Halfway to forever by Karen Kingsbury

mother left you on purpose."
"I know" She muffled a sob in his shoulder. "But I still missed
her. I wondered what she'd tell me on the first day of middle
school, or when I came home in love with you after our first night
out in Kelso." She took three quick breaths. "I don't ever want
Maddie to wonder. I want her to feel me there with her even if it's
only my words."
Despite the depth of his pain and fear, Tanner couldn't have
been more proud of her. "When did you have time to write that?"
He drew back, his voice still a whisper. "And how come you didn't
tell me?"
"I wrote it when you were still working. I kept looking for the
right time to tell you, but finally I decided this would be the best
way. Besides, I wanted to make sure she was here and...and
healthy before I did the video."
"What about Ty?"
Jade smiled. "I wrote him one, too. I'll give it to him before my
surgery. But I already videotaped my message for him. It's in my
top drawer in the bedroom."
Tanner's mouth hung open. "I had no idea..."
"I used the automatic setting." She angled her face. "It worked fine."
There was a knock at the door and a nurse entered with two
trays of food. Tanner returned to his seat, and they ate their meal
side by side with few words.
Jade was tired after making the video and needed sleep. The
next morning treatment would begin, and she had to be strong if
her system was going to handle the strain of both chemotherapy
276
d radiation, especially while she was still recovering from the the day-the next two weeks, in fact-would
be he hardest in
,section.
The only bright spot was that Dr. Layton had promised her a
wit the nursery in the morning so she could spend an hour to
with Madison before starting treatment. Tanner knew the entire
his life. But that night he was of the determined
thto De ings Tphad said in tdhe
They laughed about some o y
past, and then Tanner read Psalms 23 and 91 to her. When he was finished, she yawned and held out her
as. He leaned over the hospital bed bars and kissed her. "I love you, jade."
She smiled, and though her eyes glistened, she didn't cry. "No matter what happens tomorrow, no matter
how bad it gets, I'd do it all again to be with you, Tanner. No one will ever love you like I do."
Fifteen minutes later she was asleep, and though he'd ordered himself to be strong, Tanner was helpless to
stop the tears. Dr. Layton had said her hair would most likely be the first thing to go once the
chemotherapy began. He gulped back a sob and wove his fingers through her hair. It looked thick and
shiny dark against her pink robe. She'd never worn it long, but in light of the impending cancer treatment,
she'd grown it out.
Jade had made light of it. "I'll be bald soon enough anyway,, But Tanner couldn't imagine jade without