“Oh honey, I see. I remember him.” Gina’s heart skipped a beat.
Tony smiled at his daughter. “Your Mom told me you gave him away a long time ago. It’s time for him to come home too.”
With tears in her eyes, Gina hugged Tony. “Oh Tony.”
“I hope Charlotte enjoys many hours of reading books, sitting on Winnie.” Tony hugged Gina back.
“Oh, look at Charlotte.” Jackie had tears in her eyes. The group turned to see Charlotte sitting on Winnie patting Bailey who had settled beside her.
Gina sniffled as John announced, “I hope she’s willing to share him.”
“What did you say?” Jackie looked at him and Gina, waiting for confirmation.
“Yup.” Gina nodded, with sparking eyes and a wide smile.
“Oh my God, another grandchild!” Jackie clapped her hands. Tony and Jackie hugged each other and then included John and Gina.
“Merry Christmas,” Tony said. “Who needs anything more?”
About the Author
Since childhood, D.M. Hamblin always loved writing whether it was a paper for school or college, advocacy letters for herself or others, love letters, short stories, or business communications. She was accepted to study communications at Boston University’s School of Communications in September 1980. However, life interrupted. She became a single mother the following year instead. While raising a delightful daughter, she went on from a short stint on welfare to finish college, start a paralegal career, send her daughter through private schools, and begin and finish the first draft of Once Broken from 1995–1996. She abandoned the manuscript as her paralegal career took off, and married the love of her life when her daughter was fourteen. She blended two generous stepdaughters, built two businesses in the legal industry, fell madly in love with three amazing grandchildren, suffered with Lyme disease for seven years, and sold two businesses. In 2015 she was blessed to have found the time and resources to resume the dream of writing. After twenty years, she unearthed Once Broken, converted it from a floppy disk, polished it up, and launched her new and long-awaited writing career with the self-publishing of Once Broken.
D.M. Hamblin is currently working on A Debt to the Devil, a murder mystery.
Did you enjoy this book? If so, submit a review on Amazon! And, please sign up for my mailing list at dmhamblin.com. I’ll let keep you posted on the progress of A Debt to the Devil, my second novel.
A Note from D.M. Hamblin
The undertaking of writing Once Broken was inspired by one of the most beautiful souls I ever had the pleasure to meet, Jacqueline Lazare-Dunne who died of breast cancer at the age of twenty-nine. We were not close friends. We were co-workers, waitresses at a Newton restaurant. At twenty-one years old, she was nearly nine years younger than me and busy living a joyful life. I was a single mom, going to school and working, pinching pennies and overwhelmed with responsibilities. Nevertheless, I felt delight whenever I had the pleasure of working a shift with Jackie. Her boundless love for life was extraordinary. She fought her battle against breast cancer for five years but refused to stop living. She married the love of her life and they enjoyed every moment they had together. When she died, she was robbed not only because she was so young, but because she wanted so badly to live on. Upon hearing the news of her death, I was so outraged for her and by the tremendous loss of such a beautiful soul at such an early age, that I needed to reconcile such a tragedy by doing something huge in Jackie’s memory. Hence, the work on Once Broken began. I am indebted Jackie Lazare-Dunne for being one of the most inspirational people I have ever known.
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