Sara and Rosie looked on eagerly. Bobby was hopeful.
“Bobby and I are getting married,” Mira said.
Sara and Rosie both gasped, then hurried over to hug them. Bobby had already gotten a head start with Mira, holding and kissing her passionately.
As soon as she was able to get up for air, she said, “We don’t have the rings yet, but soon.”
“Yes, we do.” Bobby reached into his pocket, slipped out a little box and opened it. Inside was the most beautiful gold engagement ring Mira had ever laid eyes on. The large one carat diamond center stone was encircled by a dozen smaller ones which sparkled brightly.
Bobby took it out and slid it on her finger. His heart was full as he watched the tears slide down her cheeks. She leaned over and kissed him.
“I’m so happy for you two!” Sara exclaimed, hugging them again.
“So am I!” Rosie cried. “You’re going to make the most beautiful bride, Mom.”
Mira reached over and hugged her. “Thank you so much, honey.”
“Your brother is going to be so excited when he hears about this, Mira! So, have you chosen a date for the wedding yet?” Sara asked them.
Bobby looked at Mira. It was all up to her.
“We haven’t decided yet,” she said. “Hopefully soon.”
Bobby gently squeezed her hand. He was blushing with joy and pride.
After the excitement simmered down a bit, Sara turned to Mira with a nervous expression on her face. “Honey, I need to see you privately for a few minutes.”
“Sure, Mom.” Mira got up and followed her mother into the bedroom and they sat on the bed together.
“There’s something I think you should know.” Sara rubbed her hands together. “I’ve been feeling guilty about it for quite a while now…”
“What is it?” Mira rested a comforting hand on her shoulder.
Sara wasn’t sure how to begin. “Remember some months ago when Rosie told us she had a visitor — the woman who had died in Newport…?”
“Yes. Matilda.”
“That’s when the sleepless nights for me started,” she revealed.
“What does Matilda have to do with this?” Mira asked, curiously.
“She and I are related, Mira. Her mother was my grand-aunt.”
Mira was shocked. “What? So that means...”
Sara nodded. “We’re all family – the same flesh and blood. I knew the entire story of Matilda’s life before Rosie ever mentioned anything about it. It was my mother’s side of the family that never accepted her for who she was. Although, to the best of my knowledge, they didn’t do anything to harm her, they were partly the reason she wasn’t accepted here in Mizpah. I felt terribly guilty when I learned she appeared to Rosie and had taken her on that journey of her suffering.” Tears filled Sara’s eyes. “I wonder how any of my relatives could have been so unaccepting when my own daughter and granddaughter share a gift, that if you two had been born back in those days, could have gotten you hanged like Matilda was or burned at the stake. It’s just so unfair what Matilda had to go through. And that’s why I didn’t want you digging up any information about what happened. I felt it was like opening a can of worms.”
Mira reached for her mother and held her near. “None of it was your fault, Mom.” She dried her mother’s tears.
“I started having these dreams as if I was there when she was killed — night after night — the same dream. I was being tortured. I couldn’t open up to you about it because I was so ashamed.”
“You’d taken on the guilt that wasn’t yours to carry; that’s why,” Mira told her. “But it’s all over now. Matilda is completely at peace.”
“How do you know that?”
“Do you really need to ask that, Mom? Believe me, she’s at peace and what’s more, she never once mentioned you. She holds no malice against you, Mom. Your suffering was only because you blamed yourself.” Mira then thought of something. “Remember how Mable Ferguson, Cornelius’ granddaughter, had blamed herself all of those years for what Cornelius had done?”
Sara nodded.
“You must let it go, like she had to. None of us are responsible for what our ancestors did,” Mira said.
Mira held her mother until she’d composed herself enough to face the others again. Matilda had stood across the room the entire time, watching quietly as Sara emptied her heart. She soon walked toward the bed and rested a single red rose on Sara’s comforter. She smiled at Mira for possibly the very last time, then was gone.
“She left something for you,” Mira said, turning in the direction of the gift.
Sara followed her eyes and spotted the rose. She picked it up.
“Now do you believe she holds nothing against you?” Mira asked tenderly.
“Yes.” Sara smiled brightly. Her heart was light again and full of joy.
It was a very good day in the Cullen family.
~ The End ~
*** Don’t miss book 11 in this series! COMING SOON. Sign up to Tanya R. Taylor’s mailing list to be notified whenever there’s a new release, special book bargains and giveaways. ***
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Not everything is as it appears to be in the sparsely populated town of Nirvana.
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Wicked Little Saints Synopsis
Three years earlier, a bus full of middle grade school children went missing and none of the victims' parents have ever seen or heard from their beloved child again. Rachelle Wigby has just had her second nervous breakdown due to the unknown whereabouts of her precious daughter, Priscilla. Dr. Barns, Rachelle's estranged brother, feels it's time someone got to the bottom of what happened to his favorite niece.
Dr. Mira Cullen is made aware of the plight of her boss's family and feels compelled to help in any way she can. After embarking upon the investigation using nothing but the unusual gifts she'd been born with, will she bring satisfactory closure to the puzzling mystery or will she discover something involving the missing children that is most unfathomable and disturbing?
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Do you like Thrillers & Crime Fiction?
If so, you’ll love book two in The Nick Myers Series…
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Other Fiction Titles by Tanya R. Taylor
INFESTATION: A Small Town Nightmare (The Complete Series)
Real Illusions: The Awakening
Real Illusions II: REBIRTH
Real Illusions III: BONE OF MY BONE
Real Illusions IV: WAR ZONE
Cornelius (Book 1 in the Cornelius saga)
Cornelius’ Revenge (Book 2 in the Cornelius saga)
CARA: Some Children Keep Terrible Secrets (Book 3 in the Cornelius saga)
We See No Evil (Book 4 in the Cornelius saga)
THE CONTRACT: Murder in The Bahamas (Book 5 in the Cornelius saga)
The Lost Children of Atlantis (Book 6 in the Cornelius saga)
Death of an Angel (Book 7 in the Cornelius saga)
The Groundskeeper (Book 8 in the Cornelius saga)
Haunted Cruise: The Shakedown
The Haunting of MERCI HOSPITAL
Hidden Sins Revealed (A Shocking Serial Killer Thriller)
10 Minutes before Sleeping (A Story of Abandonment, Domestic Terror & Bitter Revenge)
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