RankNovel"You say one's the master and one's the pet, but honestly, those two are like brothers. Even Elliot and Emmett never treated White like a pet," Elysia Thorne said with a gentle smile.
"White's part of our family," she added softly.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtTarquin Bradford's gaze softened. No wonder White and Evan were so close- what they had was a bond forged through thick and thin.
"You mean Bernard? Evan's mentor?" "Yeah, I just call him Bernard," Elysia replied.
There was a tshe wouldn't have shared any of this mountain stuff with Tarquin. Even though they loved each other, she'd kept it all to herself. But now that she was about to bring him hto meet her grandparents, there was no point hiding it anymore.
"Elliot and Gerald are two peas in a pod, Elliot's always hanging on Gerald," she explained. "Evan's the sway with Bernard. Emmett takes after Quincy, always following him around. And me? I spent most of my twith Grandma." Tarquin looked at her, half-amused. "One grandma, three grandpas?" "Not quite," Elysia laughed, shaking her head. "There are five of them, actually. There's also Howard and Walter." Tarquin blinked. "Wait, what?" Seeing his confused expression, Elysia playfully smacked his arm. "Don't get the wrong idea. They're not couples-just a group of old friends who stuck together. They all went through tough times when they were young, so when they got older, they moved out to the countryside together, started a kind of found family. They've always looked after each other like real siblings." Tarquin asked, "So, how old are they?" "They're all over seventy now," she answered.
"And their names?" "I never really asked about their real names, but I know they're good people," Elysia said, her voice softening. "If they weren't, they wouldn't have helped Mom andfor nothing." Tarquin was curious. "So, how do you all live out there?" "Well, Grandpa and Grandma grow met most of our food themselves. And anything we can't get in the countryside, Gerald finds a way bring from town- groceries, books, medicine, clothes, yo@nit. He'd sneak it all in for us." "How?" Tarquin pressed.
"I honestly don't know," Elysia admitted. "But all the books I've read, all the things Elliot, Evan, and Emmett needed growing up, Grandma's medical equipment, Grandpa's tools-Gerald got it all." "Does Gerald have money or something?" "No clue if it was all his, or if they pooled it. Never really thought to ask." Tarquin grinned. "So what do your grandpas do for fun?" Elysia grinned back, thinking. "Gerald's a finance nerd-loves reading money magazines and watching the stock market.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm☐ gl Bernard's into boxing and dorest of the heavy lifting around the house. Quincy's an artist-anything creative or beautiful in our home, that's him. Howard's a total gamer-he keeps the WiFi and electricity running. Walter's a bit of a mad scientist-loves making
fireworks. Evan learned a lot from him, actually. And Grandma? She's into holistic medidine-acupuncture, herbal stuff. She taughteverything I know about healing." Tarquin just stared, speechless.
Ever since they'd cback from Silver City, the socialites back inm Jindale City had been gossiping. They couldn't trash Elysia's
background anymore, so now they whispered about her "mountain years" with Elliot, Evan and Emmett. They said the kids grew up in a rundown little village, never had enough to eat, and barely made it through. "They say we grew up dirt poor, hanging around with a bunch of hillbillies," Elysia snorted. "What a joke." If only those snobs knew-her so-called 'hillbilly' grandparents were legends in their own right.
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