Gift is His: The Beginning (eBook)

Nicole C. Schroeder (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2024 | 1. Auflage
294 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3509-5233-9 (ISBN)

Infos

'The Gift is His: The Beginning' is a prequel to the original book 'The Gift is His,' depicting narratives from the viewpoints of Charlie Daniels Ross and his family members. As the narrative unfolds, Charlie learns a valuable lesson from his family: nothing is ever as it seems. Instead of being a family built on love and righteousness, they'd built their family's legacy on a foundation of fear, lies and deceit. Now, history is repeating itself. Charlie has a secret, and he soon realizes that he's more like his family than he originally thought. When it was time to tell the truth, he couldn't bear to do it. Now, there's a crack in the foundation, and there's only one way to repair it. They must go back to the beginning and remember when they first picked up their cross to follow Christ.

Nicole C Schroeder is a Christian blogger and author. Please log onto https://nicolecschroeder.com/ and subscribe to the website for the latest information about The Gift is His series.

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"e;The Gift is His: The Beginning"e; is a prequel to the original book "e;The Gift is His,"e; depicting narratives from the viewpoints of Charlie Daniels Ross and his family members. As the narrative unfolds, Charlie learns a valuable lesson from his family: nothing is ever as it seems. Instead of being a family built on love and righteousness, they'd built their family's legacy on a foundation of fear, lies and deceit- for good reasons, of course! (If there is such a thing as that). Now, history is repeating itself. Charlie has a secret, and he soon realizes that he's more like his family than he originally thought. When it was time to tell the truth, he couldn't bear to do it. Now, there's a crack in the foundation, and there's only one way to repair it. They must go back to the beginning and remember when they first picked up their cross to follow Christ.

Textauszug

Chapter One

Fifteen Years Earlier

Driving toward the Daniels Estate with her nine-month-old son in the backseat, Penny Daniels-Ross could feel her heart breaking into a million pieces. If she’d known that would be the last time she saw her father, she would have stayed longer. She would have demanded more of his time! He was always working. Always planning. Always thinking about the future. It would have been nice to just be in the moment with him for once. She would have told him she loved him and hopefully he would have said it back. She would have thanked him for everything that he did for her. From sending her to the best schools to training her to be an executive in their company, he’d proven why he was the best dad in the world. It wasn’t just a phrase on his Father’s Day cards. It was true. She owed everything to him. She would not be the confident business woman she was today if it was not for him, and she grieved for her newborn son, Charlie. He would never know how amazing his grandfather was and she only had one person to blame: Ruth Sinclair!

After she let her brother die, their father never recovered.

“…Honey? Are you okay?” Paulene Daniels asked, tapping on the driver’s side window.

Penny almost jumped out of her skin. “Mom? What are you doing? You almost gave me a heart attack.” She said, as she pressed her hand against her heart.

Paulene opened the driver’s side door. “You’ve been sitting out here for quite a while…”

“I have?”

“Let’s get the two of you inside. It’s freezing out here.” Paulene Daniels walked around to open the backdoor. She reached inside and grabbed her grandson, Charlie’s car seat, and hurried inside the estate with him.

The estate manager, Frances Washington, was there to take him to the nursery.

“I should probably go with them. He might wake up when she puts him in the crib—”

“Don’t be silly, darling. Charlie will be fine. Fran took care of you all when you were that age. You need to go to the bathroom and freshen up right now.”

“Freshen up? What are you talking about?”

“The attorney. He’s here. Didn’t you notice his car in the driveway? Your brothers are here too. They’re waiting for us in the library.”

She suddenly remembered why she’d driven there in the first place. She was there for the reading of her father’s will. Feeling sick, she ran over to the hall mirror and regretted her decision to leave the house like that. She was wearing an oversized sweatshirt and a pair of yoga pants. She had dark circles under her eyes and her hair was pulled back. What could she say? She was a new mom, and her life was pretty messy at the moment. It would take hours to meet her mother’s standards, so presentable would have to do. She grabbed a sweater out of the hall closet and hurried toward the library.

“Great news, everyone. Penny is here. She will be joining us shortly.”

“I’m here. Please proceed.” Penny said, sliding into the chair beside her brother, Charles, and sister-in-law, Rebecca.

Rebecca was holding their first-born son, Samuel. He was only a few weeks old, but that’s how she referred to him- their first-born son. She’d already started planning for their second and third child. Boys! She only wanted boys. Heirs to carry on the Daniels’ name.

She wanted to name their first-born child Charles Daniels, after his father, but she decided against it after Penny named their son Charlie.

A part of Rebecca resented Penny for that very reason, but Penny didn’t name him after her brother. She named him after her husband’s grandfather, Charlie Ross. He was a God-fearing man who worked hard to take care of his family. She couldn’t disappoint her husband, Alabaster, no matter how much it upset her melodramatic sister-in-law.

“…Now that everyone is here, I would like to get started. I have a long day ahead of me.” The attorney admitted.

Penny avoided his piercing gaze as she looked around the room. Her half-brother, Marcus, was sitting next to their mother. She wasn’t surprised. Their relationship was rock solid. Their mother made sure of that. She didn’t treat him any differently from her other children. She loved him with her whole heart. She didn’t begrudge him for being her husband’s first born. She knew she wasn’t her husband’s first love, but she was the woman he’d chosen to spend his life with. That kind of love and commitment was worth paying forward after the life she’d lived. Of course, she couldn’t get Charles to understand that. He resented Marcus. He couldn’t be in the same room as him without making a snide comment. Penny wondered what it would be today.

After an unknown amount of time had passed, Penny zeroed in on the attorney once again and she realized he was in the middle of reading their father’s will.

“…At the time of executing this will, I have the following children: Marcus Daniels, Charles Daniels, Penny Daniels-Ross, and the late Adam Daniels.”

“Adam?” Penny was taken aback. She hadn’t expected her father to mention their late brother in his will.

“Your father couldn’t bear to remove your brother’s name,” the attorney pointed out sadly.

Penny nodded and apologized for her outburst. “Please, proceed—”

“Very well. I hereby nominate, constitute, and appoint my loving supportive wife, Paulene Daniels, as the executor of my will and if this executor is unable or unwilling to serve, then I appoint my oldest son, Marcus Daniels as the alternate executor of my will.”

Penny shifted her eyes toward her brother, Charles. The veins in his neck were bulging and his legs were shaking uncontrollably. He’d hoped to be the executor, or at the very least, the alternate. That would have proven once and for all that he was his father’s favorite son, so she could only imagine how difficult that moment was for him.

“Talk about a slap in the face.” Charles mumbled, angrily.

Penny wished her husband, Alabaster, could have been there with her, if for no other reason than to whisk her away after the meeting, so she wouldn’t have to listen to her brother’s endless complaining. However, he had to preach at a funeral. As a pastor, he spent a lot of time at funerals, weddings, and hospital rooms. Now that she had their son, Charlie, she couldn’t go with him as much and she missed being by his side.

When she shifted her eyes toward her mother and her half-brother, Marcus, the two of them were holding hands as they looked straight ahead. Undoubtedly, the news wasn’t a surprise to either of them, and neither was Charles’ reaction. From where she sat, it looked like they’d anticipated it. She wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d planned their reactions, right down to the hand holding and stoic expressions.

“…Marcus, he wanted you to know that he loved you and he was proud of the man you’d become.”

Paulene leaned over and whispered. “We both are.”

“That’s all I ever wanted.” He said, choking back tears.

“That’s more than you deserve.” Charles mumbled.

Paulene shot him a cross look and shook her head disapprovingly.

The attorney cleared his throat, loudly. “Marcus, your father set up a trust fund for you and your first-born son or daughter because he didn’t want you to worry about money as you pursue your dream of becoming a famous author.”

His eyes doubled in size as he put his hand over his mouth.

“He knew you only joined the business to be close to him, and he was too selfish to let you go when he was alive. His words, not mine—”

“So, he’s setting you free.” Paulene said, kissing him on the cheek, as tears streamed down her face.

“Are you sure? I know how much this business meant to him…and you.” He said, looking deep into her eyes.

Fighting back the tears, she smiled and said, “This is not your cross to bear. Maybe your first book could be about your father. I could help you write it.”

Marcus leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “I think I’d like to write about you too.”

Paulene couldn’t hold back the tears any longer as she hugged Marcus.

“How sweet.” Charles mumbled, sarcastically, as he turned toward Penny.

She could see the attorney staring at her, so she continued to look straight ahead.

“To his daughter, Penny Daniels-Ross, he leaves a trust fund for you and his grandson, Charlie, and specific instructions concerning his rental properties here and abroad.”

Penny shifted her eyes toward her mother, but she looked bewildered as well.

“…To my loving daughter, Penny, I leave you the deeds to my rental properties. These properties have served this family well. If you choose to sell them, I would like for you to begin with the home on Crossroads Drive. Please consider using...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 26.7.2024
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• ISBN-13: 979-8-3509-5233-9 / 9798350952339