A Long Time Coming (Cane Brothers, #3)

by Meghan Quinn

I’m a party of one, heading straight into the fiery pits of hell as I attempt to hold steady. But I’m wilting. I can feel it. There’s too much silence. It’s killing me. I’m going to break. I’m going to snap. I’m going to . . . “Paper was invented by the Chinese back in 100 BC,” I blurt, feeling an overwhelming sense of relief. “And now, one single pine tree can create over eighty thousand sheets of paper. Can you believe that? Wow, what a dedication to the journey of paper, which is of course, quite the tale in and of itself, but I won’t bore you with that other than to say that paper really can transport us from world to world, and sure, some people might say it’s the author who is transporting us, the words are just on the paper, but you can’t print words without paper. Although I guess you can read electronically, ehh . . . either way, I think paper is a journey, and don’t you think we should appreciate that journey? I mean, look at this piece of paper,” I say as I pick up a thick cardstock. “Where do you think it came from? What part of the world did this traverse? For all we know, this used to be part of a tree that once housed a sloth or maybe a gibbon. And to know that it was a house at one point and is now going to offer its—for lack of a better term—body to us so we can invite people to the start of a new journey in life . . . do you see the full circle here? Just marvelous.” I pick up a pile of paper and run my fingers through it. “All marvel—ouch.” I chuckle and...