Coming Home by Cindle Kaye Long (suggested reading txt) 📕

Adrienne Michale hasn’t been able to sleep for the last six months and tonight was no exception. What little sleep she does get she has to have the lights on. Ever since the incident back in January she has woke in cold sweats after having the reoccurring nightmare that plays out the entire event that happened on that cold wintery night. She was tired of going through the day scared of the night and darkness. It was time to go back home to see her Grandmother and to heal. Los Angeles was a great city to live in when you want a fast pace. She originally came here when she was eighteen to get away from the small town life that Bear Creek, Alabama gave you. She wanted to be able to make connections with prominent law firms so that she could get into an Ivy League law school. Now that she finished her four year degree in Paralegal Studies she doesn’t even know if she could afford to go to law school. Her Grandmother use to tell her that when she was six years old she stated that she wanted to be a lawyer and ever since that she was determined to go to law school. Her Grandmother raised her from age four up until age eighteen because her mother was too depressed to take care of her. What happened was her father Adriano Michale who was a native of France and on an assignment when her mother and he met. He was writing an article on one of her models that she was a Talent Agent to and he had to work closely with her to get information. Well needless to say they fell in love at first sight. They planned to get married within three months of meeting each other. He applied for dual citizenship of the United States and of France and was granted three years on probation because of his driving record in France. Before they could get married Daisy became pregnant and gave birth to a beautiful girl. At that moment in their life everything was good. Daisy was happy to be with the man she loved and with the child that sprang from that love. Then four days after Adrienne turned three his dual citizenship probation was lifted and his citizenship to the United States was revoked because he received three speeding tickets. He was immediately deported back to France where he would remain for the rest of his life. Daisy tried to take care of Adrienne for a year but at random times she would go into a slump of depression and need hospitalized. Daisy did the only thing that made sense: give custody rights to her mother Lilly in Bear Creek, Alabama. She then moved away from their old home in Birmingham and went to Manhattan. From then on the only times Adrienne saw her mother was on Christmas when she came down to spend a week with her and her Grandmother. Adrienne was raised on a horse ranch. Before her Grandfather died when she was sixteen he trained horses for the derby in Kentucky. He taught her to ride when she was eight and from then on he entered her into every horse show in the state. She would barrel race in the rodeo and in formal shows she would jump horses. Riding horses dominated her life growing up. When her Grandfather died she started to get more interested in the boys and the school activities. She got into trouble a lot when she would sneak out to go skinny dipping with her boyfriend and her friends in the nearby pond. She had fun going to soccer practice and having games. She missed those days. And she has realized that it was time to go back home and to heal.
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“Hey Grandma!” Adrienne called her Grandma while she was driving to Alabama so that she could surprise her.
“Hello dear heart! How are ya?” Grandma said with her deep southern accent.
“I’m fine Grandma. I just wanted you to know that I am on my way. I hope you don’t mind but I am going to stay with you for a little while till I get an apartment. I’m moving back to Bear Creek.”
“Oh my goodness that’s wonderful! I am so happy. And child, I couldn’t swear it but I think you have that city slicker accent goin’ on in your voice. We’ll whip that right out of you when you come back home though.” Grandma just went on rambling about cleaning up her old bedroom and something about fixing her rocking chair. Adrienne wasn’t really concentrating until she heard her Grandma emphasize the word single when she mentioned the new sheriff.
“Now Grandma, don’t go thinking that you’re going to hook me and him up. I’m off the dating scene and will be for a long while. Okay?”
“Who said I was going to as you said, hook you two cuties up? That’s city slang right? Well I ain’t never heard of such. I would just like you to be his friend cause he’s new to town and you know how that is since you moved up to that big ole city. You were new up there. I just think yall would get along fine, just fine indeed; just friends of course. But any who, I guess I will see you in a few hours. I love you and have a safe trip.”
“Thanks grandma. I love you too.” She hung up the phone and turned up the radio to Jason Aldean’s song Fly Over States. She knew she was in for a long car drive. It would give her enough time to think about the last six months again.

Adrienne finally entered the town of Bear Creek, Alabama. She drove down the expansive roads of rolling hills, cattle, horses and some Billy goats here and there. She loved the open fields. She hasn’t been back in Alabama since she left when she was eighteen. She turned twenty two last month in June. She has been gone for five years. It feels like forever. She doesn’t know why she never came back to visit after she left for college. It wasn’t because she wanted to get away from her Grandma. She loved her Grandma with every ounce in her body. She guesses it was probably the fact that she knew if she came back to visit then she might never go back. She loved Los Angeles like it was her child. That city created her. It shaped her into the person she was today. If she hadn’t moved to Los Angeles for school then she would still be in Bear Creek and probably working at her Grandma’s coffee shop. Don’t get her wrong, she wouldn’t mind that except she wanted something more with her life, something that she would be proud to tell people, something that people would aspire to and something that would have her going places. Living in Bear Creek would have only made her a waitress for the rest of her life. Now, since she has a college degree she could go work in one of the three law offices in town. She was proud of herself. Despite the recent events in January she felt like she has lived up to what God wanted her to do. She still feels alone and scared when she goes to bed but, she knows that once she gives it time, her wounds will heal and she will be a new person, a stronger woman then before. She drove silently down the road contemplating this when she heard sirens behind her. She pulled over thinking that the police car would pass her when it pulled up behind her. “What in the world?” She thought to herself. “Why would they pull me over?” She silently added. A man stepped out of the cruiser and strode towards her. He was tall and thin but very muscular. He had dirty blonde hair and a nicely chiseled face. His eyes were a clear blue. He looked like a Tom Cruise look alike. He towered over her like a monster. “Ma’am may I see your license and registration please?” He asked in a very strong manly voice.
“Is there a problem officer?” she asked tentatively.
“No ma’am, this is a routine license check. I didn’t recognize your car and it has Los Angeles plates so I have been checking any cars from out of state and that are unfamiliar.”
“Here you go sir. My Grandmother Lilly Mae Randolph lives here and I used to live here but I moved when I was eighteen. I am moving back. I am actually on my way to her house to get settled.”
“Oh you must be Adrianna Michale. Your Grandmother talks about you all the time in church. She didn’t mention that you were coming. It’s also pretty late to be coming in. It’s ten at night. Have you been driving all day?”
“It’s Adrienne. But, yeah it happened pretty fast. I called her this morning on my way here. I got up at six this morning. It’s been a long day. I don’t mean to be rude but I am a bit cranky when I’m tired. Am I free to go officer?”
“Of course! My name’s Nathaniel Jones and I am the Sheriff by the way, and everybody calls me Nate. Have a safe drive and I will see you around.”
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She drove off leaving him in a whirlwind of sparks. That was the most beautiful woman Nate had ever seen. He lived in North Carolina before he moved down to the south here in Alabama and he was used to seeing pretty women in bikinis walking around the beach. This woman was different though. She had the most beautiful brown eyes with what seemed to be deep pain in them. She had hair so long that probably reached her calves that was a deep auburn. Her skin was a rich, creamy, French color. She wore clothes with sequins and sparkles on them. She definitely was from Los Angeles. He hoped that they could meet again in a different setting so that he could get to know her and maybe wipe that pain away.
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Adrienne walked up the little walkway of stone to her Grandma’s house. Her house loomed over the ranch like a castle. It looked nothing like a castle but it was just as beautiful to her. It was a large house. It was two stories with the living room, kitchen, dining room and her Grandma’s office at the bottom and the bedrooms and the bathrooms at the top. The house was white with red shutters. The grass was as green as she remembered it. She could imagine the horses galloping gaily in the meadows and hills of the ranch. She knew that her Grandma was baking her famous Ice