Eternally Yours 1 Read Online Free Page A

to the grieving couple who had hoped to replace their dead daughter with a live, scarred one. She saw again the children who’d taunted her, heard their insults, endured their slaps and pinches.
    A newspaper she’d seen long ago blared the headline, Scandal Rocks Amity-For-All , and in smaller print, Charity May Be Linked to Bloody Coup in San Salvador. She’d never read the details of the article, though she’d wanted to. Her then-foster parents refused to allow her to “dwell on the past.” After all, hadn’t she experienced that bloody coup first-hand? Wasn’t that enough? Now, however, the newspaper article became a blip on her brain, there for a heartbeat, then gone.
    Incidents whizzed through her memory. Every move, every disappointment, every disastrous attempt to find love and happiness, stole another piece of Jodie’s heart, like splinters of the True Cross. Once again, life became a chore, each day harder to survive—until she met Gabe. Dear, sweet, shy Gabe with his sweet, shy courtship. All their precious moments flew by too fast. Until they reached the humiliating moment he told her he needed to find the perfect woman. And then time slowed.
    Knowing now what she hadn’t suspected then, she saw the evening through different eyes . Now, she noticed the grin he couldn’t erase, counted how many times—fourteen—he fumbled in his breast pocket where he no doubt hid an engagement ring. She watched the shocked expression pop onto his face when she stormed out of the restaurant because he said he wanted a perfect woman in his life. No. Not a perfect woman, as she’d heard that night. The perfect woman.
    Before she could analyze the difference, she o nce again sat behind the wheel of her battered old Corolla, floored the gas pedal, careened into the liquor store’s parking lot, purchased the liter of Grey Goose, and roared home, tears blurring her vision through all ten miles.
    An icy chill encased her soul while her bathtub filled. She shuddered.
    “Do not be afraid, Jodie,” Serenity whispered. “I am with you. We’re almost done.”
    She squeezed her eyes shut. “I don’t think I can bear to see this.”
    “You must. You cannot move forward until we’ve exami ned your past. Each tragedy we endure, each mistake we make, teaches a lesson that we carry with us into our next lifetime. Be strong, Jodie. Review these moments, and discover the truth your fear kept from you.”
    Bands of steel wrapped her spine, strengthening her, borrowed from Serenity she supposed, but she’d take the courage anywhere she could get it.
    “Pain and fear often make us act foolishly,” Serenity advised. “Do not judge yourself harshly for your mistakes. Together, we will discuss every incident, every person you’ve met, every reaction you’ve ever had. I will help you learn from the weaknesses that have held you back. But you and I must now view your last moments on Earth.”
    On a painful swallow, Jodie fixed her attention to the visions in her head.
    A panicked Gabe pounded on her apartment door. “Jodie! It’s me. Gabe. Let me in, please. I don’t understand what happened, but I’m sorry.”
    When she didn’t answer his shouts, he used physical strength, slamming his shoulder against the door. Bam! Bam! Bam! Crack! Bam! Bam! Bam! Crack!
    At last, t he continuous impact reduced her door to splintered wood, and he stumbled inside, screaming her name. He raced through her living room, down her hallway, and even into her bedroom before he pushed open the bathroom door. Where he found her in the tub, still and breathless. “Oh, Jodie, no!”
    He pulled her from the cool ing water, placed two fingers against her throat to feel for a pulse. Finding none, he whipped out his cell phone and dialed 911. “I need an ambulance! Hurry! I think my fiancée tried to kill herself.”
    Fiancée.
    “Oh, God,” Jodie wailed as she watched Gabe’s torment, the frantic life-saving attempts he’d made. Useless. All for