BooksBarbecue
Back A Flicker of Light Save as PDF
Chapters (62)
  1. Cover
  2. Half Title Page
  3. Books by Katie Powner
  4. Title Page
  5. Copyright Page
  6. Dedication
  7. ONE
  8. TWO
  9. THREE
  10. FOUR
  11. FIVE
  12. SIX
  13. SEVEN
  14. EIGHT
  15. NINE
  16. TEN
  17. ELEVEN
  18. TWELVE
  19. THIRTEEN
  20. FOURTEEN
  21. FIFTEEN
  22. SIXTEEN
  23. SEVENTEEN
  24. EIGHTEEN
  25. NINETEEN
  26. TWENTY
  27. TWENTY-ONE
  28. TWENTY-TWO
  29. TWENTY-THREE
  30. TWENTY-FOUR
  31. TWENTY-FIVE
  32. TWENTY-SIX
  33. TWENTY-SEVEN
  34. TWENTY-EIGHT
  35. TWENTY-NINE
  36. THIRTY
  37. THIRTY-ONE
  38. THIRTY-TWO
  39. THIRTY-THREE
  40. THIRTY-FOUR
  41. THIRTY-FIVE
  42. THIRTY-SIX
  43. THIRTY-SEVEN
  44. THIRTY-EIGHT
  45. THIRTY-NINE
  46. FORTY
  47. FORTY-ONE
  48. FORTY-TWO
  49. FORTY-THREE
  50. FORTY-FOUR
  51. FORTY-FIVE
  52. FORTY-SIX
  53. FORTY-SEVEN
  54. FORTY-EIGHT
  55. FORTY-NINE
  56. FIFTY
  57. FIFTY-ONE
  58. FIFTY-TWO
  59. Acknowledgments
  60. About the Author
  61. Back Ads
  62. Back Cover

Grandpa cleared his throat. “Bea might not want to spend the rest of her life at the Food Farm, June.”

Grandma turned on him. “And what would you know about what Bea might want?”

Her voice was sharp and cold. Bea’s eyes widened.

Grandpa looked stricken, but he didn’t back down. “You’re right, I don’t know. But maybe you should ask her instead of assuming.”

“I’m not assuming anything.” Grandma’s voice had the bite of a rattler. “I’m only giving my opinion. Since when is giving my opinion a crime, Rand?”

A lump formed in Bea’s chest, a hard pressure like a fist stuck in between her lungs. What was going on? She’d never heard Grandma speak like that to anyone before and especially not to Grandpa. He held the place of highest honor in her life. In fact, the only time she’d ever disciplined Bea—ever—was the time Bea was about six or seven and Grandpa asked her to take her muddy feet off the coffee table, and Bea had talked back to him. Grandma had swooped in with a spanking Bea still remembered to this day.

Nobody but nobody disrespected Juniper Jensen’s husband.

Grandpa didn’t respond. Bea looked between him and Grandma, searching for normalcy. Any minute now, Grandma would smile at Grandpa and tell him she was sorry for being snippy. Tell him she must be tired or something and didn’t know what had come over her.

Bea set her feet down on the floor and sat up a little straighter. “It’s something to think about, Grandma. But I’m not sure what I’m going to want to do when the baby comes.”

After the baby news had come out in the middle of the volleyball game, Dad had told Grandma and Grandpa about it over the phone, afraid they’d hear it through the moosevine. But she hadn’t yet talked with them in person.

Grandma’s eyes narrowed, and she jerked her hand out of her pocket. “Baby?”

“Yeah, remember?” Bea put a hand on her belly. Dad had told them about it, right? “I’m having a baby.”

She looked to Grandpa for confirmation, and he gave an encouraging nod. Grandma blinked once. Twice. A cloud passed over her face, and she stood. For a frightening moment, Bea barely recognized her twisted face. She and Grandpa Rand watched in stunned silence as Grandma spun around and stomped away. A moment later, the door to her room thudded to a close.