“Yeah, well, I know you pretty well, and from the embarrassed look on your face, I’d say it is a big deal. Or, at least, a medium deal.”
She leaned down farther and searched again. “You say it’s scratches that I’m supposed to be looking for?”
“No. You’re not supposed to be lookin’ for nothin’. You should just mind your own business.”
“I can’t imagine that my little brother would go to all the trouble to restore this car and leave some scratches behind.”
“He probably figured I wouldn’t want them polished out or painted over or whatever.”
She leaned down a bit farther and saw them . . . two letters that looked like they had been hastily scratched into the finish with a crude tool, like a key.
She sat back up, fluffed her hair, and straightened her shirt. “So . . . when did you scratch my initials under your dash, darlin’?” she asked.
“The day I met you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Really.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew, right then and there, that I wanted you with me, everywhere I went, from that day on.”
“Oh.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “That’s, just . . . oh, darlin’, that’s just so, so sweet.”
He growled. “Yeah, yeah. Just what every manly man wants to hear. That he’s ‘sweet.’ ”
She leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. “How about if, instead, I tell you . . . ‘Those initials, and the fact that you scratched them there the day you met me, has earned you the hottest, steam-shootin’-outta-your-ears birthday night in the history of manly men’?”
He growled again. Much deeper than before. “Now you’re talkin’!”
Author’s Note
Dear Readers,
As I began the research necessary to write this book, I became aware of a group of people whom, I’m ashamed to say, I knew little about. I’d heard of Huntington’s, cystic fibrosis, and some other fatal genetic diseases. But I had no idea how many of these disorders there are in the world, or how many people suffer from them.
We, who haven’t faced the terrible challenges these individuals and their families deal with on a daily basis, have no concept of what they’re going through. How could we? Life’s worst horrors must be lived to be fully understood.
But, even if we’ll never know what they experience, we can at least be more knowledgeable about them and what they face. By learning about them, we may shed some tears, but we will be richer for it. Not only will we appreciate many of the things we now take for granted, but we can open our hearts to the inspiration they offer with their stories of courage, determination, love, and their fierce desire to live each day to the most and leave this world a better place than they found it.
Whether you are basically unaware of their struggles, or someone living in the fear that you may have inherited one of these disorders, or a person who is in the throes of their illness, or someone whose loved one is . . . please take the time to click on the links below and read some of the articles. If you need help, encouragement, or simply information, you may discover what you’re looking for there. These sites can assist you in finding a local support group, where (unlike the poor characters in this story) you’ll receive encouragement from people who know exactly what you’re going through, because your trials are theirs.
Not only will you be given practical help at a support group, but you’ll have the opportunity to share, inform, and uplift others in a way that most other people can’t, because they don’t have the hard-earned knowledge that you have. You know, even better than their physicians, what they’re going through and how to deal with day-to-day problems. You may be forced to walk this difficult road, but you don’t have to walk it alone.
May you find the answers you need, as well as peace and comfort. And may we all find a true purpose for this life we’ve been given. Whatever its length.
Sincerely,
Sonja Massie (G. A. McKevett)
National Institutes of Health
https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov
Phone: 1-888-205-2311
Guides for Patients and Families
https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/guides/pages/96/patients-families-and-friends
Bitter Brew (A Savannah Reid Mystery) Page 25
