Halfway to Forever

  He stared at Jade, wonder seeping into his every pore. “You’re back. You’re okay!” He wanted to swing her out of bed and into his arms, but he settled for leaning his upper body along hers, careful not to disturb the bandages on her head or put pressure on her. He wove his hands beneath her shoulders and hugged her close. “Thank God you’re back. I was so afraid I’d lost you.”

  “How long have I been out?”

  “Four days, Jade. Four of the longest days of my life.” He drew back and searched her eyes. “We thought … Dr. Layton said we had to prepare for the worst.”

  “And the surgery … you said it went well.”

  There were questions in her eyes, and Tanner wanted to allay her fears before any more time passed. “Tests on the margins came back negative. There’s no sign of cancer cells anywhere. They got it all, Jade.”

  “What about Maddie?” Jade’s eyes were heavy again. “I missed you all so much, Tanner.”

  “Maddie’s perfect. She’s gaining weight. Her doctor said she might be able to go home in three weeks.”

  “I knew it.” A look of peace filled Jade’s face and her eyes closed for a moment. “God is so good.”

  “What do you remember about the surgery? Anything?”

  Jade smiled. “Two things.” She took another sip of water. “Your face.” She moved her free hand up and traced his jawline with her forefinger. “And the strangest sensation.”

  Tanner studied her face. No matter how long he lived, he would never get enough of her. “What?”

  “Right from the moment I went under I felt the Lord pick me up and hold me, like I was lying in Jesus’ arms from then … until now. Isn’t that something?”

  Tears burned in the corners of Tanner’s eyes. “Maybe that’s what happens when people are praying for you around-the-clock.”

  “Maybe. I just know I felt it. As real as if you’d picked me up yourself.” Her hand was trembling and she let it fall back beside her. “I’m tired, Tanner.”

  “I know.”

  “But before I sleep … I want to see Ty. He needs to know that I’m okay.”

  Tanner nodded. He didn’t want to exhaust her on her first day, not with days of tough recovery ahead. His eyes fell to her hands and arms. The coma had atrophied what little muscle remained on her thin frame. Dr. Layton said she’d need another week of radiation, just as a precaution.

  But the days would go by quickly … and very soon they would walk out of the hospital, a family again.

  He was reaching for the phone to call Ty when it rang. Surprised, he hesitated a moment before answering it. “Hello?”

  “How’s she doing?”

  It was Matt.

  Tanner beamed, the joy of what had happened that past half hour still bursting in his heart. “I have her back! She came to thirty minutes ago.” His tone was filled with disbelief. “Can you believe it, Matt? I have her back.”

  “She knows you? Everything’s the same?”

  Tanner grinned at Jade. “She’s as ornery as ever.”

  “Thank God …” Matt paused and coughed a few times. When he spoke again it was with tears in his voice. “Tell her we love her … We can’t wait to see her.” He uttered a single laugh, one that sounded like part cry. “Tell her it’s going to be a miracle day for both of us.”

  Tanner lowered his brow. “Both of us?”

  “Hi, Matt, it’s Hannah on the other line.”

  “Hi.” Jade was watching him, and he mouthed the fact that Hannah was on the phone also. “Okay, so our miracle is obvious. What’s yours?” At this point Tanner figured anything was possible. After all, miracles had been sprouting like springtime tulips since Maddie was born.

  Hannah did the talking. “We’ve been in conversation with Grace’s grandmother these past few days. At first we weren’t sure where it was headed, but yesterday afternoon our social worker called us. Grace’s grandmother wants to give her back to us, Tanner. She wants to visit once a year, but that’s all. She told us God had showed her it was the best thing for Grace.” Hannah’s voice broke. “She’ll be here this afternoon.”

  “That’s not all.” Matt sounded happier than Tanner could ever remember, and the combination of his friend’s joy with his own was enough to make his heart burst. “We found out that Grace’s mother’s rights have been permanently severed. Our Grace is free for adoption. We’ll start the process Monday.”

  “That’s wonderful. I never stopped thinking of her as your daughter.”

  “Jenny’s beside herself.” Hannah sounded like she was ready to burst. “She slept in Grace’s bed last night, thanking God.”

  They talked a few more minutes before Tanner explained he had to go. They hadn’t called Ty yet and needed to do that as soon as possible. When they were off the phone, he explained the situation to Jade.

  She smiled, and for the first time since she’d come to, her eyes filled with tears. “Hannah loves that little girl so much.” She shook her head, searching for the words. “What can I say? God is so good.”

  Tanner was about to dial the neighbor’s house where Ty was staying when a thought occurred to him.

  He glanced up at the Jade Chain still taped to the wall above the hospital bed. Then he checked his watch. Just after eight o’clock. He calculated back. That meant Jade had come out of her coma at 7:15.

  Narrowing his eyes, he leaned closer to the prayer chart and used his finger to follow the list. “I wonder who was praying for us at—”

  Jade rolled onto her side, craning her neck to see what Tanner saw. “What?”

  Tanner could only stare at her, his mouth open. “People have been praying for you around the clock, right?”

  “Right …” Jade looked confused.

  Tanner studied the chart again and huffed. Chills ran down his arms and legs and he turned back to Jade. “Guess who was praying for you from seven to seven-thirty this morning? When you came out of the coma?”

  “Who?”

  Tanner checked the name once more and then leveled his gaze at Jade. “Ty Eastman.”

  Jade’s eyes widened and she gasped. Before either of them could say another word, the phone rang.

  Tanner answered it on the first ring. “Hello?”

  “Hi, Dad, it’s Ty.” He waited a beat. “Can I talk to Mom?”

  “Wait a minute …” There was laughter in Tanner’s voice, laughter and an unrestrained joy that hadn’t been there for a very long time. “How did you know she was awake?”

  “You mean she really is?” He hooted loud enough for Jade to hear. “I knew it!”

  Tanner’s head was spinning. “You knew what?”

  “When everyone was signing up to pray for her, I got in line and signed up, too. ‘Course I’ve been praying every day and stuff. But this morning when I was praying I felt like the Lord touched me on the shoulder. That ever happen to you, Dad?”

  “Yeah … sure.”

  “For a minute it was like He was sitting beside me, and you know what He said?”

  It took a while for Tanner to find his voice. The entire morning had been nothing less miraculous than the parting of the Red Sea. “What, buddy?”

  “He told me Mom was awake and she was going to be fine.”

  “Is that right?” Tanner reached for Jade’s hand and held it against his heart. “What else did He say?”

  “He told me Mom was never in any danger.”

  “No?”

  “No.” Ty took a quick breath. “Because Jesus was holding her in His arms the whole time.”

  There was a knock at the door and Hannah’s breath caught in her throat. “She’s here.” Her voice rang through the house. “Come on.”

  From different corners of the house, Matt and Jenny bounded into the foyer. Matt took a single step forward, grinned back at them and then opened the door.

  There stood Edna Parsons and Patsy Landers, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. And beside her, the child whose face had haunted Hannah every day since s
he was taken from them.

  Their precious little Grace.

  “Mommy! Daddy! Jenny … I’m home!” She squealed, hands clasped, eyes shining. Then she ran into their arms and clung to the three of them. The locket on her neck bounced with every step. “I’m back. I’m back forever and ever!”

  There were murmurings of welcome home and declarations of love between the four of them, and after a moment Hannah fell to her knees. There, with the rest of them gathered around, she held her youngest daughter close to her heart. Tell me I’m not dreaming, God. Please …

  So often after losing Tom and Alicia she had longed for one more day, one more chance to hold them or talk to them or tell them she loved them. Then after losing Grace, she’d felt the same way, longing for the chance to somehow, somewhere see her again.

  But she had never dreamed of this.

  Jenny and Matt dropped to their knees, and the four of them formed a huddle. Hannah could only imagine the sacrifice it had taken for Patsy Landers to bring Grace back, to admit that this sweet child was better off living with strangers who loved her than in a home where her birth mother might one day harm her again.

  From her place on the floor, Hannah locked eyes with Patsy Landers. Then silently, in a moment meant for the two of them alone, she muttered the only words she could think to say. “Thank you, Mrs. Landers. Thank you.”

  The older woman nodded, her cheeks wet, chin quivering. When she answered, it was loud enough for all of them to hear. “Grace is home now.” She bit her lip to keep from crying. “She has a wonderful family and she has something else. Something she hasn’t had since I took her from you.”

  The rest of them stood and faced Mrs. Landers, their arms around each other. Grace snuggled in the center, smiling from ear to ear.

  Matt gazed at Grace, then back at her grandmother. “What’s that?”

  Mrs. Landers took Grace’s hands, her wise, old eyes brimming with love and tears. “Her smile.” She looked at each of them. “She has her smile back.”

  With that, Hannah’s heart soared, despite her tears. They would never have to wonder about this little lost daughter, where she was living, how she was doing, who she was with.

  Or whether she was still singing “Jesus Loves Me.”

  Grace was theirs for good now.

  They were a family, without any missing pieces, whole and complete, back together as only God could have fixed them.

  Thirty-Two

  The breeze from the Pacific Ocean was warmer than usual for April, and Jade was grateful. The sun warmed her face and filled her heart as she gazed at the blue sky. It was the only appropriate backdrop for the party that afternoon.

  It had been six months since she woke from the coma, six months since little Grace had come home to be with the Bronzans forever. There was no place any of them wanted to be but there at the beach, together. The way they always wound up eventually.

  Jade drew a cleansing breath and smiled at the scene below her on the beach. Matt and Tanner, tossing a Frisbee down on the shoreline. Not far from them, Jenny, Ty, and Grace worked diligently on a sand castle that already boasted turrets and tunnels and intricate shellwork.

  She shifted her gaze to the stroller beside her. Inside, Maddie was sleeping, her face washed in peace. Jade touched her daughter’s fingers and marveled at her tiny perfection. Maddie had come home the day before Thanksgiving, and though she was small, she’d thrived every day since.

  The door opened behind her, and Jade turned. Hannah came out, Kody on her hip. He was eight months now, six weeks older than Maddie and twice her size. Hannah sat down, cradled Kody in her arms, and put a full bottle in his mouth. “Feeding time.”

  Jade laughed. “When isn’t it?”

  The sound of their families playing and laughing mingled with the pounding of the surf, and Hannah eased her head back. “I never get tired of the miracles around us these days.”

  “It’s amazing.” Jade turned toward Hannah. “Did I tell you about my doctor appointment?”

  Hannah shook her head and grinned. “Good?”

  “Better than good. They took pictures of my brain again, and there are no detectable signs a tumor was ever there.”

  “Oh, Jade …” Hannah’s eyes danced. “That’s wonderful.”

  “You know …” Jade shifted her gaze back to their families. “There was a time when I wondered what God was doing to us.” She paused, breathing in the sweet, salty ocean air. “I mean, here we were, all of us, halfway to forever, and suddenly everything that could go wrong, did.”

  Hannah looked at Grace and nodded. “You’re right.”

  “But you know what?”

  Hannah adjusted Kody’s bottle so she could see Jade better. “What?”

  “I realized something that will stay with me forever, something I needed to learn.”

  There was a peaceful silence while Hannah waited.

  “When I first became a Christian, the only truth God wanted me to know was that He loved me and had plans for me, good plans.” Jade smiled. “That was enough back then.” She paused and a seagull cried out in the distance. A familiar peace came over her. “Now I understand that even when life is going along perfectly, trouble will come. As long as we’re breathing, it will come.”

  Hannah sighed, and her sad smile told Jade she understood. She, better than any woman Jade knew, understood how swiftly trouble could come. Hannah gazed at Jenny and Grace as they carried a bucket of water from the ocean to the castle. “It’s so easy to take the good times for granted.”

  Jade nodded, feeling wiser than her years. “But we can’t afford to, can we?”

  “Never. Every day is a gift all by itself.”

  The afternoon slipped away in a blur of play and laughter, and after dinner they all gathered on the deck except the babies, who were asleep inside. Jade cozied up against Tanner, with Ty on her other side. There was a chill in the air, but the warmth of Tanner’s body made it disappear.

  Across from them, Matt moved his fingers over the strings of his guitar. “Tanner and I have a musical announcement to make.”

  Jade shifted and raised her eyebrows at her husband.

  Next to Matt, Hannah grinned. “Sounds important.”

  Grace was sitting in Jenny’s lap nearby, and both girls giggled at Hannah’s tone. Jenny looked at Hannah. “This should be good.”

  “We—” Matt kept his face serious and nodded in Tanner’s direction—“have decided to give up law for one year and hit the road.”

  “Hit the road?” Ty wrinkled his nose and stifled a laugh. “With what, a hammer?”

  Tanner poked Ty in the ribs as he stifled a grin. “Come on now, we’re serious. Let the man finish.”

  Matt tipped his head at Tanner. “Thank you.” He winked at Ty and glanced at the group. “As I was saying, we feel the many evenings spent singing here, for all of you, have prepared us for a career as professional musicians.” He looked at Tanner for support. “Isn’t that right?”

  Tanner gave a firm nod. “Absolutely.”

  Matt gave a formal plucking of his guitar strings. “On that note, we thought we’d share our opening song with you. The one that will—what can we say—” he cocked his head slightly and tossed his hands in the air—“bring down the house.”

  “Not while we’re in it, okay?” Jade whispered the comment to Tanner but made sure it was loud enough for everyone to hear.

  Giggles came from everyone but the men, and Jade brought her hands to her face, trying to keep from laughing out loud. This was what she loved about the Bronzans. Not only were they the type of friends who stood by when troubles came—even terrifying trouble—they were friends who laughed and loved life.

  Friends who made life fun.

  There was a twinkle in Matt’s eyes when he continued. “Fine.” He shrugged in Tanner’s direction. “Partner, it looks like the only way to silence our critics is to sing.”

  Tanner cleared his throat and leaned forward, his express
ion as serious as he could manage. “Hit it.”

  Matt began strumming the tune to the Eagles’ “Desperado,” and Hannah bit her lip to keep from laughing as she rolled her eyes at Jade. The music filled the deck, and Jade giggled in Hannah’s direction.

  Four times the guys forgot the words, and three times Tanner was noticeably off-key. Jade listened, covering her mouth whenever she was tempted to laugh.

  When it was over there was silence. Jade looked around and saw Hannah run her tongue along the inside of her lip.

  “So …” Hannah used her hands to show she was doing her best to understand. “Your act will be sort of an offbeat, off-tune, missing-word impression of the Eagles? For all the hip concert-goers craving that type of music, is that it?”

  Matt grinned and pretended to hit her with the backside of his guitar. “I told you, Tanner …”

  “You did.” Tanner lifted one shoulder.

  “True artists get no respect.”

  Jenny laughed out loud, and the sound snapped what remained of Jade and Hannah’s restraint. Soon even Matt and Tanner joined in, and when the laughter died down, Tanner leaned closer to Jade once more. “Fine. We’ll keep our day jobs.”

  “I was going to say …” Hannah bit her lip. “Good thing.”

  Matt shook his head in mock disdain. “If we’re not ready for the road, at least we can take requests.” He tapped Grace’s knee. “Okay, sweetheart, what do you want me to sing?”

  Grace lowered her chin, and batted her eyelashes at Matt. “ ‘Old McDommer’s Farm,’ Daddy. Pleeeease!”

  Jade’s heart swelled as she watched the scene. Grace had come so far since her return to the Bronzans’ home. Patsy Landers had been out for a visit already, and there was even talk of her moving to California to be closer to Grace. But never, no matter what, would she ever tell her troubled daughter about Grace’s whereabouts.

  It was part of the deal they’d made six months earlier.

  Matt made a sweeping bow at Grace. “Your wish is my command.”

  Hannah chuckled and leaned into the circle, pretending to share private information with the rest of them. “That’s for sure …”