Chapter One Jamie Cartwright
Jamie had just fed the horses for the night, he came in and kissed his wife Neta
"Where is Gracie Anne ?!." Jamie asked
"Probably with Frank, Pa." JT his Fourteen year old son answered as he was doing homework.
"Quite Late isn't it?" Jamie asked with a sigh
"She's Almost Eighteen, I don't figure there is much I can do. I dislike it as much as you." Groaned Neta
Jamie went upstairs to take a hot bath. As he sat in the tub, he thought back sorrowfully over the year his oldest daughter had endured.
A Year Ago Gracie Anne was accidentally shot by a robber as he was attempting to escape the bank without arrest. Gracie Anne happened to be across the street coming out of the mercantile. She was the only person in sight. Gracie Anne took a gunshot wound to the stomach but miraculously got herself to the doctor. She needed minor surgery to get the bullet out. But otherwise she seemed fine.
Physically she was fine. Physically she is fine. But Jamie, Neta , and JT will agree she isn't the same mentally.
Before the shooting Jamie and Gracie Anne were incredibly close. She had Jamie wrapped around her finger. If she ever got into trouble Neta disciplined her. When Gracie Anne first came out of the womb He did not care about the blood or bodily functions that she might be covered in. He just held her against his bare chest without a care. Jamie knew that was when their bond started.
Jamie knew trauma. He watched his birth father get killed. He had nightmares about the event.
After his birth fathers passing, Jamie wandered on his own for awhile until he found Dusty. Then Through Dusty he met his adoptive Father Ben Cartwright.
It wasn't long before the nightmares and loneliness stopped. Jamie had a strong longing to be loved by a father figure after his traumatic
event. Ben Cartwright sure fulfilled that longing. He wanted to grow closer to someone. Gracie Anne seemed to be the opposite.
She wanted to grow apart.