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A dozen questions demanded her attention, but one was louder than the rest. “How, Landon? How do we do this?”

He took her hands in his. “We start by holding on. To each other. To this moment. To every day God gives us.” His eyes grew damp, but a smile played on the corners of his lips.

“Then what?” Her words were a choked whisper, tainted with all the joy and torment welling within her.

In the distance, Cole’s voice rose loud above the mingling guests. “Landon!” They watched as he jumped up from the table and headed toward them at a full run. “You came back!”

Ashley glanced at her family and saw that they had turned her way now, smiling and nodding to each other, surprised and clearly happy to see them together. Sam and Erin waved, and Kari and Ryan began moving closer, probably intent on welcoming Landon to the party.

She looked at Landon, desperate for him to finish what he’d been trying to tell her. Even if they found a way to hold on, how could they move ahead from here? “What, Landon…what then?”

He brought his face close to hers so she could hear him even above the nearing shouts of joy from Cole.

His clear, calm words told Ashley he’d thought them out long before coming here. “We never let go, Ash. No matter where tomorrow takes us, we just never let go.”

As long as she lived, Ashley was certain those words would continue to play in her head:
“We never let go, Ash. We just never let go.”

It was true, wasn’t it? No one knew the future. And wherever the next day or even the next hour took them, if they never let go of each other, of God, they might never have to. They could face her future together, taking every step with God, begging him for a miracle.

If they kept holding on, it could happen.

“Landon!” Cole reached them and jumped into Landon’s arms. “I’m so glad you’re here.” His little-boy vest rode up and gathered near his chest as he wrapped his arms around Landon’s neck.

Ashley watched them, memorizing the picture they made, these two she loved more than any others in the world. And in that instant Ashley knew Landon had to be right. Because after being with him now, after knowing that he had returned to her and loved her despite her frightening future, one thing was certain.

She could never again let him go.

M
ORE ABOUT THE
B
AXTER FAMILY
!

Please turn this page for a bonus excerpt from

R    E    J    O    I    C    E

the fourth book in the

R  E  D  E  M  P  T  I  O  N    S  E  R  I  E  S

by Karen Kingsbury with Gary Smalley

From

R    E    J    O    I    C    E

by Karen Kingsbury with Gary Smalley

T
HE SWIM PARTY
seemed like a great idea, the perfect ending to a perfect summer.

Brooke Baxter West’s partner at the pediatric office had a daughter Maddie’s age, and to celebrate her birthday, the family had decided to invite ten kids and their parents over for an afternoon in their backyard pool.

For two weeks Maddie and Hayley had been looking forward to it, seeking out Brooke every day and tugging on her arm. “Mommy, when’s the swimming party again?”

But two days before the big event, one of the other doctors in the office received word from the West Coast that his aging grandmother had only days to live. Before he caught an emergency flight to California, he asked Brooke if she’d take his on-call duty for the weekend.

“You’re my last hope,” he’d told her. “My family needs me.”

Brooke hated being on-call when she was spending an afternoon with her girls. But other than the swim party, the weekend was open, and she could take the pager with her. The chances of getting a call on a Saturday afternoon were fairly slim.

Now the big day was here, and Brooke was having doubts. She should’ve called around, found someone else to take the on-call duty. Her kids needed her at the party, and if she was called away, she’d miss out on the last hurrah of the summer.

Brooke slipped on a pair of shorts over her swimsuit. She was raising the zipper when she heard Peter’s voice ring through the house from downstairs.

“Let’s go, girls.” Frustration rang in his voice. “The party starts in ten minutes.”

Brooke grabbed her bag—the one with the life jackets and sunscreen—and rolled her eyes. What was wrong with him, anyway? He was constantly grouchy; the two of them hadn’t had a normal conversation in weeks. Their home was so tense that even little Hayley had noticed it.

“Is Daddy mad at you, Mommy?” she’d asked earlier that week.

Brooke had mumbled something about Daddy being tired, and that yes, they should pray for him. But in all truth, she was sick of Peter’s attitude. He treated her like she was incompetent and irritating. The same way he’d treated her ever since Maddie’s diagnosis.

Didn’t he get it? Maddie was better now; no fevers for more than two months.

Brooke ran into Hayley and Maddie in the hallway and grinned at them. “I’m wearing my swimsuit!”

“Goodie, Mommy.” Maddie jumped up and down and reached for Hayley’s hand. “We can play tea party on the steps.”

They joined Peter downstairs and rode in relative silence to the house across town where Brooke’s partner, Aletha, and her husband, DeWayne, lived. On the way up the steps, Hayley took hold of her hand and squeezed it three times. The sign Brooke used with the girls to say, “I love you.”

At three years old, Hayley was still small enough to carry, so Brooke swept her into her arms as they headed down the walk toward the front door. The love from her youngest daughter was the perfect remedy for Peter’s coolness.

“You’re a sweet girl, Hayley; do you know that?” Brooke shifted her pool bag to her shoulder.

“You, too, Mommy.” Hayley rubbed her tiny nose against Brooke’s. “You’re a sweet girl, too. Know why?”

“Why?” Brooke and Hayley trailed behind Peter and Maddie, but Brooke didn’t mind. She loved moments like this with her girls.

“Because—” Hayley tilted her head, her pale blonde hair falling like silk around her little face—“I love you, that’s why.”

The door opened and Aletha smiled at them from the front step. “Hi. The party’s out back.”

Peter pulled out a smile, the one he wielded whenever they were in public. Brooke wanted to take him aside and ask him why he couldn’t smile that way at her, but she never had the chance.

At that moment her pager went off.

She unclipped it from her waistband and stared at the small message window.
Urgent
, it read. The hospital’s main number followed the word.

Peter looked over her shoulder. “What is it?”

“A hospital call.” She couldn’t hide the disappointment in her voice. “Maybe it’s nothing.”

A group of children ran into the foyer and surrounded Hayley and Maddie. Brooke ducked into the nearest bedroom and pulled her cell phone from her purse. “Dr. Brooke West here. Someone paged me.”

The nurse on the other end rattled off the information. One of the patients from their office had been admitted with a staph infection. It looked serious. They wanted a pediatrician from the office in to consult. Immediately.

“I’m on my way.” Brooke hung up the phone and returned to the foyer.

Peter caught her look and raised his eyebrows. “Well?”

“I have to go.” She did a quiet huff. This was the part of doctoring that she hated. The part that interfered with family life. “I’ll be back as quickly as I can.”

Maddie ran up to her. “Natasha wants us to swim, Mommy. Can we, please? Can we right now?”

“Well, baby—” she looked up and saw Hayley standing a foot away, waiting for her answer—“don’t you want to wait till Mommy comes back?”

“We can swim later, too. Please, Mommy? Can we?”

Natasha ran up then and hugged Maddie. Their families had been friends for years, and Maddie and Natasha were best buddies. “Please, can we swim?” Natasha linked arms with Maddie, and they smiled their best smiles.

Brooke could feel the fight leaving her. So she’d miss out on some of the fun. She’d be back in time to swim with them, wouldn’t she? “Okay, but let me talk to Daddy first.”

Peter had moved into the living room, where he and DeWayne were seated side by side, their eyes glued to the television. The play-offs were on, and Aletha had warned that having the party during a game could mean the loss of one or more of the men.

Brooke crossed the room and positioned herself in front of her husband. “I have to go, but the girls want to swim.” The bag in her hands was bulky, and she set it on the floor between them. “Here’re the sunscreen and life jackets. The girls need both before they can go out back.”

“Right.” Peter leaned sideways so he could see the TV. “I got it, honey.”

The term of endearment was for DeWayne’s benefit, Brooke was sure, and she didn’t appreciate the way he looked past her to the game. “Peter, I’m serious. Don’t let them outside without wearing sunscreen and a life jacket. Neither of them is pool safe.”

He shot her a look, one that said she was embarrassing him. Then he yelled out, “Hayley…Maddie, come here.”

The girls scampered into the room and came up close to Peter. “Yes, Daddy.” Hayley spoke first. “Can we swim?”

“Not yet.” Peter looked once more at Brooke and then unzipped the bag. Quickly and with little finesse, he lathered sunscreen into his hand and then tossed the bottle to Brooke. “Do Hayley.”

She needed to leave, but this was more important. Moving as fast as she could, she squeezed the lotion into her hand and positioned herself in front of their youngest daughter. “Here, sweetie. We don’t want a sunburn, right?”

“Right, Mommy.”

Brooke rubbed the sunscreen over Hayley’s arms and legs, her back and neck area, and finally her face. She finished the job just as Peter finished with Maddie. Then Peter tossed her the smaller life jacket. This time he said nothing, and that was fine with Brooke.

These days, the less he said the better.

She took the blue-and-aqua life jacket and carefully slipped first one of Hayley’s arms, then the other, through the holes. Next she latched the buckles down the front and attached a strap that ran from the back of the vest, between her legs, to the front.

Brooke had researched life jackets, and this style was the safest.

When Maddie’s vest was on, Peter gave Brooke one last glare. Again because of DeWayne seated beside him, he kept his tone light, almost friendly. “There you go. See you later.”

Brooke said nothing. Instead she turned and bid the girls a quick good-bye. She found Aletha and promised to be back as soon as possible. A minute later she was in the car, doing a U-turn toward the hospital. With every mile she felt the distance between herself and her daughters, certain that they were playing in the pool by now, and knowing she was missing out.

It took all her effort to convince herself that the party would still be in full swing when she returned, and that she and Maddie and Hayley would have their tea party on the steps of the pool.

Then—other than her relationship with Peter—everything about the day would work out just like it was supposed to.

Peter was grateful the play-offs were on.

Because as much as he liked DeWayne and Aletha, the last thing he wanted to do was spend Saturday with a bunch of doctors. Swimming wasn’t his thing, and this game would be easily one of the most exciting ever. Besides, most of the guests were bound to be Brooke’s friends, people he barely knew. The prospect of catching a game with DeWayne was what swayed him to come.

Especially after Brooke took the on-call assignment.

What had she been thinking? Of course she’d get called on a Saturday afternoon. That was when kids needed doctors most of all. Soccer injuries, illnesses that had brewed all week at school. Insect bites. Weekends were notoriously busy for pediatricians.

The fact that she’d let the other doctor talk her into taking his on-call was further proof that she wasn’t capable. Not nearly as capable as he’d originally thought her to be. Back when they’d met in med school, her confidence and competence had been part of what attracted him to her. But after the situation with Maddie—when she’d insisted that their daughter didn’t need a specialist—Peter had seen his wife in a new light.

One that was far from flattering.

An hour passed, and the sound of children came from the other room.

“Okay,” he heard Aletha tell them. “Dry off, and we’ll have cake.”

It was the seventh inning, and his team was down by one. Peter hoped they could keep the cake thing quiet—at least until the commercial. Not that he didn’t like birthdays, but he’d had one of the longest weeks in his life. He’d gone without sleep for two days, and now he was spending his Saturday at a five-year-old’s birthday party.

At that instant—with the tying run on third and a home-run hitter at the plate—Maddie and Hayley skipped up to him. Their life jackets made a trail of dripping water, and they were shivering cold. “Daddy, can you take off our jackets?”

He glanced at them and then back at the TV. “Just a minute, girls. Daddy wants to see this.”

The pitch was good. The batter cut and connected, but the ball flew over the catcher and into the stands. Another foul tip.

Peter looked at his daughters again. “Okay, now what?”

“We’re dripping, Daddy.” Maddie took a step forward. “Can you take off our jackets, please?”

“Sure, pumpkin.” He unsnapped the buckles on both vests and helped the girls remove them. “Take them to Natasha’s mommy and ask her to hang them near the bathtub.”

The next pitch was a perfect strike, making the count full.

Hayley stepped up. “Daddy, when’s Mommy coming back?”

“Soon, baby.” He leaned around her and watched the man at bat belt one out of the park. The moment it was gone, he and DeWayne stood up and slapped their hands in a high five. “That’s my boys.”

“Bigger than life.” DeWayne gave a few nods and sat back down. “On their way, baby. On their way.”

“Daddy—” Hayley tilted her head—“I love you.”

Peter eased himself back to his seat. He didn’t take his eyes from the game. “Love you, too.”

She was already out of the room when he yelled back over his shoulder. “Don’t go outside again without those life jackets.”

He focused on the screen. The go-ahead run was on third with just one out. If they won this game they’d take a three-two lead in this series of games.

The game was over, the win in the books, and Peter was thirty minutes into a discussion on the merits of switch-hitting and relief pitching when he heard Maddie calling him from the other room.

“Daddy! Daddy, quick! Help!”

Peter held up his hand to DeWayne and raised his voice. “In here, baby.”

Maddie tore around the corner. Her hair was dry and her eyes round. “Daddy, I can’t find Hayley.”

He was on his feet, his heart suddenly in his throat. “What do you mean, honey?” Fear dug its talons into his back, his neck. It was all he could do to keep from sprinting toward the backyard. “You were supposed to be having cake.”

“We did. Then we ’cided to go swimming, Daddy.” Maddie’s mouth hung open. “But Hayley said she wanted to be first. Now I can’t find—”

Peter didn’t wait for Maddie to finish. He took off for the patio door, not so much because of what Maddie had said, but because of the thing she was holding in her hands. The thing Peter had only that instant recognized.

Hayley’s life jacket.