Relentless (Elisabeth Reinhardt Book 1) Read Free

where her dinner is!”
    “ You’re one bad cat Momma!” Lupe quipped as Gina left the NICU.
    The cold wind seeped through her coat as she walked through the underground garage to her 2012 Accord.  She wound her way through several streets that divided the space between the hospital where she worked and the condo where she lived, singing along with Satellite radio’s soft rock tunes until she passed through her parking lot’s security gate and swung into her parking space. Suddenly exhausted, she could hardly wait to get into bed. Tomorrow was an early day so the most she could expect tonight was 4 hours of sleep. She greeted Twinkie, hurriedly fed her and switched on her answering machine.
    ‘ Dr. Reynolds,’ said a deep distant male voice, ‘ This is Ron from Honda City to remind you that your car is due for its regular maintence. Please call our service department at … ’ Beep! ‘Hey, Sugar,’ the mellow female voice called out, ‘what you doing out so late? Don’t tell me your still at that damn hospital. You do know you’re only getting paid for an 8 hour day, don’t you? Call me when you can. I just put Candy to sleep and I’m not far behind her. My G-d that child sure does fight sleep! If I don’t catch you tonight, I’ll see you in the morning, OK? ’ Beep!
    Gina smiled as she heard her friend’s voice. Tanya Beecher was the head nurse on the NICU where Gina worked. They had worked together for 2 years and had become great friends. Tanya, mother of two small children, was undergoing a rough divorce. Gina spent a lot of time talking things through with her and babysitting for her 6 year old daughter, Candace and 8 year old son Bryan. Both of the children were having a hard time adjusting to their new family situation so Gina was spending more time with the children, taking them to the movies or out for a pizza, letting Tanya get a little time to herself. They were planning to spend Christmas together this year at Star Mountain Ski Resort, a few hours north of the city. There were lots of activities for the children and the vacation would do them all good. As she readied herself for bed she reviewed the list of gifts she planned to buy for the children. She wanted to make sure this would be a wonderful holiday and help them cope with their father’s absence. As her cat settled on the comforter beside her, she thought about Tanya’s kids missing their father; then moved to thoughts of her own father and how she had coped with his absence, loss really. She wondered if she had ever really felt that loss, any of her losses really. That time of her life had been such a crisis she wondered if she had really processed what happened to her. She wondered what happened to those feelings of love and attachment she had felt for her family or if she had ever truly had those feelings. As she drifted off to sleep she wondered if she would ever see them again, the family who had raised her, turned their backs on her and who were now so very, very far away. She wondered if they ever thought of her or cared…

C HAPTER 5
THE FAMILY FARM
     
    Nestled between Dudley Gap and Hurricane West Virginia was a narrow patch of farmland that the Raines family had owned for generations since great, great, great-grandfather Alcott Earl Raines had immigrated to this country from England in the late 1800’s. I mmigrants who made the journey to America had the same reasons as their predecessors. Escaping religious, racial, and political persecution, seeking economic opportunity and still others came to escape prison. Alcott Earl was in this latter category. He had been involved with England’s underground criminal element and after his last ‘big score’ got word that his arrest was imminent. Pamphlets advertising cheap farmland in America were posted all over London and that decided it for him. He packed up his bride Mary Althea and they were off to become farmers in the new country. Two brothers and a sister soon followed