Halfway to forever by Karen Kingsbury

to invest in Grace. Patsy hadn't done enough of that with Leslie. And look how she had turned out.
If there was one thing Patsy was determined to do, it was prevent Grace from going the way of her mother.
The idea that she had a second chance to raise a little girl, another opportunity to rectify the mistakes she
had made, to make up for the things she had missed out on the first time around... it made Patsy's heart
swell. And it made losing Leslie almost bearable.
Patsy opened the cover of the book and gazed at the table of contents. Take an Adventure Walk ...Build a
Birdhouse... Knit a Scarf.. jump Rope Games... Learn a Song...
The suggestions seemed endless, and just reading them lightened the load on Patsy's heart. She might be
slow with her cane, but she could take an adventure walk if she saved up her energy. And knitting scarves
was something she'd done back when Leslie was a small girl. Certainly Grace would have fun dung those
things.
If they spent that kind of quality time together, Grace was bound to be happy. And maybe then she'd find
something more than good times together.
Maybe she'd find her precious granddaughter's smile, as well.
219 `~enty~ne
Tanner clicked the remote control and a sports program filled the television screen.
`"ESPN?" Jade moaned. "Sports are good medicine."
She giggled. "Okay; but my movie's on in fifteen, deal?"
"Deal."
Tanner wrapped his arms around jade, savoring the way she
snuggled in close to him on the sofa. Her hair smelled like fresh
soap. He closed his eyes and rested his cheek against the top of
her head. lie could have stayed that way forever. Jade cradled
against him, Ty asleep upstairs, happy and content and unaware
of the impending danger his mother faced.
It was one week until jade's early due date, the day that would
give both her and the baby the best chance at surviving. Since the
day he'd walked out of the office for the last time-hours after his
talk with jade in the church that night-Tanner had spent nearly
every waking moment at her side.
Briefs and case precedents and troubled files meant nothing to
him. Not anymore. Instead his days were filled with everything
about her-the way her eyelashes looked when she slept, the
sound of her voice over morning coffee, the brush of her skin
against his. He'd fallen in love with her all over again, and no matter
how much time they spent together, it wasn't enough. Tanner
cherished every moment, even the difficult ones.
In the process, something amazing had happened. Jade's speech was still slow, but no longer slurred. And
though she shuffled her
216
t, she got around most of the time without the wheelchair.
"I don't get it,,, Tanner had told Dr. Layton at jade's last visit.
at's the difference?"
Tanner gavk" d thinks it's because I'm around more, but that
jade had smiled at him. "I already told you."
her a skeptical look and then leveled his gaze at
to doctor. Ja e