by Gordon Ryan
But in the quiet of those following nights, as her bed was cold and empty without Thomas, her breath came in short, ragged gasps and she was haunted by the image of a young, dark-haired, blue-eyed Irishman.
She rose from her bed quietly, so as not to awaken her daughter across the hall. Teresa had gently chided her mother into allowing her to stay for a few days following the funeral, “Just until we get things settled, Mama,” the concerned daughter had said.
Katrina slowly descended the spiral staircase in the dark, holding onto the burnished oak banister, so well-worn through the years. She padded in her soft slippers toward the kitchen, where she turned on the light and took a glass from the cupboard. After pouring herself a tumbler of milk, she moved to the kitchen table, pulled back a chair, and carefully sat down.
She sat there for several long moments, listening to a house that after so many years of laughter, so many parties, so many memories of children and grandchildren, even great-grandchildren, and so many thoughts of . . . Thomas . . . was now agonizingly silent.
She remembered the times he would come home after work, and, never mindful of her sense of propriety and decorum in front of the servants or the children, he would sweep her up boisterously into his arms, kissing her without restraint, and whispering in her ear. She wondered how she had gone all those years without confessing how much she looked forward to and desired his embrace.
Random thoughts of events and times and places they had shared swirled through her mind, conjuring up loving memories of their years together.
Her breathing became labored and she pulled her shawl closer around her shoulders to ward off the sudden chill. As she lifted her head to look toward a calendar on the wall, she gasped. The image of the young man who had haunted her thoughts for the past few nights stood in front of the kitchen cabinets, a loving smile on his face.
"Oh, Thomas," she breathed, her chest once again tightening.
He held out his hand, his countenance radiant and his smile beckoning.
The pain in her chest instantly subsided, and a warm sensation coursed through her body. Her face softened, and she nodded, slowly raising her hand toward the man she had loved for nearly seventy-five years—the young man to whom an immigrant girl of sixteen, standing on the deck of the Antioch, had pledged her heart and her destiny.
"You've come for me," she whispered.
He continued to beckon, his hair once again dark and his shining blue eyes so like her memories.
Upstairs in the bedroom, Teresa awoke at the sound of breaking glass. She threw on a robe, stepped into her slippers, and quickly began to descend the stairs. From the first landing, she saw a light shining in the kitchen and a puddle of milk spreading on the floor. She hastened her pace down the stairs and called out.
“Mama? Are you there, Mama?”
* * * * * * * * * *
Author Bio:
"Political thrillers are in my blood. They're more real, than fiction."
Gordon Ryan is a writer with a varied history. He has lived and worked in six foreign nations and a dozen or more states, including Alaska. He served in the 1st Recon Battalion, U.S. Marine Corps in the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and in the Air Force in Thailand during the Vietnam War. He also served as a member of the American Embassy staff in Dublin, Ireland, during the violent seventies.
Ryan’s first published novel, Dangerous Legacy, was released in 1994 and he has published a dozen more over the intervening years with the Pug Connor novels, State of Rebellion, Uncivil Liberties, and To Faithfully Execute being his newest releases. Book Four, Blood and Treasure is scheduled for release in Fall, 2011.
Ryan never gave up his day job as a city manager and chief executive officer of large homeowners' associations, but once he discovered the joys of fiction, writing has been the driving force. Now writing full-time, Gordon and his wife, Colleen, spend their time between the American northwest and the beautiful South Pacific.
Discover Other Novels By Gordon Ryan
www.gordonryan.com
Pug Connor Novels
State of Rebellion
Uncivil Liberties
To Faithfully Execute
Rebellion Trilogy
Blood & Treasure (Fall 2011)
The Callahans Series
Destiny - Callahans #1
Conflict - Callahans #2
Reunion - Callahans #3
The Callahans Trilogy I
Prelude - Callahans #4
Reprisal – Callahans #5 (Oct 2011)
Heritage – Callahans #6 (Mar 2012)
Other Novels
Love, Honor, & Consequence
Triple Diamond
Threads of Honor
Upon the Isles of the Sea
The Leashes of Dogwood Hollow
Gordon Ryan Quad
