Racehead
Page 21
I focus back on the man across the water who wears the gray trapper hat.
Today, since I’ve been standing here, the old man has caught two fish. He never tosses them back over. No matter how small they are, he still makes the decision to seal their fate. He never gives them a chance to live. Something about that makes me chuckle.
It’s quiet here along the shoreline. The sky is overcast and the air is crisp and fresh. Jack trots alongside me as we wander over the pebbles and rocks near the water. Occasionally, he chases a butterfly and I’m careful to make certain that he doesn’t eat it.
I take a seat and stretch my legs out.
Should I pay them a visit? What would I say? Would I even know where to start?
This is a small place. There’s no way I could remain here in Plockton permanently and not bump into Bruce Mackenzie at some point. Did I want to wait until then or did I want to take matters into my own hands?
Just thinking of all this puts my stomach in whirlpool mode.
The old house where I used to live is in view. It’s no different in size. Smoke drifts up into the air from the chimney and I can visualize my mother now tossing wood into the fireplace before she lights the kettle for more tea. The small house is surrounded by an even bigger garden that’s now full of purple flowers. I loved to help my mother in that garden. We’d spend hours out there just making it pretty.
I used to miss her so much but I don’t think she ever missed me. What kind of mother doesn’t miss her own child?
It’s an instinct, isn’t it? To love the tiny person that you carried inside of you for nine months. The question always flashed across my mind. But I knew after years of running my practice and treating patients from all walks of life, that being maternal didn’t come naturally for so many. Many women had to learn to be maternal and others just never had any interest in caring for their children.
Often, these women reminded me of animals in the wild. Uncaring. Cold. Cruel.
Black bears generally have two or three cubs at a time. But if the mother ever has just one, often she abandons it, making the decision that raising one baby just isn’t worth the effort. Rats for instance, sometimes eat their young at birth and feed them to their siblings! Harp seals only take care of their babies for the first twelve days. When the mother is done feeding the baby seal, she’s out of there! She abandons the baby seal and is off to mate again.
The cuckoo bird is the worst of all. She tucks tail and runs before her babies are even born. She lays her eggs in the nest of another bird, forcing another mother to raise her youngsters. The chicks hatch earlier, of course, and grow faster than the other bird’s real brood, forcing the smaller chicks out of the nest to die.
My mother...she’s the cuckoo bird.
Standing, I start off, taking the path along the shoreline to the old house, the way I did when I was a little girl—when Georgiana and Niall and I used to play here. Jack follows behind me in a leisurely trot.
I decide I’ll walk this path until I find my way back to the place I once called home.
If you would like to read more of Yara and Grace’s story, please click on the link below!
Breathe: A Romance Novel - Daya Daniels
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lover of words. Author. Ghostwriter. Poetry glutton. Cynic. Idealist. Art collector. Lip gloss addict. Wife. Mommy. Music fan. Book whore. Beach bum. NERD. Madwoman. Water rat. Wine drinker. Bermudian. Las Vegas resident-wannabe. Hopeless romantic.
I'm an independent author who had this crazy idea during one very, very hot summer to start writing books and I haven't stopped. I'm loving the ride and I appreciate all the readers who take the time to enjoy my stories.
I live on the small sub-tropical island of Bermuda in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean with my husband and two children. If you can't find me here on the beach, you can bet your G-strings I'm in Las Vegas!
Love is what keeps the world spinning! XOXO
Follow me on Instagram @ authordayadaniels
I love hearing from readers! Feel free to email me with questions and comments @dayadaniels@yahoo.com
OTHER BOOKS BY DAYA DANIELS
Finders Keepers Series
Part I
Part II
kitsune duet
dirt {a novella} – part one
diamond {a novella} – part two
The Human Series
Body Parts {A Novella} – Book One
COLOR-BLIND – A Novel – Book Two
Stand-Alone Novels
An Education in Calcutta {A Period Novel}
The Space Between Rachel and Evie {A Sci-Fi Romance Novel}
Once Upon a Time {A Dark Romance}
In the Eyes of Adeline {A Period Novel}
If Only {An LGBT Romance Novel}
Murphy’s Bedfellow
Stripped {A Dark Romance Novella}
Midnight Special
Mouthful {A Novella}
Words Left Unspoken {A Novella}
For Her {A Lesbian Romance Novelette}
Crocodile Tears {A New Adult Romance}
In Loving Memory of Isobel
Blue {A Love Story on the Bermuda Shores}
I Wanna be the Girl... {A Lesbian Romance Novel}
I Hate You/I Love You
Becoming Benjamin {A Gay Coming of Age Story}
Breathe {A Lesbian Romance Novel}
TRAPPED {An Urban Romance Novel}
High Altitude {A Novella}
LOCKDOWN {A M/M Romance Novella}
Free Flesh
tammy gun {an urban romance novella}
The Climb
RUIN {A M/M Romance Novel}
Doctor Ashbury {A Dark Romance Novella}
Non-Fiction
It Could Be Arranged
Series
Inferno Series – Part I
A Poster Boyz Series – Chapter Two
Finders Keepers Series – Part III
Table of Contents
COPYRIGHT
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
AUTHOR’S NOTE
QUOTE
DEDICATION
PLAYLIST
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
EPILOGUE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR