The Gifted Ones: A Reader by Maria Elizabeth Romana

frame the question, but Grace stopped her. “Come on, honey. Let’s grab a plate and go in the other room. It’s time to talk.”
     
    # # #
     
    It had been so many years since Grace had been told that her siblings—Lucy and Samuel—were different, that they carried a gene that made them special…in a good way. Oh, and that she, Grace, their baby sister, did not. That information, and all that had followed from it, had shaped their lives in ways they never could have imagined. That original conversation had taken place in this very room, the farmhouse library, when Grace was only nine, and Lucy, sixteen, the same age as Ellie was now.
    Not that Grace would’ve chosen this age to tell Ellie. In fact, she’d just as soon have kept it a secret for as long as possible. At least until Ellie was in college. Or grad school. Or starting her first job. Or maybe on her thirtieth birthday. Just sometime when it wouldn’t disrupt all her life plans, and shatter her world, and crush her dreams.
    “Don’t you agree, Grace?”
    “Huh? I, uh…what was the question?” Grace flushed under Granny’s scrutiny. All these years, and the old bat could still make her squirm like a worm. She sighed, “Sorry, Elmyra, I was thinking about…” Joe met her eyes across the room. Yeah, he knew what she was thinking about.
    Granny set her jaw. “I was saying that I’m sure Elodie has a lot of questions for us, and that perhaps, we should just start there.”
    “Oh, right, good idea. El, honey…” Grace waved her encouragement toward the cushy brown leather sofa, where Ellie sat cross-legged at one end, and Angel, as usual, was draped lazily over the other.
    Ellie set her half-finished plate on the coffee table in front of her and pushed it away. She glanced around at each of them in turn as she spoke, “Really? You mean someone’s finally going to answer my questions?”
    Angel quickly swallowed another mouthful of food and answered first, “Yep, but don’t look at me. This is his department.” She pointed her fork at Joe for a moment, then over towards Granny. “And hers. Me? I’m just here for the food.” She stuck the fork back into some kind of broccoli casserole and began wrestling with molten cheese strings.
    That made Grace smile. How could anyone not like Angel Espinoza? Angel was one of the few people at the farm who didn’t make Grace feel like a misfit. She was casual, comfortable, and down to earth; she said exactly what she was thinking, even when it wasn’t quite appropriate; and she wasn’t an astrophysicist or a best-selling novelist or a Fortune 500 CEO. Or whatever it turned out that Ellie would become.
    But it looked like Ellie still considered Grace her best source of information, for she directed her first questions at no one else. “Aunt Grace, what the heck is going on? What was that craziness last night? Who were those people? And why we did fly all over the country to get away from them? In a private jet, no less. And what’s with the impromptu vacation? Not that this isn’t a nice place, but what are we doing here, and how long are we staying?”
    She stopped for a breath, but before anyone could begin to process the barrage of queries, she shifted her focus to Joe, “And you, Uncle Joe…no offense, but why? I haven’t seen you since I was a kid, and all of a sudden, you show up outta the blue…” She motioned toward Angel, “With your…girlfriend?”
    Angel laughed so hard she practically sprayed broccoli casserole. Joe frowned and grumbled, “Well, is that so unimaginable?”
    Angel hid her grin behind a napkin. “Uh, sorry, Joe, I didn’t mean, uh…it’s not that…” Joe, who had been standing the whole time, dropped into a chair and raised a hand to stop the embarrassing backpedal. Angel returned to Ellie’s question, “Chica, I wasn’t there for him . I came to save you. ”
    “Me?” Ellie’s forehead wrinkled in consternation. “Save me from what? My first