Sadie's Mountain Read Online Free PDF

having a good trip.
    Oh shut up , I think as I frown at the chipper flight attendant. I’ve never liked them. Their smiles always seem to be masking other feelings just under the surface. It’s unsettling and makes me realize that’s probably what I look like, too.
    “Ms. Sparks,” she chirps. “I’m so sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you’d be so kind as to sign my book?” she asks as she takes one of the books from the Fire Bound series out from behind her back.
    “Of, course,” I say, and smear my name all over the inside flap. “Thank you for reading.”
    “Thank you so much,” she beams.

    I get my luggage—just one small suitcase—and rent a car. It’s a decent one. A black, four-door Buick La Sabre, since that is the nicest one they have. It smells new and sanitary. At least I have that. Who knows what the house will be like when I get there in almost three hours.
     Momma was a good housekeeper but with four kids to pick up after, sanitary wouldn’t be the word I’d use to describe my growing up. My two little brothers, who I don’t even know anymore, are teenagers now. And Missy lives so close. She probably cleans the place since Momma is so sick. That eases my mind a bit.
    As I pull into a fast food place to order a fruit and yogurt concoction and coffee, it dawns on me that I could rent a hotel room or a little cabin somewhere. That is an option. One night in my old room wouldn’t kill me, though. It would be the last time I see my mom, her illness being terminal and all. Her type of cancer most certainly is— I’m told. It would be wrong to leave her and drive into town for the night.
    As I settle into the steady hum of the car cruising up the VA-311 North, I start to let my mind ease into the thoughts behind the thoughts. I can face this. I’m not some little victim anymore. I’m a successful author with sixteen books in print. Twelve of them are best sellers. I write paranormal new adult, and women’s fiction with strong female characters so different from me. Some of my characters have powers I wish I had like the ability to become invisible. Some can fly. All of them can kill demons. My platform usually includes an eco-theme with Biblical allusions and women who are anything but victims.
    I’ve also written a trilogy, middle grade, about bugs on an organic farm. It was just optioned to be made into a computer generated movie in the coming year. They’re already auditioning celebrities for the voiceovers. I’m rooting for Ashley Judd for the voice of Polly—my praying mantis protagonist.
    My point is that I’ve got everything I need: A custom home in the dreamlike hills of Newcastle, California, acquaintances, money, success. But do I have safety? That’s something I haven’t been able to buy.
    Maybe I should hire a bodyguard?
    My thoughts are blaring at me now. The person I’m really anxious about is not Donnie. Donnie almost seems like a figment of my imagination—a nightmare so bad that it couldn’t be real. It’s Dillon I’m really worried about. He still lives there, or rather he’s moved back there to work on some government grant. Missy had told me about that about three years ago. His job was rather a mystery to her, it seemed.
    I’m sure I can avoid him. I’d done it for months before Daddy gave up on me and Momma finally took pity and sent me to live with my Aunt Lotty in Sacramento. Well, the difference then was that I hadn’t left the house for months. Maybe I won’t have to go anywhere. I’ll only be there just the one night.
    That whole summer, Dillon never gave up hope that I’d talk to him. He’d come to the door but I wouldn’t come out of my room. He brought me flowers he’d picked himself and leave them on my window sill. Sometimes he’d bring us some fresh fish from the creek for Momma to cook for dinner, or he’d write me letters and ask Missy or Momma to give them to me.
    Dillon had gone off to college right after I left. I knew