believe you have been through so much at such
a young age.  The loss of your parents has shattered my heart, but it started
to mend when the sheriff brought you here.  I will always miss your mother, and
the wonderful man she married.  They were so happy when you were born!
    Hopefully I will
someday be able to tell you the whole story.  Right now it’s just too raw.
    Remember that your
parents loved you more than their own lives.  I will write a new entry each
year, and eventually, you will be able to read this and hopefully remember
everything with a smile.
    There are a couple of
pictures stuck in the front of the book.  A picture of my parents in Las Vegas,
it must be their wedding picture. And a picture of the four of us, I look like
I’m about three years old.  We all look so happy, standing here on the porch.  I
have never seen this picture.  Gram must have stuck it in here and forgotten
about it.  I page forward and find that Gram had already started the entry for
this year.
    I am torn about telling
you the truth.  When your memory of that horrible night faded, I thanked God.  It
was too much for you to have to remember, the sight of your parents being
killed by that crazy man.  I discussed this with James and he told me I should
tell you the whole truth.  I will tell you the truth the next time you come
home for a visit.
    The entry is not finished;
it looks like she started it just before she was killed.  Paging forward from
the beginning, I notice she usually only made one entry a year on my birthday.  It
must have been weighing on her; I wish she would have talked to me about it.  I’ll
have to talk to James about what they discussed.  I don’t remember when my
parents were killed.  It’s just a big blank spot in my memory.
    I call James and make
plans to make him dinner.  Marie is taking Olivia to dance class so it will be
just the two of us.  We need to discuss this, it must be pretty important if
Gram discussed it with him.
    The next day I make his
favorite dinner, spaghetti with homemade sauce and garlic bread.  The sauce is
simmering and the water is heating up for the spaghetti.  James knocks and
walks in the front door.
    “Hey Reggie, something
sure smells good.  It must be serious, smells like your famous spaghetti sauce.”
    “James, I need to talk to
you about something,” I start, “I’m not sure what this is all about.”
    “What is it Reg?” his
expression becomes solemn. “You know you can talk to me about anything,” James
replies as he pulls out a chair and sits down at the table.
    “I found a journal Gram
started on the day I came to live with her.  The last entry was written about
three days before she was killed.”  I hand the journal to him so he can read the
last, unfinished entry, “according to this my parents didn’t die in a car
accident. They were murdered.”
    “I know, Cassie.  Your
Gram talked to me about this a couple of years ago.