Read Reach for Tomorrow Online
Authors: Lurlene McDaniel
Reach for Tomorrow (15 page)
“I can’t believe it,” Katie had sobbed into the receiver. “I wanted her in my wedding so much.”
“She tried very hard to make it. But her body just broke down. We buried her in the bridesmaid dress,” Sarah’s mother said in her soft Southern drawl. “She looked lovely. Everyone said so.”
“I’ll miss her,” Katie said, still crying. “We all will.”
“She was so looking forward to your wedding, Katie. It kept her going, made her last days more bearable. We will always be grateful she had you in her life, and the friends she made at camp last summer.”
Sarah’s mother paused. “Listen, dear, I’m mailing you something that Sarah wanted you to have. She said you’d understand.”
Now, remembering that April evening, Katie reached up and fingered the diamond pendant around her neck. It had come full circle, back to Jenny House. She believed that Amanda would be pleased to know Katie was wearing it as her “something borrowed” on her wedding day. Katie wore the necklace for Sarah, for Amanda, for Jillian, and for all of them.
“Are we ready?” The wedding director, a small
woman with brown hair, came hurrying into the room.
The bridesmaids and the bride scurried over to her. “Here we go,” Lacey said.
“Hope I don’t trip,” Chelsea said.
“I hope I don’t faint,” Meg countered.
“Go, girl,” Tara said to Katie.
Katie hugged each of her bridesmaids. “I’ll be right behind you,” she promised, and watched them line up as they were to walk down the aisle in front of her: Tara, Chelsea, and Meg, followed by Lacey, the maid of honor.
“You all look lovely,” the director said with a bright smile. She turned to Katie. “Your father’s waiting at the top of the stairs.”
Katie watched her friends climb the carpeted stairway to the vestibule. As Meg walked up, Katie again caught sight of her odd choice of necklace. Meg wore a yellow grosgrain ribbon tied at the back of her neck. A locket hung from the ribbon against her throat. “My grandmother’s,” she’d explained earlier.
“Wouldn’t it look better on a gold chain?” Lacey had asked. “I can loan you one if you’d like.”
Meg had reached up and touched the ribbon. “If you don’t mind, I’d rather wear this. It was a gift from a friend. A special gift.”
Katie had said, “Wear it.”
Katie took a deep breath and climbed the stairs behind her friends, the wedding director carrying her long train. In the narthex, her father stepped up and patted her hand. The director smoothed Katie’s train and fluffed her veil. The music started, and Lacey began her walk down the carpeted aisle. One by one the other girls followed.
From her vantage point, Katie saw the chapel pews filled with her family and friends. At the front of the chapel, behind the granite altar, the stained-glass window soared in hues of blue, yellow, and green. The center pane depicted white orchids, Jenny Crawford’s favorite flower, and above that pane was a blazing emblem of the sun. At the bottom, in Gothic-style lettering, was a passage from Scripture: “Lo, I am with you always.”
Light flooded through the window and cast the chapel in shades of pale blue and yellow. The scent of summer flowers hung in the cool mountain air.
The minister stood on the altar steps, and beside him Katie saw her Josh, smiling. Next to Josh stood his groomsmen—Richard Holloway, Jeff, Eric, and Morgan. A lump filled her throat and tears misted her eyes as she watched the procession. Her heart swelled. She loved them so! There could be no better friends in all the world. She wished Jenny Crawford
could see from heaven all the good she had given to the world. The thought that maybe she could made Katie beam.
The organist began the wedding processional from
Lohengrin
, and Katie’s father asked, “Ready, lovely Katie?”
“Very ready, Daddy.”
She took her father’s arm, and with her gaze locked on to Josh’s, Katie O’Roark walked toward her future.
Dear Reader,
F
or those of you who have been longtime readers, I hope you have enjoyed this newest One Last Wish volume. For those of you discovering One Last Wish for the first time, I hope you will want to read the other books that are listed in detail in the next few pages. You’ll be able to read the stories of the characters who have come together in this volume. From Lacey to Katie to Morgan and the rest, you’ll discover the lives of the characters I hope you’ve come to care about just as I have.
Since the series began, I have received numerous letters from teens wishing to volunteer at Jenny House. That is not possible because Jenny House exists only in my imagination, but there are many fine organizations and camps for sick kids that would welcome volunteers. If you are interested in becoming such a volunteer, contact your local hospitals about their volunteer programs or try calling service organizations in your area to find out how you can help. Your own school might have a list of community service programs.
Extending yourself is one of the best ways of expanding your world … and of enlarging your heart. Turning good intentions into actions is consistently one of the most rewarding experiences in life. My wish is that the ideals of Jenny House will be carried on by you, my reader. I hope that now that we share the Jenny House attitude, you will believe as I do that the end is often only the beginning.
Thank you for caring
.
Y
OU’LL WANT TO READ ALL THE
O
NE
L
AST
W
ISH
BOOKS BY BESTSELLING AUTHOR
Let Him Live
Someone Dies, Someone Lives
Mother, Help Me Live
A Time to Die
Sixteen and Dying
Mourning Song
The Legacy: Making Wishes Come True
Please Don’t Die
She Died Too Young
All the Days of Her Life
A Season for Goodbye
Reach for Tomorrow
I
F YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT
M
EGAN
,
BE SURE TO READ
O
N
S
ALE
N
OW FROM
B
ANTAM
B
OOKS
0-553-56067-0
Excerpt from
Let Him Live
by Lurlene McDaniel
Copyright © 1993 by Lurlene McDaniel
Published by Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers
a division of Random House, Inc.
1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036
All rights reserved
B
eing a candy striper isn’t Megan Charnell’s idea of an exciting summer, but she volunteered and can’t get out of it. Megan has her own problems to deal with. Still, when she meets Donovan Jacoby, she find herself getting involved in his life.
Donovan shares with Megan his secret: An anonymous benefactor has granted him one last wish, and he needs Megan’s help. The money can’t buy a compatible transplant, but it can allow Donovan to give his mother and little brother something he feels he owes them. Can Megan help make his dream come true?
“When I first got sick in high school, kids were pretty sympathetic, but the sicker I got and the more school I missed, the harder it was to keep up with the old crowd,” Donovan explained. “Some of them tried to understand what I was going through, but unless you’ve been really sick …” He didn’t finish the sentence
.
“I’ve never been sick,” Meg said, “but I really do know what you’re talking about.”
He tipped his head and looked into her eyes. “I believe you do.”
I
F YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT
K
ATIE AND
J
OSH
,
BE SURE TO READ
O
N
S
ALE
N
OW FROM
B
ANTAM
B
OOKS
0-553-29842-9
Excerpt from
Someone Dies, Someone Lives
by Lurlene McDaniel
Copyright © 1992 by Lurlene McDaniel
Published by Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers
a division of Random House, Inc.
1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036
All rights reserved
K
atie O’Roark feels miserable, though she knows she’s incredibly lucky to have received an anonymous gift of money. The money can’t buy the new heart she needs or bring back her days as a track star.
A donor is found with a compatible heart, and Katie undergoes transplant surgery. While recuperating, she meets Josh Martel and senses an immediate connection. When Katie decides to start training to realize her dream of running again, Josh helps her meet the difficult challenge.
Will Katie find the strength physically and emotionally to live and become a winner again?
From the corner of her eye, Katie saw a boy with red hair who was about her age. He stood near the doorway, looking nervous. With a start, she realized he was watching her because he kept averting his gaze when she glanced his way
. Odd,
Katie told herself. Katie had a nagging sense she couldn’t place him. As nonchalantly as possible, she rolled her wheelchair closer, picking up a magazine as she passed a table
.
She flipped through the magazine, pretending to be interested, all the while glancing discreetly toward the boy. Even though he also picked up a magazine, Katie could tell that he was preoccupied with studying her. Suddenly, she grew self-conscious. Was something wrong with the way she looked? She’d thought she looked better than she had in months when she’d left her hospital room that afternoon. Why was he watching her?
Katie is also featured in the novels
Please Don’t Die, She Died Too Young
, and
A Season for Goodbye
.