Crystals Read Free

time that he found a
bank account in his name. His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw
how much money now belonged to him. There was also a neatly folded letter in
Molly’s handwriting.
    Shane,
    You’re all
alone now. My grandfather left me this money, but I saved every penny for you.
He would have wanted that. Do what you like with it because this is all I could
do for you.
    There were no
endearments. No words of love, but he knew she had cared for him in the only
way she had been able. His father and brother had put her through too much. By
the time he came along, she didn’t have any more love to give. And it hurt him.
It hurt him more than he would ever admit to another living soul.
    ~~~
    Crystal – Age
Twenty-One
    “Crystal-Grace,”
her mother called from downstairs.
    Gwendolyn was home
early. Something had to be wrong because that never happened. Scrambling
around, Crystal attempted to hide all the papers she had laid out on her bed.
If her mother got wind of what she was doing, historical records would show
that their house was where Armageddon began.
    Crystal Buchanan
was twenty-one years old and she was making her bid for freedom. The papers
that surrounded her were the documents that stated she was now the proud owner
of a small two bedroom house.
    When she started
university, she had lucked out by finding a job with an interior designer that
was just starting up. By some quirk of fate, the hours fit neatly around her
studies. Always a talented artist, she had wanted to study art at university,
but her mother wouldn’t allow it. By the end of her three-year law degree, she
knew exactly where her career lay.
    Saving had been
easy because her mother paid for all her tuition. The only mini battle she won
was what university she attended. Fortunately, the college she chose had a law
division with a reputation for excellence, so her mother had agreed.
    By the time
Gwendolyn knocked on her bedroom door, Crystal was sitting on her bed leafing
through a magazine.
    “Come in, Mother.”
Gwendolyn refused to answer to anything other than Mother .
    “Crystal-Grace,
what have you been up to today? I hope your day was productive rather than
spent wasting your time reading those ridiculous interior-design magazines.”
    As usual, there
were no endearments from Gwendolyn, she just got straight to the point.
    Crystal was the
only child of a successful single mother who gave her the best of everything.
Gwendolyn Buchanan had moved steadily up the judicial system with seeming ease.
After working as a Barrister for twelve years, she was
appointed Queen’s Council. A position which placed her just below that
of a judge. Her aspiration was that her daughter follow in her footsteps. Only
one problem stood in the way of all the decisions that had
been made for her. She had already chosen an entirely different career.
And the only way she would realize her dreams was by putting distance between
herself and her mother.
    “Um…”
    “Um is hardly an
eloquent response. What have you been doing today?” Gwendolyn asked as she
advanced further into the room, “Have you reached a decision about where you
are going to study for your Masters?”
    This was the
moment Crystal had been waiting for to inform her mother of her decision. Looking
down at the colorful pamphlet in her lap, she attempted to gather her thoughts
before telling her mother that she wasn’t going to do her Masters.
    “What is this?”
    Her eyes darted up
to see Gwendolyn holding one of the letters she’d received regarding her new
home.
    “I’m waiting for
an explanation, Crystal-Grace!”
    Crystal felt
perspiration break out on her back as anxiety took hold. She wasn’t afraid of
physical chastisement, Gwendolyn had never laid a hand on her. She just didn’t
want to go through the guilt-trip her mother always put her on. This feeling
was familiar to her, she had experienced it all her life, and three years away
at university hadn’t changed a