Christopher and Jaime (Pianos and Promises #1) by Jennifer Peel Read Free Book Online

the dark, wrapped up in our own thoughts. My mind was consumed thinking about next steps and Allie. I wouldn’t give up my place in her life.
    After an hour, I felt the lightest of touches on my back.
    “I’m sorry I forgot about our anniversary. Pick anywhere and I’ll book a trip for just the two of us. We can go on the honeymoon we never got to take. And don’t worry about taking the pill, I’ll handle the birth control from now on.”
    I left our bed then and there and never returned.

Chapter Three
    Dinner arrived via Hope. I was so hungry, hospital food looked good; and even worse, or better, it tasted good. I took small bites of the club sandwich as I watched the machines that were not only monitoring Chris, but keeping him alive. I thought about that night back in May. What had happened to the Chris I’d fallen in love with? The one who climbed trees with me, swung in hammocks on his grandparents’ porch, and talked all night long? The man who talked about family like it was the most important thing? That man didn’t exist anymore. He’d been replaced by a mere shell of who he used to be. He had changed, and I was so blinded by love that I refused to see it, but that night my eyes had been opened wide.
    The morning after our anniversary, he’d left for the office to work his way through the week. I worked, too, getting my résumé up to par, and reaching out to any and all of my contacts. It was one of my student’s mother who gave me a lead on the position I was starting in three weeks. It wasn’t my dream job, but it was going to pay the bills, along with my private lessons. I had to spend more on a house than I wanted, but I had Allie to think about, and I wanted to be in a safe neighborhood. The house was darling, though not even close to the house I had picked out for all of us, but I realized that had only ever been a dream.
    After I finished eating the hospital food and downing a large bottle of water, I made the mistake of looking in the bathroom mirror. My hazel eyes were red and lined, and the humidity that hung in the air was making my hair frizz. I did my best to smooth it out and pulled it back with a hair tie. I made my way to the small couch in the room and pulled the blanket around my thin body, trying to stay warm in the cool room. I held the journal in my hand and stared at it.
    I’d already delved into his thoughts, and what else did I have to do? I knew sleep wasn’t coming anytime soon. It hadn’t for weeks.
    This time I started at the beginning. I wanted to remember the boy I loved, but I feared his inner thoughts would obliterate that, too. I took my chances.
    The first page was a note from his grandpa to him, I skipped over that, feeling it was too much of an intrusion, I’m not sure why. I was sitting there reading my soon-to-be ex-husband’s journal. How much nosier could you get? But out of respect for Grandpa C, I couldn’t.
    He started right off using his journal like an outline. He was such a stay in the line kind of person. I should have known we were never meant for each other, but I used to think our differences were what made us work.
    April 5
    Bought Jaimes tickets to see Diana Krall.
    Asked Audrey to prom.
    Ordered tux. Looking fly.
    Studied for AP calculus. I’m a genius.
    He had always been full of himself, but I’d found it endearing back then. I don’t know why I was touched that his first entry was me. I was so excited to see Diana Krall in person; she’s an amazing jazz artist. When she played the piano, it was like listening to her soul. Chris never got her, but he took me anyway. It was the first time my parents let me go into Nashville unaccompanied by an adult. I guess technically we were eighteen, but we still felt like kids.
    He wrote below his bullet points:
    I’m still trying to convince Jaime to attend the University of Tennessee with me. I don’t know why she wants to be an Au Pair in France. I can’t believe her parents are letting her go.