This is a teaser excerpt of the book I'm currently finishing. Please note that it is a rough draft and hasn't been edited yet. Look for it to be released around Thanksgiving or Christmas. I hope you enjoy and feel free to let me know what you think!
John had forwarded a picture of Rory he had taken on the beach back in North Carolina along with a description of Bran and the RV he was driving to Viola. He wanted Viola and Max to know who he was if or when he showed up.
Three days later, Bran looked at the GPS and hoped he was going in the right direction. The GPS had said to turn on several unimproved roads once he and Rory had reached Bradger’s Den, Idaho. “Well, Rory,” Bran said knowing his almost one year old grandson couldn’t answer, “I think we are about thirty to forty minutes from the Riley Homestead. I hope they are as accepting as John said they were.”
The roads were unimproved but not overly dusty and when Bran rolled down his window, he could smell fresh cut grass or hay waffling in the breeze. The gravel crunched beneath the tires, and the scent of the juniper was added to the breeze as it drifted through the window. Bran squinted at the horizon, where the mountains bunched like sleeping giants. John had said that mountains flanked the homestead on the west and north, but they seem to be everywhere.
Rory gurgled in his car seat, kicking his feet in the air. Bran glanced at him and smiled, “You’re the brave one, kiddo. Dragged into your own family saga before you were even born or could walk. I’ll remind you that your dad would have loved you and Lars would have been a great father. I only hope I can do as good for you.”
The GPS flickered again, recalculating. Bran frowned. “Don’t glitch on me now,” he muttered. The Riley Homestead wasn’t on any map. The only thing Bran had was the GPS address and a general idea of its location. Tall grass swayed in the breeze on both sides of the road. It was golden and dry from the later summer sun. A few cottonwoods and maples lined the road while in the distance Bran could see stands or groves of aspens, paper birch, and river birch, then groups of Douglas firs, Ponderosa Pines, Spruces, and Red Cedar could be seen further away starting sparsely in the foothills and getting thicker on as they went up the mountain side.
Then the GPS said to turn left and arrive at your destination. Bran turned onto a winding dirt and gravel road and drove over a cattle guard that led to a distance old, weathered barn. Bran felt his chest tighten. He had expected something grandeur or different, but the silence that surrounded him as he stopped to look at the barn, unsettled him. “John said they’d be here,” he murmured, more to himself than to Rory. “Maybe they’re inside.” There was no sign of movement. No dogs barking, no children playing. Just the barn, slouched against the horizon like an old man waiting for company.
It took fifteen minutes to drive up the curving gravel road to reach the front of the barn. Once there, Bran saw that there was a large, gravel parking lot in front that held three old Ford pickups that looked like they had seen better days. The old, weathered barn that had a sign above the double front door reading Riley’s Farm and Lumber Inc. “I guess this is the right place,” Bran stated to Rory, then unhooked his car seat and got out of the RV. “Let’s go see if John is home.”
As Bran walked towards the double doors, he was conflicted about whether to get back in the RV, turn around and leave, continue to drive around the barn, or just wait to see if anyone noticed them in the parking lot. “Time to be brave, Rory,” Bran said and continued walking to the doors.
Opening the door, Bran stopped in disbelief. The store hummed with quiet warmth. Sunlight filtered through dusty windows and high skylights, catching displays of hand-turned candlesticks and polished bowls that gleam with care. The scent is cozy and layered: cedarwood, beeswax, lavender soap, and a hint of cinnamon wafting from somewhere nearby. Confusion hit Bran as he turned one hundred and eighty degrees, viewing as much as he could see of the barn. “John forgot to mention this,” Bran said to Rory.