The Hustings

D. L. Gollnitz

Description

In this fiction novel that challenges religious beliefs, a haunting past is resolved when Ronnie confronts visions from heaven, faces evil that devastated her family, and supports unthinkable actions to reconcile past wrongs.

Veronica Emma-Mae Husting has reinvented herself more than once in a chase for elusive happiness. Ronnie finally comes home but experiences a near-death accident that forces her to face the past, present, and possible future during a visit to the afterlife. She learns what’s important without totally abandoning the riches she’s always adored.

After reconnecting with Ware Treallor, the true love of her life and father of her only daughter, Ronnie works to strengthen her family presence but discovers how much she’s missed. The Hustings: Ronnie’s Resurrection journeys through Ronnie’s life in California and her fight to avoid addiction to prescription drugs, a threat facilitated by a decision to marry for wealth. Family secrets continue to surface as Ware and Ronnie reestablish the Husting estate that haunts them with tragedies that affect their children and grandchildren.

Ware’s grown son and daughter by another marriage react to their father’s truths differently. Both are challenged to be with the person they love for reasons that vary as greatly as the family’s misfortunes. Ware discovers mysteries surrounding his sister, Betty’s, involvement in Ronnie’s broken past, and he takes drastic actions to bring Betty to the place she belongs. This novel brings each character to their intended home.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Women
• California
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Archway Publishing
• Date de parution: 11 novembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781665731256
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

The HUSTINGS
RONNIE’S RESURRECTION
 
 
 
 
 
 
D. L. Gollnitz
 
 
 
 
 

 
Copyright © 2022 D. L. Gollnitz.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.
 
Archway Publishing
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.archwaypublishing.com
844-669-3957
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973 1978 1984 2011 by Biblica, Inc. TM. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6657-3123-2 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6657-3124-9 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6657-3125-6 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022918173
 
 
Archway Publishing rev. date: 11/11/2022
 
This work is dedicated to my son, Derek, for his sincere
interest and support of my pursuit
to write fictional novels for entertainment.
 
Stories originate in recesses of the mind.
No one can account for strange plot development
when a writer allows a character to lead the way.
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
September 2015: The Wedding
PART ONE Seeking Fortune
CHAPTER ONE
1969: Starting Over
CHAPTER TWO
1970: Deceived
CHAPTER THREE
1971: Conflicted
CHAPTER FOUR
1978: Insecurity
CHAPTER FIVE
1978: The Morning After
CHAPTER SIX
1990: Lost Identity
CHAPTER SEVEN
1995: Fateful Party
CHAPTER EIGHT
1995: Finding Veronica
CHAPTER NINE
1995: Fighting Relapse
CHAPTER TEN
1995: Attempted Balance
CHAPTER ELEVEN
1995: Facing Facts
CHAPTER TWELVE
1995: Recognizing Self
PART TWO Breaking Away
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
1995: Seeking Home
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
1995: The Husting Lifestyle
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
1997: Establishing Self
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
1999: Defining Home
PART THREE Ronnie’s Extended Journey
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
2008: Departed Soul
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
2009: Deep into the Journey
CHAPTER NINETEEN
2010: Seeking Peace
CHAPTER TWENTY
2010: Facing Life
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
2010: A Day of Thanksgiving
PART FOUR A Family Established
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
2015: Redefining Family
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
2016: Family Truths
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
2016: Recognizing Love
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
2016: Wavering Faith
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
2016: Alliances
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
2016: The Price of Evil
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
2016: Leslie’s Truth
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
2016: Confronting Truth
CHAPTER THIRTY
2016: Calling the Question
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
2016: Understanding Parenthood
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
2016: Difficult Conversations
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
2016: More Secrets Unfold
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
2016: Family Traditions
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
2016: Christmas Eve
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
2016: Fateful Meeting
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
2017: Freedom to Love
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
2017: Reconciliation
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
2017: Confronting Deception
CHAPTER FORTY
2017: Family History Revealed
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
2017: Disconnected
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
2017: Revelations
PART FIVE Commitment
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
2017: The Past Untangled
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
2017: Betrayal of Family
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
2017: Finding Normal
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
2018: Curiosity Kills
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
2018: Faltering Belief
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
2018: Confessions
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
2018: Weaving the Pieces
CHAPTER FIFTY
2018: Pain of Mortality
FIFTY-ONE
2018: Family Love
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
2018: A Wedding
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
2019: Heaven on Earth
 
EPILOGUE
2019
 
2020
 
Book Club Discussion Questions
Acknowledgements
PROLOGUE
SEPTEMBER 2015: THE WEDDING
A toast to Mr. and Mrs. Warren Treallor started the festivities. Ronnie’s tea-length dress was simple. Her hair was pinned up in her signature French twist. Her ears sparkled, and her wedding finger held the modest, single diamond that had lived in Ware’s pocket for fifty years.
“Welcome home, Ronnie.”
Ronnie touched a red fingernail to Ware’s lips and closed her eyes in thankful prayer. “Ware, do you believe there is a heaven?”
His gray-green eyes misted. “Your daddy is there.”
A faint smile and smooth dip of her chin allowed Ronnie to gain focus on the guests around her. She turned to her daughter and lifted her glass.
Sandra Channing was the only child of Veronica Emma-Mae Husting. Sandra had been born during Ronnie’s brief marriage to Quentin Simarillo, an arrangement concocted by Ronnie’s father, Robert Husting Jr. at a time when Quentin was the golden boy at Husting Manufacturing. That marriage had not been based on love, but Sandra was a love child. Now Sandra’s parents were joined in holy matrimony, married by a minister just minutes earlier on the beautiful grounds of the family estate. The road to this juncture had been anything but easy.
Ronnie strolled about the small gathering, hugging loved ones. She was filled with grace and never moved away from her new husband, Warren Treallor. It was Ware, as she had always known him, who held her up in the most difficult times in her young life. He had stood by her through her first marriage and even had escorted her off when she resolved to spread her wings and follow her dreams of fortune. It was Ware who had held Sandra in the hospital after her birth, not Quentin. And it was Ware who had seen her through her father’s failing health and death. Ware was Ronnie’s rock. Today he stood with her again as she made her way home. Back to the Husting estate that he somehow managed to reclaim so he could share it with Ronnie, Sandra, and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Daddy, I can feel your presence, too.
A small string ensemble played chamber music, and Ware immediately took his wife’s hand. Together they danced on the lawn as guests formed a circle around them. “Ware, you need to pinch me. Am I even dancing?”
He nuzzled his lips close to her ear as he whispered, “Indeed. It is a miracle in more ways than one.”
All the people who mattered most in Ronnie and Ware’s lives were invited to the celebration of their marriage, a union that was fifty years late. When Veronica Emma-Mae Husting had entered the world, her mother lost her own life while giving birth to her daughter. Ronnie’s father, Robert Evan Husting Jr. had been thirty-five years old, and his stunning wife Emma Mae, several years younger, had been petite and vulnerable. He had built his fame on the heels of his father’s textile business. Robert “Rob” Evan Husting Sr. followed other wealthy families into the Wilmington, Delaware, area in the 1910s, building a textile business that opened doors for his only son, Robert Jr. Like other entrepreneurs of the time, Husting had acquired great wealth, and the Husting estate had been developed over many years into a highly envied piece of property. Robert had been a philanderer who lived for two women. He had loved his wife Emma, but he also had loved Carolyn Leeder, a jazz singer. On the day Veronica Emma-Mae had been born, Robert had planned to tell his wife Emma Mae that she was the love of his life and that he had ended his relationship with Carolyn. When Emma died on the delivery table, Robert was never given a chance to right his wrongs. Veronica had been a constant reminder of lost opportunities. As a result, she had grown up being over-indulged and cared for by estate staff while Robert had remained absent most of the time.
Now Ronnie was dancing with Ware on the lawn of the exquisite Husting estate. The property had been sold after Robert died. His will left all estate profits to Ware, a revered Husting estate property manager at the time. Veronica had inherited Husting Manufacturing, and she quickly learned running a large business was not her calling. The estate had changed hands over the years, but Ware eventually bought it back for Ronnie, his soulmate.
“God is good.” Ronnie looked up at Ware in contentment.
“Indeed. And today, he wants you to smile just as He is smiling down on you.”
“And so is Daddy.”
Ware pulled her closer as others joined in the dancing around them.

After the guests left, Ware and Ronnie changed into comfortable clothes. Some family members were spending the night at the estate, but the couple took some time for themselves to walk the estate. The September air was warm, and the ground under the trees was soft. The humidity