Excerpt: The Smell of Sunshine

It was pouring down rain the first time they met. It shouldn’t have been a surprise to her that it was raining. She’d been living in Seattle for almost three months and it had rained more than once, and far more often than it ever had in her hometown back in Texas. Still, it was much cooler here than back home, and she had gotten used to the feeling that she was perpetually drowning in her own skin.

Seemingly millions of miles away from home; this city was so different from what she had grown up with. It was cold, distant, and didn’t have the same vibrant feeling Azure Hills did. So on days like this, where she felt tiny and scared and alone and it was pouring down rain, Ace Johnson went to the one place she felt safe.

“Do you want some iced tea, dearie?” her great-grandmother asked, bustling around the small kitchen in her old, warm house. “I could make something up for you to eat. You seem to be getting smaller every time I see you these days.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Nana,” Ace said, “I’ve put on weight since coming to Seattle, and you know it. You’re constantly forcing me to eat delicious well cooked meals like I ain’t had in years.” She smiled warmly, and her great-grandmother ruffled her hair affectionately. “Seriously though, I ain’t hungry.”

“Two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches it is,” her great-grandmother continued. “Don’t you go anywhere, now.”

“I won’t, Nana,” Ace replied.