It’s #BookQW and Fern hides the ‘last’ thing Mom suspects.
More from Chapter 1:
Three more days and the secret—and dreaded lying—would end. Fern drew a breath. “I love you, Mom.”
“You’re growing up so much, my meadowsweet, I wish…” Mom gave a watery smile and traced a design with her index finger on Fern’s forehead, just as she always did when they parted. Then she kissed it, leaving Fern’s skin tingling for a moment. “I love you, too.” Mom gave her a last hug and—to Fern’s relief—climbed into the SUV. “Oh, my sunglasses!”
“Right here.” Fern plucked them from her mom’s hair.
She shook her head. “What would I do without you?”
And that was exactly why Fern had this secret. With no father in her life, or any other relatives, she and Mom were all each other had. Everyone said that was freaking weird and that Heather Fields must be in the Witness Protection Program. Fern had believed it, too…and then, a year and a half ago, she’d met her mom’s mom, her Gran. Secretly.
Some days Fern wanted to shout that she knew.
But there was so much more Mom refused to tell her—like what had happened to her dad and why Mom wouldn’t acknowledge her family. Gran was just as bad. But this very weekend, the end was in sight. By Sunday, Gran’s strict community council would vote on their inspection, and she and Gran should—would—have the approval to keep their family land.
So Fern forced a smile and said, “I don’t know what I’d do without you either.”
The SUV drove away, a cloud of dust rising off the gravel road, Mom not suspecting a thing.
~~~
Plant yourself in adventure with The Witch of the Meadows!
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