My father got a faraway look in his eyes when he spoke next. I stood there, rooted in shock. Gandpa. The man was tougher than shoe leather, and canny like an old rooster. That was one of the things his wife, my grandmother, used to say about him. The point was, Grandpa was adept at avoid the meat cleaver.
“Luke, he was thinking about you when he died. Said you were still alive. He said you couldn’t be dead ‘cause you still have too much to do.”
With that, my father flung open the gate he’d been working on and moved to embrace me in a bear hug, but I held up a cautioning hand.
“Caught one about a week ago. I’m fine but it hurts like hell. Sorry, Dad.”
“Don’t be, son. You’re still alive. Now, let’s go see this future daughter-in-law of mine.”
And then the clouds that had threatened all day finally delivered. A gentle shower at first that hardened into a heavy downpour, but none of us noticed. We were finally home. And a little hard rain falling wasn’t going to hurt any of us now.
THE END
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First, let me thank the usual suspects, Michael Scott, Craig Allen, Joe Reeder, and WJ Lundy. Each of these individuals gave of their time and attention for no particular compensation to help me make this story better. All the errors are mine, but anything I got right was likely due to one of these gentlemen. My thanks also to Terri King for her excellent editorial services. If she can put up with me, we will be working together again.
My thanks and appreciation to the men and women, past and present, who wore the uniform and who served to protect this country. Also, my apologies in advance for any mistakes I made regarding information on the Arkansas and Oklahoma National Guard. These were purely unintentional and as the disclaimer at the beginning states, this is all fictional anyway.
And finally, I know this has been a long trip for the readers, but I don’t think our adventures with Luke and Amy are over. I hate reading a series where authors get lazy and start to take their characters for granted, or just repeat the same story three or four times for the sake of producing more books.
In this case, I feel like the story has at least one more installment due. What does Luke do, now that he’s home and back amongst the people who know him best? And how do these newcomers fit into the mix? On a broader scale, what the heck is happening with the civil war just getting started in what used to be the United States of America? Plus, I think there’s still at least one wedding that needs to be covered.
I want to tackle all these issues and more in the next book.
So please let me know what you think of this story. I ask each and every one of you to take the time to write a review on Amazon. As an independent author, the best, and really only advertising I get is right there. Let me know what you think of the story, and also feel free to e-mail me at [email protected]. Also, follow on Facebook for the latest updates.
Happy trails and safe travels,
William Allen
April 10, 2015
Hard Rain Falling (Walking in the Rain Book 3) Page 23