Chills ran through her as she nodded. “He does.” And suddenly she felt like a princess again. Princess Jenna. Not just because she was going to marry Brady Bradshaw after all these years.
But because she was going to spend eternity with him.
• • •
AMY’S HEART WAS full. The family had gathered that Saturday to celebrate her birthday. And for another reason. Amy walked into the backyard where her cousins and aunts and uncles, and Papa and Grandma Elaine were already gathered. Papa and Uncle Landon had the shovel ready.
Today they were going to plant her little survivor tree.
Amy had chosen the spot, not far from her grandma Elizabeth’s rose garden. Aunt Ashley had agreed it was the best place. The tree would give shade to anyone who wanted to smell the roses.
That sounded like a nice idea to Amy. Plus it was close to the house. So Amy could always do her homework out there or sit against the trunk when the tree got bigger. Just to think about God and life.
And the family she had waiting for her in heaven.
“Okay . . .” Uncle Landon walked up and handed her the sapling. “Are you ready?”
Amy nodded and grinned at her uncle. “I can’t wait.”
Cole came up and put his arm around her as she carried the little tree to the hole her Uncle Landon had dug. “You’re amazing, Amy. If I haven’t said that enough.”
“Thanks, Cole.” She smiled at him. He was always kind, always looking out for her. Today was no different.
As they reached the spot, Cole dropped back. “This is all you, Amy.”
She nodded. Then with all her family gathered around, she stepped up to the hole and set the baby elm inside. Uncle Landon had already uncovered the roots, so it was ready to be planted.
Amy knelt down in the dirt and positioned the tree so it was straight. She looked over her shoulder at her papa and Uncle Landon. “Is that good?”
“Perfect!” they both answered at the same time. Aunt Ashley and the others gave her a thumbs-up and nodded. “Perfect,” they all agreed.
And so it was. Amy took handfuls of the dirt piled near the hole and pressed them around the roots so the tree wouldn’t fall over. When it was steady, she stood and took the shovel from her Uncle Landon.
This part was a surprise. She scooped one shovelful of dirt and sprinkled it on the roots. Then she looked at her Aunt Ashley. “Your turn.”
“Me?” Her aunt looked surprised. “Honey, this is your tree. You can do it.”
Amy had been waiting for this day for months. She looked around at her family. “What happened to my mommy and daddy, what happened to my sisters when they went home to heaven that day . . . it happened to all of us.” She didn’t want to cry, but tears came anyway. She blinked a few times. “We’re all survivors.”
Everyone had tears now, even Cole.
Her throat was tight. For a few seconds she couldn’t talk, but then she did a little cough and her words came. “Please . . . I’d like everyone to pass the shovel and put some dirt in the hole. So we all plant this tree together.” Her tears made it hard to see, but she smiled anyway. “Okay?”
Everyone nodded and moved in closer. Aunt Ashley went first and then Uncle Landon, her papa and Grandma Elaine, Amy’s aunts and uncles and all her cousins. Cole was last, and when he was done he handed the shovel back to her. “You finish, Amy.”
She smiled and put the last few shovelfuls around the tree. Then she and Cole got on the ground and patted the dirt in, nice and tight. When they stepped back, Amy could see the elm clearly. Not just how it looked today, a baby tree in brand-new dirt. But how it would look a year from now. Twenty years from now.
Their very own survivor tree.
Her papa looked around. “Let’s pray.”
Amy wiped her eyes. “Yes.” Praying was just what they needed to do. She held out her hands. Cole took hold of one, and Aunt Ashley the other. Then everyone else added in and they made a circle around the sapling.
“Father, it’s like Amy said.” Papa’s voice was tender. “We are all survivors because of You. We have lost much, but through Your strength we have also loved much. Please, Lord, let this baby elm tree be a reminder to us that You are for us, not against us. You are the Healer of our broken hearts. And one day You will bring us home with those who’ve gone before us. Thank You for Amy. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Amy’s family started talking all at once, about how pretty the tree was and how well they’d planted it. Everyone came up and hugged Amy, and they hugged each other. Their voices and smiles and faces filled Amy’s soul and her tears stopped.
What they’d done today would stay in Amy’s heart forever. Her idea had worked. That all of them would take turns planting the tree. The Baxters were always stronger this way. Together. They were Amy’s family, her favorite people on earth. Survivors, all of them.
And now they had the little tree to prove it.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
N o book comes together without a great deal of teamwork, passion and determination. That was definitely true for To the Moon and Back!
First, a special thanks to my amazing publisher, Judith Curr, and the team at Howard Books. Judith, at the Simon & Schuster offices, you’re known as the Rainmaker. How blessed I am to be working with you and your passionate team. You clearly desire to raise the bar at every turn. Thank you for that and for everything!
A similar thanks to Carolyn Reidy and my family at Simon & Schuster. I think often of our times together in New York and the way your collective creative brilliance always becomes a game changer. Thank you for lending your influence in so many ways. It’s an honor to work with you!
This story is so very special because of the incredible talents of my editor, Becky Nesbitt. Becky, you have known me since my kids were little. Since the Baxters began. How many authors actually look forward to the editing process? With you, it is a dream. And always you find ways to make my book better. Over and over and over again. Thank you for that! I am the most blessed author for the privilege of working with you.
Also thanks to my design team—Kyle and Kelsey Kupecky—whose unmatched talent in the industry is recognized from Los Angeles to New York. Very simply, you are the best in the business! My website, social media, video trailers and newsletter along with so many other aspects of my touring and writing are what they are because of you. Thank you for working your own dreams around mine. I love you and I thank God for you every single day.
A huge thanks to my sisters, Tricia and Susan, along with my mom, who give their whole hearts to helping me love my readers. Tricia as my executive assistant for the past decade, and Susan, for many years, as the head of my Facebook Online Book Club and Team KK. And Mom, thank you for being Queen of the Readers. Anyone who has ever sent me an email and received a response from you is blessed indeed. All three of you are so special to me. I love you and I thank God for each of you!
Thanks also to Tyler for joining with me to write screenplays and books that—for now—readers don’t even know about. You are a gifted writer, Ty. I can’t wait to see your work on the shelves and on the big screen. Maybe one day soon! Love you so much!
Also, thank you to my office assistant, Aurora Galvin. You create space for me to write! This storytelling wouldn’t be possible without you.
I’m grateful also to my Team KK members, who use social media to tell the world about my upcoming releases and who hang out on my Facebook page, answering reader questions. I appreciate each of you so much. May God bless you for your service to the work of Life-Changing Fiction™.
There is a final stage in writing a book. The galley pages come to me, and I send them to a team of five of my closest, most special reader friends. My niece Shannon Fairley, Hope Painter, Donna Keene, Renette Steele and Zac Weikal. You are wonderful! It always amazes me the things you catch at the final hour. Thank you for loving my work, and thanks for your availability to read my stories first and fast.
Also, my books only
happen with the help of my family, especially my amazing husband, Donald. Honey, thank you for your spiritual wisdom and leadership in our home, and thanks for talking through books like this one from the outline to the editing. The countless ways you help when I’m on deadline make all the difference. I love you!
And over all this is a man who has believed in my career for two decades: my amazing agent, Rick Christian of Alive Literary Agency. From the beginning, Rick, you’ve told me to dream big, set my sights high. Movies, TV series, worldwide reach. You imagined it all, you prayed for it to be. You believed. While I write, you work behind the scenes on film projects and my work with Liberty University, the Baxter family TV series and details regarding every book I’ve ever written. You are brilliant and driven, compassionate and dedicated. I used to dream of having you as my agent. Now I’m the only author who does. God is amazing. Thank you, Rick, and thank you for praying for me and my family. That most of all.
Finally, my greatest thanks to God Almighty, who is First and Last and all things in between. I write for You, through You and because of You. Thank you with my whole being.
READING GROUP GUIDE
TO THE MOON AND BACK
KAREN KINGSBURY
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
KAREN KINGSBURY , #1 New York Times bestselling novelist, is America’s favorite inspirational storyteller, with more than twenty-five million copies of her award-winning books in print. Her last dozen titles have topped bestseller lists and many of her novels are under development with Hallmark Films and as major motion pictures. Her Baxter family books are being developed into a TV series slated for major network viewing sometime in the next year. Karen is also an adjunct professor of writing at Liberty University. In 2001 she and her husband, Don, adopted three boys from Haiti, doubling their family in a matter of months. Today the couple has joined the ranks of empty nesters, living in Tennessee near five of their adult children.
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2018 by Karen Kingsbury
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc®. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com . The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc®.
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Interior design by Davina Mock-Maniscalco
Jacket design by Chin-Yee Lai
Jacket photograph of Couple by Mark Owen
Author photograph © Dean Dixon
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017040246
ISBN 978-1-4516-8765-1
ISBN 978-1-4516-8767-5 (ebook)
Karen Kingsbury, To the Moon and Back
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