The Color of a Promise (The Color of Heaven Series Book 11) by Julianne MacLean Read Free Book Online

away, picking up her suitcase to throw into the back of the van.
    She moved past me to get into her seat and then slid the door closed.
    “Bye, Jack,” she said, stretching her arm out the open window.
    Her face was dazzling to me in that moment as I reveled in the sensation of her soft lips on my cheek. I couldn’t speak. All I could do was back away from the curb and wave as she buckled her seat belt.
    Her parents came out of the house and got into the van. They started up the engine, and again, I wished desperately that they weren’t leaving. I could already feel a hole in my heart, because I was going to miss Millicent terribly, and her family, too.
    “We’ll see you soon, Jack,” Dr. Davenport said, leaning across the seat to speak to me out the passenger side window. “Take care of yourself.”
    Then they drove off.
    o0o
    That night in the hospital in Germany, I fell asleep remembering that special good-bye, followed by horror ten hours later when my mother hung up the telephone in our kitchen and turned to me. Her face was white as a sheet.
    “What is it?” I asked, dread exploding like fire in my belly. “What’s wrong?”
    My mother moved slowly toward me and pulled a chair out to sit down at the kitchen table. She took both my hands in hers. “I have very bad news, Jack. There was a plane crash in Arizona.”
    My whole body went numb as I stared at her, not quite able to understand what she was trying to tell me.
    “I’m so sorry.” Her voice trembled, and her cheeks turned red. “Millicent won’t be coming home.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because her family was on that plane. They all died.”
    My heart beat like a hammer in my chest, and my blood churned thunderously in my ears. No, that wasn’t possible.
    “What do you mean? Why did the plane crash?”
    She shook her head and pressed her fist to her mouth to stifle a sob. “I don’t know. They’re looking into it, but they think it was something mechanical. The plane caught fire and there was an explosion as they were landing. I’m sure we’ll know more soon. We’ll have to watch the news. I’m so sorry.”
    She reached forward to pull me into her arms. I shut my eyes, willing the words to be false. It wasn’t true, I told myself. Millicent couldn’t have been on that plane. She couldn’t be dead. She was supposed to come home in two weeks. We’d promised each other that we would finish the clubhouse together.
    “She was such a good girl,” my mother said, rubbing her hand up and down my back. “They were a wonderful family. It’s very tragic. I’m so sorry, Jack.”
    They were a perfect family, and I loved everything about them.
    Tears spilled out of my eyes, and I clutched at my mother’s shirt. “No!” I cried. “She was my best friend. I loved her.”
    My mother wept, too. “She was very special. And wherever she is right now, I’m sure she’s watching over you, like a guardian angel. She’ll always be with you, Jack.”
    I cried even harder.
    As I lay in the hospital bed staring up at the ceiling, I couldn’t help but wonder if my childhood friend had somehow been with me on that road in Afghanistan. Maybe she was responsible for the miracle that saved me.
    Squeezing my eyes shut against the relentless pain, I told myself that if I ever met Millicent again in Heaven, I would be sure to thank her, and tell her how much I’d missed her.

PART II

Chapter Eleven

    Meg Andrews
    2007

    Growing up, I never had much luck in the romance department and looking back on it, I don’t know why I was in such a hurry to figure it all out. If only I had known that matters of the heart usually resolve themselves when the time is right. It just requires patience and the ability to follow your gut and listen to your intuition.
    That was something I didn’t know in my younger days, however, which is a bit surprising, considering I had an off-the-charts IQ. But nothing was easy back then when I was struggling to navigate my way through