When Memories Fade Read Online Free Page A

anyone knew about going through difficulties, it would be the woman who had become her surrogate big sister in the past year. Angel had observed Candace’s strength through the trial of the woman who had murdered both Candace’s husband and best friend. It was because of Candace that Angel began participating in the Overcomers Women’s Ministry, a ministry that Candace had started at Victory Gospel Church.
    Angel confessed, “When we left the church the other night, we argued about my mother.”
    â€œDid you tell her about the project you are working on?” Candace asked.
    â€œNo. When I started working on the documentary years ago, everyone seemed to be uptight about me digging up the past. I think Grams thinks my mother is going to walk back into our lives after all this time.”
    â€œAngel, you know your grandmother is a woman of faith, but she would want you to do what you needed to do. Lord knows this has to be hard. I’ve lost loved ones, but I can’t imagine one of them simply disappearing and not knowing what happened to them.” Candace grew quiet and then inquired, “Angel, do you need me to come sit with you? I have a new stylist in the salon now, and she’s working out pretty good.”
    â€œNo, no. I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me. I know Saturday mornings are busy.”
    â€œYou know how much I love you and Fredricka. You both are family and were there for me and the kids this past year. Be sure to let Fredricka know I will stop by and take care of her hair. I know how she likes to be looking foxy.”
    Angel laughed. “She would love that. Thanks, Candace.” After saying good-bye, Angel thought about Wednesday night’s birthday surprise, which she now knew Candace had secretly planned. Angel smiled. She’d missed what it felt like to have a genuine friend who cared.
    She checked the clock on the wall. Right now Grams needed her. Angel rose from the chair to head back toward the hospital room. The CT scan and MRI had determined that the type of stroke Grams had Wednesday night was the result of a blood clot. Blessedly, they were able to arrive at the hospital in the crucial three-hour time frame for stroke victims, allowing the emergency room doctors to restore Grams’s blood flow. Now it was all about preventing a second stroke from occurring.
    A bit of aphasia had set in, causing Grams to slur her words, and her right arm was not cooperating. The doctor seemed optimistic that with rehabilitation, Grams’s brain would rewire itself, giving her her mobility back. They needed to prepare for rehabilitation for a few weeks in the hospital before Grams could return home.
    Angel walked into the hospital room and was startled by a figure in the room. At first she thought her uncle Jacob had snuck past her, but her uncle would never be caught in a cowboy hat. She grinned as the man rose from the seat in the corner, where she’d slept the night before.
    â€œUncle Eddie.” She crossed the room and hugged the tall, dark man. Eddie Gowins, better known as Eddie G., wasn’t really her uncle, but a longtime family friend. He had played the drums in the band with her granddad.
    Angel stepped back to look up at him. “I haven’t seen you in ages.” Eddie was well over six feet tall, muscular, and almost imposing, especially today with his cowboy hat and boots.
    Eddie had stopped smoking a few years ago, but the raspiness remained in his voice. “I heard through the grapevine, Fredricka wasn’t doing too good. You know I had to come see about Nick’s girl.”
    Angel chuckled at Eddie’s reference to her almost eighty-year-old grandmother as her granddad’s girl. “She will be happy to see you.” Angel sat down at the bottom of the bed.
    Eddie G. shook his head. “Man, I miss Nick. He knew how to live life to the fullest. Always admired your grandparents.”
    â€œI miss