Regina Read Online Free Page A

head was mounted above
the doors, on the railing.
    “That’s your grandfather’s room.” Dad
whispered to me and pointed to the double doors. “The door you saw
outside, on the sun porch, leads out from his room.”
    I shook my hand to indicate I understood. I
continued to observe the room while my dad went to get our bags.
The furniture was older; a brown couch with large flowers sat a
couple of feet in front of Grandpa’s room with a large wood coffee
table. A cute tan loveseat was sitting parallel to the couch with a
small matching nightstand. Two comfortable living chairs were on
opposite sides of the room ready to let you curl up in them and
read a good book. Cute little paintings of fruit hung from the
walls. And a microscopic TV was sitting beside the fireplace. Oh
my! Might as well push that poor TV into that fireplace and put it
out of its misery! I thought with a little laugh.
    I spun with surprise to hear the large doors
swing inward. My grandfather emerged from the double doors and into
the living room. The couch was in front of him but it couldn’t hide
his massive height. His eyes scanned the room and fell directly
upon me as his smile widened.
    An impressive seven feet tall, my grandfather
towered over everyone in the room. His bald head glowed from the
lights over the artwork in the room. He wore a blue and white plaid
button down shirt with tan pants and suspenders. His warm smile
filled the room with sunshine and his blue eyes were watering with
emotion. He held out his arms to me and I rushed to him, my blonde
hair bouncing behind me as I ran. I don’t know why I did this
except that I felt overwhelmed with emotion when he stretched his
arms out.
    “My granddaughter.” He whispered and hugged
me tight.
    “Dad, this is Regina. Regina this is my dad,
George Underwood” My mother’s voice called with laughter behind
us.
    He smelled of wood, like a carpenter and Zest
soap. Those long arms were wrapped around me and picked me up. I
laughed at his exuberance. Age was deep in his face.
    “Hello Regina. It’s nice to meet you.” He
said.
    “It’s very nice to meet you too,
Grandpa.”
    His face was old but handsome. Missing was
his hair and left pinky finger. I later learned he lost his finger
in a tractor accident when Grandpa was in his thirties. I loved his
sweet face and warm hands. His long arms and legs had to conform to
my smaller size, making him look like a giant. This didn’t seem
like the man my mother described.
    “And I’m sure you remember Jack.” Mom said
louder. She was obviously a little upset about dad being
excluded.
    Remember Jack? How could Grandpa remember dad
if they’d never met before? Didn’t daddy tell me he never met mom’s
parents or been to her hometown? My thoughts wondered for a moment.
My grandfather put me down and reached out to shake my father’s
hand. They exchanged kind words of condolences while my mother
pulled me aside.
    “Go up the stairs and go straight till you
see a door. It’s small and I apologize for that but I hope you like
it.” She said with a twinkle in her eye.
    My grandfather looked upset when he saw I was
leaving but mom gently explained that we had a long trip and I
wanted to get adjusted in my room first. The stairs were dark and
creaked with every step I took but they were amazingly sturdy.
Light was coming from above and I could see the second floor as I
made the turn on the stairs. There was a door at the end of the
stairway and you could see the living room from second story, it
was pretty cool. The second floor was open, no door, separation
walls or privacy. A king size bed with blue bedding was in the
middle of the room with two bureaus and a nightstand on each side.
I noticed there were only two windows in this large room. I moved
on to my room.
    Thru the white wood door, my room was petite
with a white wrought iron, double sized bed with an intricate
Victorian inspired design. The bed filled the room and gave me just
enough