Sedona's Heart

  SASHA FINO

  Sedona’s Heart

  First published by Imprint: Independently published 2020 Copyright © 2020 by Sasha Fino

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

  Sasha Fino asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

  Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book and on its cover are trade names, service marks, trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publishers and the book are not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. None of the companies referenced within the book have endorsed the book.

  First edition

  ISBN: 9798645384425

  This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy Find out more at reedsy.com

  To my Beloved Grandma and God-Grandfather, Rocky.

  Your grand love between you two lives on and everlasting.

  Contents

  Preface

  Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  About the Author Also, by Sasha Fino

  Preface

  Dear Maria, I’ve missed you and all of our friends on the Isle of Crete, so much. I long to hear the sound of the Aegean Sea at night, again. I also miss the smell of Mrs. Jenkins’ bakery, and the warm smiles we received as we ran around town. I wonder if the boys are behaving like a gentleman over on the base. But most of all, I miss my father

  How i s your mother getting along? I’ll bet she misses Father, too. I just wish that they’d had more time together before his death. I can hardly believe that he has been gone for three months; it’s still hard for me to face his passing. Before I forget, tell your mother “thank you” for everything she did for me during that awful week

  As you know, I went to Sedona, Arizona, to live with my Aunt Blanche, who is my late mother’s sister, and her husband, Dean. Aunt Blanche was the one who always sent me letters. She works as a hotel booking agent. Aunt Blanche and Uncle Dean live in a little house in the middle of Sedona. After I said “goodbye” to you, Marshal Brill, my father’s boss, drove me to the airport and helped me get on the airplane and wished me luck with my new life. It was a long flight to Sedona the whole way I was both nervous about and looking forward to living with my Aunt Blanche and Uncle Dean. I remember my father once told me that my aunt and uncle lost a fiveyear daughter named Bethany.

  When I first saw Sedona, it took my breath away. It was wintertime, and the most beautiful, snow-dusted, significant, red rocks were everywhere I looked. Then I got off the plane and saw my Aunt Blanche waiting for me with open arms. I walked up to her, and she gave me a big hug and kiss

  Within seconds, I loved her more than I ever thought I would. After that, Aunt Blanche showed me around Sedona, and I fell in love. My new home was in Chapel Hills. I thought I would love it here, getting to know Aunt Blanche and starting a new chapter in my life.

  But I was very mistaken, later that night, I met my Uncle Dean. To make a long story short, Uncle Dean is a1vicious alcoholic, who doesn’t like me. He makes life miserable, and I cry myself to sleep

  every night. I also feel bad for Aunt Blanche. Nightly, Uncle Dean hurts her or breaks

  something of hers in a drunken rage. Aunt Blanche always apologizes for Uncle Dean, but she should have warned me before I came to school, I am the new kid on the block, and a girl named “Kasey” has singled me out to bullied by her. We started well, then she turned on me for no reason, and as the queen bee here, she has turned everyone else against me. She’s a teacher’s pet to Ms. Patella, who always takes her side in any disagreement. Thankfully, I have Aunt Blanche, who is the best thing about living in Sedona. I think that Aunt Blanche is thrilled to have me living with her. On my 15th birthday, Aunt Blanche and I played hooky and were tourists for the day. She also got me a volunteer job on Saturdays at the library to keep me busy. Say hello to everyone for me and put your toes in the Sea for me, too!

  Love, Kimberly Aldridge

  Chapter 1

  K imberly, I don’t know what to tell you, but I am very sorry that Uncle Dean broke your father’s award. He was always envious of your father,” Blanche said to her niece, Kimberly. It was a rainy day in mid-March, and they sat in the car in front of the library

  “It was very special to me; the award was posthumous. My father never even saw it,” Kimberly said, holding back tears as she took another bite of her hamburger. The rain continued to pound on the car windows. Kimberly put a hand through her brown hair to sweep it out of her blue eyes

  “I know, Baby, he had no right to do that. He was drunk, and I promise he will never do anything like that, again,” Blanche said in her soft voice

  Kimberly looked into her green eyes. She thought her aunt was gorgeous at age 42 with her long, flowing blonde hair. Today, she wore a pair of jeans with a jeans jacket

  Kimberly was old enough to know that her aunt was enabling her uncle to get away with his abusive behavior. She felt it was time to speak out. “You always defend and excuse him. Over the past two weeks, Uncle Dean not only broke a lot of your possessions, but he has hurt both of us. This cannot continue this way.” Kimberly had been waiting to say this to her aunt for a long time

  “I have my reasons for staying with your Uncle Dean,” Blanche replied, “Why? It’s not like you are raising a child. There’s no love or romance,

  whatsoever. He comes home late drunk as a skunk. Mom was worried about you two.”

  “It isn’t like you think it is,” Blanche said calmly to Kimberly

  Kimberly just stared. She could not believe that her aunt would continue to suffer like this for no good reason. This was not the woman her father had made Aunt Blanche out to be.

  “I’m sorry, Aunt Blanche if I hurt you. It’s just sad to see you abused by a man like him,” Kimberly commented and finished her lunch

  Her aunt started to defend her husband, then sighed and gave up. Kimberly was very angry with Uncle Dean for breaking her late father’s award for a lifetime of service to the Army. Kimberly looked out the car window as it continued to rain cats and dogs. There were barely any cars in the library parking lot. Kimberly looked at her watch and placed her unfinished food in a bag

  “Well, Aunt Blanche, I’ll see you at 4:00 p.m. I love you,” Kimberly said as she undid her seat belt, kissed her aunt’s cheek, and hugged her

  “Have a great day, and I love you, too, Kimberly,” Blanche said forgiving Kimberly for her accurate comments and kissing her forehead

  “Bye,” Kimberly told her aunt as she got out of the car

  “Bye, Kimberly,” Blanche replied to her

  Kimberly watched her aunt drive away and walked into the library. On Saturdays, she volunteered her time at the library, doing whatever chores were necessary. Kimberly liked being t
here because it allowed her to escape from her uncle, who was home drinking. She also loved the musty smell of the old books on the shelves

  “Hello, Kimberly, I have a lot for you today,” Mrs. Jenson, the librarian, told her with a warm smile when she saw Kimberly come in from the rain

  “Hello, Mrs. Jenson. How are you?” Kimberly asked as she followed her into the backroom

  “I’m fine. How was your week?”

  “Nothing special had a test I hope that I passed,” Kimberly told her “Knowing you, you will pass. Now, today Kimberly, I need you to put the CDs away, and after that, I need you to stamp the new books. Can you do that for me?” Mrs. Jenson asked Kimberly

  “Sure, no problem Mrs. Jenson,” Kimberly said happily to her boss

  “Great, if you need me for something I will be at the front desk,” Mrs. Jenson said as she walked away leaving Kimberly to her work

  Kimberly put the CDs in order so that all the different types of music were sorted and lined up together on the cart. It made it easy to find the country, pop, new wave, R&B, and classical music all in one place. She soon came across a CD of her father’s all-time favorite band that made her want to cry, but she stopped herself and placed the CD out of sight. A tear still escaped her smarting eyes

  Kimberly hated her life in Sedona, coping with the uncertainty of what her drunk uncle could do at any moment. And her experience at school was no better. She wanted to run back to Crete and live with her friend, Maria, and Helen, Maria’s mother. There she could pretend that her father was away on a long mission. But she couldn’t abandon her dear Aunt Blanche

  While her mind wandered, Kimberly relived the day her father died. It was a cold winter day. Kimberly was outside in her school’s courtyard, having fun and hanging out with Maria. They were talking about the wedding their parents were planning for the summer. Kimberly was looking forward to having Maria as a stepsister, and Maria’s mother as her stepmother

  “Is any of your family coming to the wedding?” Maria asked Kimberly

  “No, Aunt Blanche and Uncle Dean have to work, and they are my only surviving family. My father was an only child and both of his parents, my grandparents, passed away a long time ago along with my mother’s parents

  “Don’t worry, Kimberly, I have a huge family that you will soon be a part off,” Maria said happily

  “Thanks, Maria,” Kimberly said at the thought of being part of a family. Kimberly and her father had been alone for a decade by then

  A few minutes later, one of her teachers asked Kimberly to come with her. Kimberly was unaware that anything was wrong until she saw Marshal Brill in the principal’s office

  “Kimberly, you need to sit down. There has been a terrible, terrible accident,” Marshal Brill said sadly

  “What happened?” Kimberly asked, not realizing that her world was about to change forever

  “There was an accident, and several people died,” he said, trying to break the news as gently as possible. Suddenly, she understood, and the floor dropped out from beneath her… Kimberly pulled herself out of the daytime nightmare and back to the present.

  An hour later, the rain stopped pounding on the library roof, as Kimberly sat in the very back stamping books. Today, she was stamping books from Sci-Fi to romance and everything in between. One minute, it was a boring book of case law and the next a haunting mystery. Even the nonfiction books could reveal another world to the reader. That’s why Kimberly loved stamping books it exposed her to so many different subjects

  “Whoever wrote this book is a quack,” Kimberly commented out loud after she saw a book on how to live a dream life written by a psychologist

  “Tell me about it,” came a girl’s voice from the other side of a tall desk. The suddenness of its scared Kimberly

  “Who’s there?” Kimberly asked

  “Just a girl who is bored out of her mind stamping books. Tell me, whoever you are, how many books does this library need on relationships, or how to get your dream woman?” The voice asked Kimberly

  “Don’t know, but I’ll bet they have about 200 books on the subject,” Kimberly replied as she heard someone move on the other side

  “I like it. Tell me, do you have a name or do I have to make one up for you?” said the voice

  “It’s Kimberly,” she said shyly. Just then, a girl appeared and leaned on the desk

  The girl was nicely dressed, with beautiful, long, dark blonde hair cascading down her back. She had the most amazing blue eyes that Kimberly had ever seen. Kimberly suddenly realized that this was the class troublemaker from some of her classes at school

  “Well, Kimberly, what’s your story?” the girl asked

  “My story?” Kimberly said shocked that the girl would ask

  “I’ve seen you moping around here and at school for weeks now,” the girl said as she played with her hands

  “It’s long and complicated,” Kimberly told her

  “I have time to waste.” The girl stared at Kimberly

  Kimberly looked down at a book on the table before her. She was uncomfortable and had always found it hard to speak to strangers. Yet, suddenly, in front of this odd girl, it came rushing out like someone had turned on the water tap

  “Mother died of cancer when I was three, and my father was a General, so I was an Army brat who moved from station to station. Once, years ago, we moved to the Greek Isle of Crete, and while there, I made friends with a girl named Maria. Her mother and my father fell in love and were set to marry. That was before my father was killed in an explosion during an Army test. I’ve come here to live with my beloved aunt and uncle. My uncle, a drunken devil who puts us through Hell every night and especially hates me for taking over the room that belonged to his deceased daughter. My aunt refuses to stand up to him. And my new school is the school from Hell, too

  “Wow, that is very complicated, makes my life a piece of cake. Not to be rude,” the girl said

  “Thanks,” Kimberly said, relieved that she had someone her own age to whom she could confide her life story. She found she liked this girl

  “So, what is your story?” Kimberly asked

  “Better not start that one; let’s save it for another rainy day,” the girl said as she smiled at Kimberly

  “It’s Lexy, right?” Kimberly asked her, remembering her name from rumors by the other students

  “That’s my name, don’t wear it out!”

  “All right, Lexy, then… why do you do all those pranks at school?” Kimberly was surprised to be befriending this girl. Her father, if he were alive, would never have allowed her to associate with a troublemaker

  “I indeed play funny pranks at school, but that makes me a bad girl, doesn’t it? I hate my classmates, and I am sure that you know what I mean.”

  Kimberly reconsidered her. She couldn’t really blame her for the pranks on their classmates since the latter were rude. “Let me guess you enjoy playing pranks on Kasey and her followers.”

  “You can say that again.” And she looked the other way

  “Let’s just say me and Kasey go back a long way. Her daddy owns a winery in Page Spring, which makes her popular at our school. It makes me want to throw up just thinking about it!” Lexy exclaimed

  “Kasey tried to make friends with me on my first day at school, and the next thing I knew, she had turned the whole school against me, and I don’t know what I did.

  “That’s Kasey for you. I bet the reason why she did that to you was that you are not rich enough for her liking. We hated each other since the moment we laid eyes on each other.”

  “What do you think about our teacher, Ms. Patella?” Kimberly asked her wanting to know her thoughts on the evilest teacher that she ever had

  “Ms. Patella is a real bat and always takes little Miss Kasey’s side. I had her as my teacher last year, as well. I know that Ms. Patella doesn’t like you one bit; what did you do to end up on her blacklist?”

  “Beats me. I figure Kasey made up a rumor to
tell her about me, then passed it on to the rest of the school,” Kimberly said, hearing someone approach. She turned around and saw Mrs. Jenson walk toward them

  “I thought I heard you two talking back here,” Mrs. Jenson said to them, “Your ride is here, Lexy. Did you finish all the books that I put out for you?”

  Mrs. Jenson inquired eyeing Lexy

  “Yes, Mrs. Jenson, and I cleaned my desk up,” the girl said, slight sarcasm marring her otherwise respectful tone

  “Okay, then I will expect you back here next week,” Mrs. Jenson said to her, putting her hands on her hips and raising an eyebrow

  “But, of course, Mrs. Jenson, where else would I possibly wish to be, but here among the countless dusty volumes?” Lexy replied, wearing an innocent expression while she tried to hide her grin. She then gave Mrs. Jenson a lefthanded salute while her right hand searched for her bag on the other side of the desk. Mrs. Jenson fumed silently, eyes bulging at the blatant display of disrespect. Muttering to herself about spoiled rich kids, she stomped away back to the front desk. As soon as she was out of sight, Lexy burst out in laughter. Kimberly, herself, could not stop the giggle that escaped her mouth

  Still chuckling, Lexy secured her bag on her shoulder and turned to face Kimberly grin still evident upon her face. Kimberly’s eyes narrowed slightly

  “You shouldn’t be so rude to Mrs. Jenson. She’s a very kind woman probably the nicest working here,” Kimberly scolded

  Grin still plastered on her face, Lexy said,” I know, but that just makes it more fun to get a rise from her.”

  Kimberly rolled her eyes, “Do you always act like this?”

  Lexy thought for a moment. “Well, not when I’m asleep. Does that count?” They both looked at one another, then burst out laughing

  “I think that this is the start of a beautiful friendship. I’m fairly sure I’ll be seeing you at school. I wouldn’t want to disappoint anybody, would I?” Lexy asked, innocently. “Until then, take no crap from anyone this weekend.”

  “Shall do,” Kimberly said watching Lexy’s face turned mischievous, winking as she turned to the door, dark hair swinging around her shoulders as she disappeared beyond the bookshelves