Payment in Kind (9780061749216)

by Jance, Judith A.

  Just thinking about it made a huge lump grow in my throat.

  My grandmother fixed lunch for all of us. Patiently she fed thick, hearty soup to the old man before she ate her own. I stayed until three o'clock in the afternoon.

  When it was time to go, my grandmother walked me out onto the porch. She stopped on the top step, and seemed to be searching for words. For a woman who had talked nonstop all day, I was surprised when she grew strangely quiet.

  “Your grandfather and I grew up in a different world,” she said finally. “Your mother was headstrong, willful. He wanted the best for her, wanted her to live by his rules. She wouldn't. She defied him, and he never forgave her for that. There was a terrible quarrel. He vowed to never let her set foot in this house again, and she didn't. You see, your mother was every bit as stubborn as he was.”

  She paused for a moment and wiped at her eyes with a corner of her apron. I recognized the gesture as another echo from the past. My mother used to do the same thing.

  “I never went against your grandfather's wishes. That wasn't my place, so I never saw your mother again, either, but I did start keeping my box. My treasure chest, I call it. Two years ago, right after his stroke, a nurse pulled it out from under the bed and asked him what it was. I was afraid he'd make me get rid of it, but instead, he wanted me to read the stories to him, show him the pictures. Since then, he's wanted to look at it almost every week. Thank you for coming today, Jonas. It's an answer to my prayers.”

  With tears in my own eyes, I hugged her, held her close, then left her standing there on the porch. As I drove away, what had happened long ago between my mother and my grandfather no longer seemed important. A heavy but invisible burden had finally been lifted off my shoulders.

  Lars Jenssen is right. Forgiveness is a two-way street. And it's good for you besides.

  About the Author

  J. A. Jance is the New York Times bestselling author of the Joanna Brady series, the J. P. Beaumont series, and the novels Hour of the Hunter and Kiss of the Bees. She was born in South Dakota, brought up in Bisbee, Arizona, and now lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington, and Tucson, Arizona.

  Books by J. A. Jance

  Joanna Brady Mysteries by

  J. A. Jance

  DESERT HEAT • TOMBSTONE COURAGE

  SHOOT/DON’ T SHOOT • DEAD TO RIGHTS

  SKELETON CANYON • RATTLESNAKE CROSSING

  OUTLAW MOUNTAIN • DEVIL’S CLAW • PARADISE LOST

  Detective J. P. Beaumont Mysteries by

  J. A. Jance

  UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY • INJUSTICE FOR ALL

  TRIAL BY FURY • TAKING THE FIFTH

  IMPROBABLE CAUSE • A MORE PERFECT UNION

  DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE • MINOR IN POSSESSION

  PAYMENT IN KIND • WITHOUT DUE PROCESS

  FAILURE TO APPEAR • LYING IN WAIT

  NAME WITHHELD • BREACH OF DUTY

  BIRDS OF PREY

  and

  HOUR OF THE HUNTER

  KISS OF THE BEES

  PARTNER IN CRIME

  And in Hardcover

  EXIT WOUNDS

  RESOUNDING PRAISE FOR THE NOVELS

  of New York Times bestselling author

  J.A. JANCE

  “IN THE ELITE COMPANY OF SUE GRAFTON AND PATRICIA CORNWELL.”

  Flint Journal

  “J.A. JANCE DOES NOT DISAPPOINT.”

  Washington Times

  “JANCE… [CREATES] CHARACTERS SO REAL you want to reach out and hug—or strangle—them. Her dialogue always rings true, and the cases unravel in an interesting, yet never contrived way.”

  Cleveland Plain Dealer

  “JANCE JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER.”

  Traverse City Record-Eagle

  “JANCE BRINGS THE READER ALONG with suspense, wit, surprise, and intense feeling… She has a great ability to put the reader into the setting in which she writes.”

  Hunstville Times

  “[JANCE] CAN SPIN A GOOD TALE.”

  Ottawa Citizen

  “ANY STORY BY JANCE IS A JOY.”

  Chattanooga Times

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  PAYEMNT IN KIND. Copyright © 1991 by J. A. Jance. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  ePub edition July 2004 ISBN 9780061749216

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