The Unexpected Bride-Book One in Taming of the Shrew

Chapter One Hundred And Forty-Five

Holding her breath, Sharlene asked.

"But she came back before it was too late, didn't she?"

Irene's eyes glistened from the thought. Dispelling the lump forming in her throat, she passed a hand through Sharlene's hair. 

"Yes. When I saw your mother on my doorstep after all these years, I had no words but to pull her into a warm embrace. She was my first child, after all. And she had regretted her youthful and hasty decision."

Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, Sharlene smiled.

"I am glad she did. Life wouldn't have been the same if she did not."

"Yes, I too was glad, and when I embraced her children, the years they did not know of my warmth were hurtful, so I vowed to fill their following years with my presence."

"I remember you calling us every day."

Sharlene laughed as a thought came to mind.

"Mom might have felt guilty and did not want us to grow up not knowing our grandparents. Your kisses and hugs were always the best, grandma." 

"Your mother is hotheaded, but I am glad she allowed you all to know about us. The memories have remained a beautiful moment in your mind, right?"

"Yes."

Soberly, Irene expressed, as if the memory still affected her.

"Alas, your father's death was the greatest shock for all of us."

Sharlene lifted her eyes to stare into nothingness.

"Yes."

"Your mother took it the hardest. Poor girl."

"Yes, she did."

"How is she coping? I tried opening that conversation many times over the phone, but the stubborn mule always changed the subject every time."

Sharlene smiled as she pictured her rolling her eyes.

"She is getting better. She speaks of him without crying now."

"That's a relief. She truly loved your father, as did he. He was a good man, that self-sacrificing rascal. He had taken it upon himself to convince me every day not to blame your mother for the idiocy of elopement many years prior."

She chuckled. 

"My burning rage had already melted away, but I was still as stubborn about the matter. Although I gave the poor sap cold shoulders, he patiently endured with the thought of attaining my affection along the way. Eventually, I let it go when your brother was born. He was a sweet son-in-law. Great company too."

Silence greeted them, Irene's words sinking in. Tears pricked Sharlene's eyes as she remembered his ear-to-ear smile. Wiping the stray droplets, she whispered.

"We all loved him too much, especially AJ."

"Talking about your brother? How is he coping?" 

"School is not the funniest place at the moment."

Clicking her tongue, Irene scoffed.

"I agree with my boy. They say the apple does not fall far from the tree, but he inherited the oldest one in the field. I did not like school in the slightest growing up."

Snuggling into her grandmother's warmth, she giggled, her earlier sadness stifled.

"Then he did not get it far."

"That he did."

Placing her head above her chest, Sharlene asked in a whisper. 

"Grandma?"