Ever After
Page 34
“I love you, Jake Bryan.” She slid her arms around his neck, letting herself get lost in his embrace. “I’m sorry for being afraid.”
“I know.” He kissed her again, this time more slowly. The ferry was less crowded than usual, and they had privacy in the place where they stood. When he pulled away, he searched her eyes. “I’m not going anywhere, Jamie. God and I have a little deal, a secret.”
“Is that so?” She tilted her face and batted her eyelashes at him. “I don’t suppose you’ll share it with me.”
“Nope. But I can tell you this much. God isn’t finished with me yet.” He brought his lips to hers once more. “And He’s not finished with you, either.”
They held hands as they returned to Jake’s truck and climbed back inside. Fifteen minutes later they pulled into their tree-lined neighborhood and the same familiar street where they’d grown up. This was home. The quaintness of the island, the way she knew every front yard, every family that made up this part of Westerleigh.
The old house was gray now with white trim, but it was still much the same as it had been when Jamie grew up there. They pulled in the drive, and the moment they walked inside, Sierra ran to them, her eyes lit up.
“You’re home!” She stretched her hands up toward Jamie. “Oooh, Mommy. You look pretty.”
“Thanks, baby.” Jamie swung her up into a hug and nuzzled her cheek against Sierra’s. She smelled nice, like baby powder and maple syrup.
Jake paid the sitter, and when she was gone, the three of them moved into the living room.
“Did you and Daddy go to church?”
The question poked pins at Jamie’s good feelings. Before she could answer, Jake came up alongside them. “Hey, little girl.” He took Sierra into his arms. “How was your morning?”
“We had pancakes.” Sierra rubbed noses with Jake and giggled. “Did you and Mommy go to church?”
“Sort of.” Jake twirled one of Sierra’s curls around his finger. “It was a special church meeting for one of the firemen at Daddy’s work.”
“Oh.” Sierra searched his eyes. Her golden hair shimmered against her blue T-shirt. “Did he do something good?”
Jake tilted his head and hesitated long enough for Jamie to read his heart. “Yeah, baby.” He pursed his lips and nodded, and Jamie felt the familiar ache from earlier. “He did something real good.”
Sierra brought her chin to her chest and placed her hands on either side of Jake’s face. “Is Mommy going with us next Sunday?”
Jake gave Jamie a quick smile. He never pushed her, just left it open. In case she ever changed her mind. Jamie cleared her throat. “Mommy has her painting class next Sunday, sweetheart.”
“Oh.” Sierra blinked at Jake. “But you’ll take me, right, Daddy? Two times a month?”
“Right, honey.”
“Because Mrs. Ritchie looks for me two Sundays at class time.”
“Yep. Mrs. Ritchie won’t be disappointed. You’ll be there next week for sure.”
“Goodie!” Sierra jumped down and made a quick wave in Jamie’s direction. “I’m gonna check on Brownie. She sleeped in my bed this morning.”
Brownie was their faithful lab. Eight years old and graying around her jowls, she was wonderful with Sierra and didn’t mind wearing baby bonnets. The two of them were best friends. Jamie watched their daughter scamper off, and a thread of guilt sewed itself around the perimeter of her soul. She looked at Jake and gave him a crooked smile. “Thanks.”
“For what?” A lazy grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. He crossed the room into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water.
She followed, her voice quiet. “For not making a big deal out of the church thing.”
“I’ll never push you, Jamie.” He took a swig of water and studied her. “You know that.”
“Still …” She felt uneasy in a way she couldn’t quite pin down. “It means a lot.”
“No big deal.” He set the glass down. “I’m gonna change clothes. Tennis in half an hour?”
She leaned against the counter and felt her gaze soften. “Okay.”
“You over the fear thing?”
Jamie smiled. “For now.”
It wasn’t until she went upstairs to change that she caught sight of the mirror and stopped short. Who was she kidding? The worry wasn’t gone; as long as firefighters were dying it would never be gone. They had Sierra and each other and a life sweeter than she’d dared to dream. Jake’s job loomed as the single threat to everything that mattered.
Sometimes where Jake and Sierra were concerned, Jamie felt like a little girl again, building sandcastles on the beach, desperate to stretch the day, to make the sunny hours last as long as she could. Jamie could still see herself the way she’d been on sandcastle Sundays, giggling and skittering back and forth on the sand, chasing back the waves, believing somehow she could stop the tide from claiming her precious creation.
But in the end the waves would come. Always they would come. And when they did, they would wash away all she’d built. There hadn’t been a single thing she could do to stop them.
Her father’s long-ago words came back to her. Look at Jake’s mother. She lives with the danger every day. It’s in her eyes, part of who she is. That’ll be you one day if you marry Jake Bryan.
Jamie leaned closer and scrutinized her eyes. Her father had been right all along. When had her eyes stopped being the light-filled carefree speckled brown of her childhood? Now they were dark and deep, and they’d taken on a new color, one that bore an uncanny resemblance to that in Jake’s mother’s eyes. The same color Jamie had seen in the eyes of a dozen other firefighter wives.
The color of fear.
Beyond Tuesday Morning
Sequel to the Bestselling
One Tuesday Morning
Karen Kingsbury
The hope-filled sequel to the bestselling One Tuesday Morning.
In this new novel by Karen Kingsbury, three years have passed since the terrorist attacks on New York City. Jamie Bryan, widow of a firefighter who lost his life on that terrible day, has found meaning in her season of loss by volunteering at St. Paul’s, the memorial chapel across the street from where the Twin Towers once stood. Here she meets a daily stream of people touched by the tragedy, including two men with whom she feels a connection. One is a firefighter also changed by the attacks, the other a police officer from Los Angeles.
But as Jamie gets to know the police officer, she is stunned to find out that he is the brother of Eric Michaels, the man with the uncanny resemblance to Jamie’s husband, the man who lived with her for three months after September 11. Eric is the man she has vowed never to see again. Certain she could not share even a friendship with his brother, Jamie shuts out the police officer and delves deeper into her work at St. Paul’s.
Now it will take the persistence of a tenacious man, the questions from her curious young daughter, and the words from her dead husband’s journal to move Jamie beyond one Tuesday morning.
“Jamie Bryan took her position at the far end of the Staten Island Ferry, pressed her body against the railing, eyes on the place where the Twin Towers once stood. She could face it now, every day if she had to. The terrorist attacks had happened, the World Trade Center had collapsed, and the only man she’d ever loved had gone down with them.
Late fall was warmer than usual, and the breeze across the water washed over Jamie’s face. If she could do this, if she could make this journey three times a week while Sierra was in school, then she could convince herself to get through another long, dark night. She could face the empty place in the bed beside her, face the longing for the man who had been her best friend, the one she’d fallen for when she was only a girl.”
This title is also available as an unabridged CD.
Softcover: 0-310-25771-9
Unabridged CD: 0-310-26259-3
Unabridged Download: 0-310-26964-4
Pick up a copy today at your favorite bookstore!
&
nbsp; Oceans Apart
Karen Kingsbury
A riveting story of secret sin and the healing power of forgiveness.
Airline pilot Connor Evans and his wife, Michele, seem to be the perfect couple living what looks like a perfect life. Then a plane goes down in the Pacific Ocean. One of the casualties is Kiahna Siefert, a flight attendant Connor knew well. Too well. Kiahna’s will is very clear: before her seven-year-old son, Max, can be turned over to the state, he must spend the summer with the father he’s never met, the father who doesn’t know he exists: Connor Evans.
Now will the presence of one lonely child and the truth he represents destroy Connor’s family? Or is it possible that healing and hope might come in the shape of a seven-year-old boy? This title is also available as an unabridged CD.
Softcover: 0-310-24749-7
Unabridged CD: 0-310-25403-5
Unabridged Download: 0-310-26165-1
Pick up a copy today at your favorite bookstore!
Even Now
Karen Kingsbury,
#1 Bestselling Author
Shane Galanter—a man ready to put down roots after years of searching. But is he making the right choice? Or is there a woman somewhere who even now remembers—as does he— those long-ago days … and a love that hasn’t faded with time?
Lauren Gibbs—a successful international war correspondent who gave up on happily-ever-after years ago—when it was ripped away from her. Since then, she’s never looked back. So how come she can’t put to rest the one question that haunts her: Why is life so empty?
Emily Anderson—a college freshman raised by her grandparents who’s about to take her first internship as a journalist. But before she can move ahead, she discovers a love story whose tragic ending came with her birth. As a result, she is drawn to look back and search out the mother she’s never met.
A young woman seeking answers to her heart’s deep questions. A man and woman separated by lies and long years, who have never forgotten each other. With hallmark tenderness and power, Karen Kingsbury weaves a tapestry of lives, losses, love, and faith—and the miracle of resurrection.
Also available in unabridged CD.
Softcover: 0-310-24753-5
Unabridged CD: 0-310-25404-3
Unabridged Download: 0-310-26753-6
Pick up a copy today at your favorite bookstore!
About the Author
KAREN KINGSBURY is America’s favorite inspirational novelist. Her Life-Changing Fiction™ has produced multiple bestsellers including Even Now, One Tuesday Morning, Beyond Tuesday Morning, and the popular Redemption Series. Her novel Oceans Apart was chosen by the ECPA as the top fiction title of 2005, and her Christmas novel Gideon’s Gift is under production as a major motion picture.
About the Publisher
Founded in 1931, Grand Rapids, Michigan – based Zondervan, a division of HarperCollins Publishers, is the leading international Christian communications company, producing bestselling Bibles, books, new media products, and award-winning children’s products. The world’s largest Bible publisher, Zondervan (www.zondervan.com) holds exclusive publishing rights to the New International Version of the Bible and has distributed more than 215 million copies worldwide. It is also one of the top Christian publishers in the world, selling its award-winning books through Christian retailers, general market bookstores, mass merchandisers, specialty retailers, and the Internet. Zondervan has received a total of 73 ECPA Medallion of Excellence (formerly Gold Medallion) awards for its books, more than any other publisher.
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