Page 4 of Meet Me on Blueberry Hill

If the nightmare didn’t come back.

He needed to find a way to reconcile the past, to be redeemed from his mistakes.

Then he’d find healing.

Maybe.

Someday.

Sadie Hudson had one month to put her life back together.

If only the mistakes of the last year could’ve been washed away by last night’s storm. Returning to Jonathon Island was supposed to give her the peace she’d been craving, but the consistent turmoil in her chest made her restless.

After her mother had come down with the flu and wasn’t able to care for Gran as planned, Sadie sought refuge at her grandmother’s cottage nearly a week ago to help care for her while she recovered from her recent hip surgery.

And caring for her meant giving her breakfast at a timely hour.

Smothering a yawn, Sadie dipped the remaining slice of homemade bread into the egg and milk mixture and then placed it on the heated cast-iron griddle on the middle burner of the stove.

Bubbles snapped and sizzled as the French toast cooked. She lifted a skillet off the adjacent burner and rolled the sausage links. While those finished cooking, she poured a small glass of orange juice and set it on the towel-lined tray next to Gran’s steaming cup of English Breakfast tea.

Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” came on the oldies station through Gran’s Alexa that sat on the kitchen counter.

Sadie sang along with the eighties song as she moved through the cottage kitchen with white cabinets, gray countertops, and original hardwood floor.

She turned off the heat and plated the French toast and sausage. She added the food to the tray, then carried it out of the kitchen and down the small hall to Gran’s first floor bedroom, humming the lyrics to the song now playing in her head.

Palming the tray, she tapped quietly, then opened the door. “Gran, you up?”

“Come in, honey. I was just spending some time with the Lord.”

Sadie pushed the door open with her foot and headed into the room. Georgie, Gran’s seven-year-old brown and white Lhasa apso, raced between her legs and bounded onto the bed.

“Georgie, get down. You’re hurting Gran.”

“Oh, he’s fine.” Gran wrapped her thin arms around the fluffy nuisance and gave him a hug. Then she moved her red leather Bible and matching journal off her lap and set them on her nightstand. She smiled at Sadie, her blue eyes reflecting the serenity Sadie always found comforting. She finger-combed her silver bangs away from her forehead. “What’s all this?”

Sadie placed the tray on the bed in front of her. “I made French toast and sausage. I wasn’t sure what kind of tea you wanted, but I found some English Breakfast in the cabinet next to the stove.”

Gran pressed a hand against Sadie’s cheek. “Thank you, love. It’s perfect, but you didn’t have to go to all this trouble for me.”

Sadie laughed. “You’re the one of the few people in the world that I’ll do anything for.”

“Same here, honey.” Gran lifted her cup. “Did it rain last night, or was I imagining it? Thought I heard pounding, then Georgie barking.”

“Yes, a pretty intense one. In fact, your neighbor came over and checked on you.”

“Asher?” Gran smiled. “He’s such a nice guy. Sorry the storm woke you.”

Sadie waved away her words. “I couldn’t sleep once the storm settled down, so I did some work until my alarm went off at six.”

Gran exchanged her teacup for her fork and cut one of the sausage links in half. “Why are you setting an alarm? We’re on island time, love.”

“Island time or not, I need to stay on routine. I can’t afford to become lazy. I have four weeks to figure out my future. I picked up remote copywriting work to pad my bank account until I can decide what I want to be when I grow up.”

“Trust the Lord, love. He has a plan for you.” Gran held out a hand and wiggled her fingers.

Easy for her to say. Gran’s faith was rock solid.

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