Emily (Daughters, Book #4) (Daughters Series)

by Leanne Davis

  He stares out at the people filling our yard. Our home. For half a century, it has been the setting for us. “Noah looks so sad. I can’t… I don’t know how he does it.”

  Noah is bent over listening to Hunter, Max and Christina’s oldest boy. He practically lives for those two and their three kids. Will’s observation surprises me and I squeeze his hand. We lost Lindsey two years ago to a massive heart attack. Noah’s hair has turned white since then, and the kind sparkle in his eyes has faded to a sad, tired, and exhausted glaze.

  Just as mine have. I admit it freely. Losing Lindsey was unbearable.

  “I couldn’t do it. You know, go on without you.”

  I turn to face him. It’s so rare in the last few years to see he remembers. I’m almost speechless he realizes my only sister is gone. My brave sister, who also overcame torture and abuse, beating the odds that would cripple most people. I see all the love she left behind. Remembering her now makes a knot of grief lodge in my throat. My sister…

  “I wish we could just curl up together and be done with it all. You know, when it’s time… we can go together.”

  I touch his now bald head. “Yes, Will, but not today. Today, we’ll celebrate the holiday and be with our wonderful family.”

  He nods. His eyes are watery and rimmed in red. “I love you, Jessie.”

  I close my eyes for a second as tears fill them. Yes. My Will is here today. He’s eighty-eight this year, and that’s scary. Each day is like a precious gem, a miracle. Each day we spend together now is special. Even when he’s not lucid, sharing another day with him is all I dream about anymore.

  He hasn’t said he loves me in a year. That was his last fully lucid day. I open my eyes. “I love you too, soldier.”

  I don’t deny the bitterness in all of this. So many years of my youth were confined to pain and recovery. The happy years occurred when Will and I began building a life together, and a home, a family, careers, and settling in to enjoy them. Then, in the end, if we’re lucky, we end up growing old together. We end up here.

  Feeling grateful every time the love of our life remembers us.

  I’ll be the one left holding our grandchildren, trying to make it through another day. I accept that. I am now the stronger one between Will and me. For so many years, he assumed that role, and now in the final chapter of our lives together, I must be the strong one. I’m as mentally sharp as when I was twenty. I drive us to our appointments, pay our bills and do all the chores and cooking. I’m still functioning on a daily level and strong. I can still enjoy the kids and their families.

  But there isn’t a single day when I mind doing anything for Will. When he realizes it, on his better days, he detests his inefficiency and struggle. He gets angry and belligerent. He assumes he’s twenty again and still in the Army, or fifty and ready to install new heating ducts. I deal with whatever age he believes he is.

  And the alternative? Living without him? I couldn’t bear that.

  I realize, of course, that the day will come when I’ll be the one left here alone. Because there isn’t any fountain of youth. One day or night, one of us will have to accept a world where the other partner no longer breathes or exists. I dread that day. Sometimes, when I’m alone, I already grieve over that day.

  But today? Today, Will and Jessie Hendricks will hobble out, holding hands in a slow shuffle and our kids will greet us, while our grandkids hug us. Today, this beautiful summer day, has all my kids at home, safe and healthy and happy. Will is still alive and touching me and he is here, too, in the present, and he knows me. This just might be the most perfect moment of my life. It’s all I need. And more than enough for today. The greatest lesson of my life was deciding to live for exactly what today represents. I can embrace all the joy, the love, and the beauty in it. All those years ago, in my very darkest hours, Will Hendricks taught me how to be human again.

  I hold Will’s hand as we open the door and start out towards our family that will continue to carry on long after us, but only because of us, will they have that chance.

  We always said our beginning wasn’t our end. Now in the end, look at how far from the beginning we have come. Just look at all the goodness and love and joy and happiness our love brought into the world. I wipe at tears gathering in my eyes. Will notices and squeezes my hand. I squeeze his back as we share a long, lingering smile. Then we walk forward, together, towards the shining sun and loud, happy voices of our family. Towards what’s left of today.

  My heart is heavy and full and I glance at Will, love bubbling through my body. Just look at us. Look where we ended up.

  “Will?”

  He glances at me. “Yeah, Jess?”

  “I wouldn’t have changed a moment of it. Not a one. Not even the beginning. Because without it, there wouldn’t have been all this. There would not have been our daughters.” I spread my arm to encompass our entire legacy being lived out in the backyard of our house. Tears stream over my face. “Just look at them, Will. All of them. Look at the beautiful women, both inside and out, that we gave this world.”

  He smiles gently and nods. He touches my face as he says softly, “Because where we began…”

  “Wasn’t the point,” I say grinning through my tears.

  He shakes his head. “Where we ended was.”

  “No.” I shake my head, changing it for once. “Our daughters were the point.”

  He smiles and nods, his loving gaze drifting over all four of them: Natalie, Christina, Melissa, and Emily. We share a profound, heartfelt look. He leans forward and kisses my lips gently. Then we walk further. Hands clasped. Hearts full. Emotions in tune.

  It’s the last time he remembers me. Or our daughters. It’s the last time we are Will and Jessie Hendricks as I knew us to be. It’s the greatest ending to the most terrible beginning. And we did it. For sixty years we did that. It wasn’t long enough, but it was far more than we ever dreamed of. So in the end, all I can say is look at what we did. Look at who we were, what we created, how far we came. Just look at the love we created and sustained, nurtured and, in the very end, laid to rest.

  And if any legacy is left of us, it’s the daughters we gave this world.

  The End

  Dear Reader,

  I would be so grateful if you took a few moments to leave a review of Emily. It helps expand an author’s audience, and I really do appreciate the effort.

  Otherwise, thank you for reading about the Hendricks family.

  If you enjoyed this series, I hope you try another one of my novels.

  If you would like to keep up on my releases, please go to my website and sign up for my email distribution list or contact me directly at dvsleanne@aol.com.

  Here is a preview of my other novels.

  Sincerely,

  Leanne Davis

  Connect with me!

  Website

  Facebook Author Page

  Twitter: @leannewrites

  Amazon Author Page

  My Other Titles:

  The Sister Series is about the emotional scars and battles that are often hidden in people.

  Rape. Drugs. Abuse. Violence. Pain. Betrayal.

  And how they can be overcome.

  Love. Joy. Family. Forgiveness. Faith. Hope. Redemption.

  The Sister Series available to date:

  The Other Sister

  The Years Between

  The Good Sister

  The Best Friend

  The Wrong Sister

  The Years After

  The Broken Sister

  The Perfect Sister

  The Lost Sister

  Daughters is a spin-off of The Sister Series about Jessie’s (The Other Sister) daughters.

  Christina

  Natalie

  Melissa

  Emily

  The Rydell River Ranch is a large horse training, boarding and breeding operation, owned and operated by four brothers who are left in charge of their century old legacy in the small, rural town of River’s
End.

  River's End

  River's Escape

  River's Return

  River Road

  River on Fire

  River's Lost

  Share in the fall, rise and eventual fulfillment of the rock band Zenith’s destiny…

  Zenith Falling

  Zenith Rising

  Zenith Fulfilled

  The characters are all connected to Seaclusion, Washington a fictional town set along the Pacific Ocean.

  Poison

  Notorious

  Secrets

  Seclusion

  My standalone novel:

  Jason Malone has spent his life being denied by his family. His father, the respected mayor of his hometown, has all but ignored his existence, while his drug-addicted mother has always caused him more harm than good. After being unjustly imprisoned for crimes that lead back to his absentee family, he is finally starting to get his life back together again.

  Until the day his estranged brother's fiancée walks into his life and changes everything.

  Christine Andrews is the dutiful daughter of a rich and powerful family, engaged to Trent Gallagher, her father's right hand man, and poised to join her father and Trent in running the empire her father has built. Until Christine discovers the existence of Jason Malone and suddenly she begins to doubt everything around her, including her fiancé.

  Christine becomes caught in a power struggle between the two brothers, but she soon realizes there is far more at stake than her heart, when one night everything is altered forever.

  About the Author

  I live in the rainy area of Western, Washington, and spend as much time as I can getting away from the rain by traveling to destinations all across the state where my family and I do tons of camping, boating, fishing, and horseback riding. Many of the locations we camp become the basis for my books. Most of my settings are fictional but are based on real places.

  I earned my business degree from Western Washington University. I worked for several years in the construction management field before turning to writing and being home with my kids.

  I love to hear from readers. Please contact me at: dvsleanne@aol.com.

  Or through one of my sites:

  Website

  Facebook Author Page

  Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed Emily.