Authors: Amanda Meredith
Tags: #Fiction, #Retail, #Romance, #Suspense, #Thrillers
Dark Mountains (16 page)
2007
The new granite stone was stark white against the bright summer grass. I had put it there next to her grave as a reminder to the rest of us. We would lay here in this cold ground some day and I wanted those that followed us to remember as well. I took a deep breath as I read the words etched into stone.
You cannot change the past but you have the power to change the future
Annie and Johnnie, now four months old, lay sleeping in their double stroller. John Paul was standing next to me and I put a supportive hand on his shoulder. It was still hard, for all of us, coming here after all that had happened.
The fresh-picked bluebells bobbed in the light breeze. Libby ran her hand across the cold stone before kneeling at her mother’s grave and setting down another bunch of flowers.
“You gave me life and did what you could to save it,” she whispered to the stone. “I love you, Momma.” She stood and turned back to me, tears wet on her face. I held out my hand and pulled her into my arms.
“You okay?” I asked, kissing her forehead.
“I will be,” she murmured. “Sometimes I wish I’d known sooner. I might’ve done something different and she’d be alive today to play with her grandchildren.”
“Those grandchildren might not be here today if you had known sooner.” John Paul
murmured, coming up to us with the stroller. Libby sighed but looked down at the twins with a smile.
“I feel like I lost so much time with them,” she whispered.
“Recovering takes a lot of work and a lot of time,” I answered.
“Besides,” John Paul added. “You have plenty of time to catch up. We all do.”
“You’re right, Dad,” Libby murmured, smiling at him. John Paul smiled back and we turned to make our way out of the cemetery.
Before we drove away, I looked back at the empty graveyard, afraid
I’d hear the echo of Jackson’s sick laughter but all I could hear were the birds chirping in the trees. I smiled, and drove the car away, letting the years of fear and worry fade away. I held Libby’s hand as the mountains faded behind us.
The End
the Author
Amanda
Meredith’s passion for reading and writing began in the first grade when she was struggling with reading so much, her parents were considering holding her back. But thanks to a dedicated teacher who spent hours of unpaid time with her after school, she discovered a passion for the written word.
She was soon reading above her grade level, devouring books from the library and writing stories. She even won runner up in the school’s young author contest.
Through the remainder of her school years, she took as many English classes as she could, writing everything from poetry and song lyrics to short stories.
After graduating,
she married her high school sweetheart and while raising her two children, continued to write and read, using her passion for storytelling to instill a love for books in her own children.
Authors normally
don’t get published taking years to write a novel between diaper changes and cooking dinner. Amanda’s family has and always will come first but the desire to write, to create worlds that a reader can escape to, will always been a passion for her.
Outside of family life, she enjoys playing guitar, singing and horseback riding.
Amanda lives in Illinois with her husband, children and variety of pets. She continues to write and will be publishing more books in the near future.
