Love Lift Me Read Online Free PDF

came to me again. “ You take care of that now, Mary. Your grandfather
gave it to me on the day he came home from the war .” She always called me
by my proper first name, but I didn’t mind.
    I
clicked open the latch, which I hadn’t done in months. Inside was the same
photograph she’d put inside that birthday morning, a picture of my family, taken
on a warm Easter day outside their church. My father standing proud in his
Sunday best, with his arm wrapped snugly around my smiling mother. They were
frozen in place that way forever. The photo was a little worse for wear and the
color had faded a bit, but there they were, looking young and happy and full of
life.
    I
ran my finger along the inscription on the other side. For Elise . My
grandmother’s name. And below that, in the same stylized cursive, To keep my
love and lift her spirit .
    The
locket was balanced in my hand and I sat, staring at it for the longest time,
thinking about how deeply they must have cared for each other. How much he had
loved her! It was no wonder she always wore the thing whenever I saw her,
before it fell into my hands that fateful day. She would have never parted with
it, I realized, unless she knew that her time remaining was drawing short.
    “Whoa,”
Shane said, breaking me out of my trance. “It’s getting bad out there.”
    Strong
wind buffeted against the side of the bus, howling as it went, shaking the steel
sidewalls and blowing a warm draft through the cabin. Hard rain crashed into
the window in waves like a thousand needles and the windshield wipers looked to
be going at maximum speed just to keep up. I could sense the bus slowing down,
but still the driver took us ahead, into the growing storm. A shot of fear
surged up into my stomach.
    “Looks
like some of them are stopping,” I said, lifting my head up and over Shane to see.
A few cars had pulled over; wary motorists that weren’t about to try and brave
the hard weather until it passed. “Do you think we’ll have to do the same?”
    “Hmm,
I kind of doubt it, Kat. This is a big bus. It can probably handle the rain.”
    “I
kind of wish he would stop, though. Let it blow past.”
    I
wanted to curl up in a blanket and forget about everything; the terrible storm,
my problems with Hale and mother, everything… except maybe Shane. Somehow, he
made it easy to forget all those things for a little while.
     Shane
nodded and pushed back in his chair before saying, “Raleigh is only another
thirty miles. By the time we’re finished there and back on the road, I bet this
whole thing will have passed over us.”
    He
was only half right.

Four
     
    A
few turns and exits later, we pulled into the boarding area at a transport
terminal that put the little one in Watauga County to shame.
    The
rain was still blowing sideways when the enormous bus slid into a parking lot. Thankfully,
the other, equally large buses on either side of us blocked some of the
elements so the trip outside wouldn’t be too bad. It was hardly getting into
the late afternoon and the thick, fast-moving storm overhead blocked out the
sun into nothing more than a dull glow through black and grey clouds. Shane was
already up and grabbing his bag from the overhead compartment when the driver
groaningly exited his seat with a long stretch and spoke into the microphone
once again.
    “Welcome
to Raleigh, ladies and gentlemen. In just a few minutes, you’ll be able to
exit. There are a few restaurants inside the main terminal and we’ll make an
announcement when we’re ready to continue on our way, so please don’t wander
too far off. For those of you who are permanently de-boarding, your luggage
will be on the carousel located at Gate C shortly.” Then, as if he’d suddenly
remembered something intimately regrettable, “And thanks for riding with
Median.”
    As
soon as the driver hung up the mic, the other passengers began shuffling
around, ready to get off the bus.
    “You
hungry?” Shane asked. “I could