Halfway to forever by Karen Kingsbury

Thirty-five minutes later, Tanner walked through the front door and stopped short. The lights were off. It
looked like even Helen wasn't home. "Hello?" His voice echoed through the foyer,
190 but otherwise the silence remained.
Typically Helen would have cooked something for dinner, but
there was only the faint smell of vanilla, jade's favorite fragrance,
mostly likely left over from a candle she'd burned that morning.
"Jade? Ty?"
When there was no response, Tanner's heart skipped a beat
and he rushed into the kitchen, flipping on a light switch. There
on the island countertop was a note. Tanner pictured jade seizing
again, falling to the floor... Helen calling an ambulance. What if
this time it was worse than before? What if...?
He reached for the slip of paper, his voice quiet and unsteady
"No, Jade... not again..."
His eyes raced over the page.
I can't take it anymore, Tanner...I'll be out late. Don't wait up. I
love you more than you know.
Jade At the bottom, in Helen's handwriting, were a few sentences that must have been written to keep
Tanner from worrying: Ty's spending the night at a friends house. Jade and I are at church.
Tanner read the note three more times, grabbed his car keys,
and headed back outside. As he drove to church, he realized that
everything he'd gone through in his life before this-the hurt of
losing jade as a boy and again as a young man, the ache of knowing
that he had missed out on raising Ty all those years, even the
devastation of jade's illness-all of it paled in comparison to this
pain, this terrible ache that never went away.
Because always before the hurt was someone else's fault.
Never had either of them acted willfully against the other. But
now, as the words of her note took root in his soul, he knew that
only one person was responsible for making jade feel lonely and
let-down in her greatest hour of need.
That person was him.
188
tor Steve was still in his office when jade and Helen entered the his wife friends.
nctuary. The man-a kind preacher in his forties-heard them
ter, and when he saw jade in her wheelchair he came to her.
Dth the Bronzans and the Eastmans attended Los Robles
ommunity Church and took turns doing the puppets for chilren at second service. All of them considered
Pastor Steve and
Jade raised her hand in the pastor's direction. She hated the fact that she was crying, and that being pushed
down the center aisle in a wheelchair was obvious proof she was not doing well.
She wiped at her tears and nodded to the man. "Hi, Pastor." "Jade..." He put his hand on her shoulder.
"What's wrong, dear?"
There were so many things to say, so many questions to ask, that jade didn't know where to begin. But the
relief of knowing someone was willing to listen brought on another wave of tears. "I...I'm sorry" Her
voice cracked. "I need to talk."
Pastor Steve glanced at Helen. "I have time. Would you like me to take her home?"