A GIFT OF LOVE
PROLOGUE
Anna Matthews sat in the lab chair, her
eyes closed tightly against the bright, fluorescent lights above her. She somehow thought that if she couldn’t see
the cold, sterile room in which she sat, then it wouldn’t be so. It was only when she sat in silence like this
that she let her mind wander to the unfairness of it all. She was only 22 but felt much older. The drugs would do that to you, she was told. But feeling old wasn’t the worst of it. Feeling as if she would turn herself inside
out each time she was sick was worse.
The fact that all of her long, chocolate-brown hair was only a distant
memory was worse. Not knowing if it was
all going to be worth it when all was said and done topped the list of things
that sucked about having ovarian cancer.
She remained brave, though, for her mother mostly. The heartbreak in her mother’s eyes was
almost more than she could bear. And
then there was Terry. She felt the hot
sting of tears pushing against her eyelids.
She couldn’t help but wonder where he was now…or why he left without
saying goodbye. He swore it was for the
best…that he was doing it for her. But
deep inside she knew that their love was simply another casualty of her
disease. How could she ever have
expected that he would have wanted to share his life with someone like
her. Her hand made its way
absentmindedly to the buff she wore on her head.
“You doing alright sweetie?” The gentle voice of the nurse broke into her
thoughts.
“I’m fine, thank you,” she replied, doing
her best to smile at the woman. She
noticed her eyes. They were kind.
“Okay.
I’ll be back to check on you shortly.
Let me know if you need anything.”
Anna nodded as the nurse turned to move on
to her next patient.
“Let me know if you need anything,” she
echoed the words of the nurse in her thoughts.
“I need you to make me better. I need you to find Terry and ask him to come
back to me. I need to feel whole again.” Her mind played her words over and over again
as she felt that familiar anger swelling up inside.
She let her gaze slowly circle the room,
stopping briefly to look at the faces of all the others who sat in that room
with her. It reminded her of an assembly
line. It also helped to remind her that
she was not alone in dealing with such a horrific disease. She sat up taller in her chair.
“If I make it through this, I swear I’m
going to stop being afraid be of the unknown…of taking chances. I’m going to chase my dreams until I catch
them,” she thought to herself. “I’m
going to be happy again!”
She leaned back into
the chair, closing her eyes once again.
The soft beeping of all the machines in the room lulled her into a light sleep. She was so tired.
CHAPTER 1
From the wrap-around balcony of her Park
Avenue penthouse, Anna Garret stood gazing out across Central Park. The trees sparkled as the sun’s rays danced
across their frost-covered leaves. The
air was crisp. The sky was clear and a
beautiful shade of blue that was often hidden by the smog during the heat of
summer. Smiling to herself, her thoughts
turned to her husband, Mark, and the fact that their anniversary was just
around the corner. He’d been pulled out
to Chicago for a last-minute business trip but had promised he’d be back in
time to head out to their home in the Hamptons to celebrate the occasion with a
handful of their closest friends. They
both had very demanding careers, making time together a precious commodity and
one that there seemed to be less and less of.
Spending the entire weekend together was something she was really
looking forward to.
Her daydreaming was interrupted by the
phone ringing, bringing her quickly back to the present. She knew it was probably Mark calling to let
her know what time his flight arrived that day.
He’d called shortly after arriving in Chicago earlier in the week but
she hadn’t heard from him since. She
practically ran to grab the phone.
“Hello,” she answered, feeling the anxiety
form in the pit of her stomach. Their
romantic evening the night before he left for Chicago ended with in an argument
and she wasn’t sure what to expect from him.
“Hey babe, it’s me,” her husband said in
that voice he always used after they’d quarreled.
“I’m glad you called me finally,” she
replied, holding back her anger over the fact that he hadn’t called in almost a
week. “What time does your flight get
in? I was thinking that maybe we could
go straight out to the Hamptons from the airport so we’ll miss the traffic. I can pack for you cause we have most of what
we need at the house already. That’ll
give me some extra time to get the house opened up and start getting ready for
the party.”
“Sounds great honey, but that’s why I’m
calling,” he replied. She could hear the
hesitation in his voice.
“Oh?”
She already knew what he was going to say. “Don’t tell me you’re not
going to make it back in time Mark Garret!
It’s our anniversary!”
“I’m really sorry Anna but John has to
have me here to wrap up this huge contract.
He can’t do it because his wife is in the hospital and he can’t leave to
take over for me like we’d planned. I
mean, what could I say? The man’s wife
is sick.
His
words sounded rehearsed and she found herself doubting his sincerity. It seemed like several minutes passed before
she finally spoke.
“I guess you’re right. What about the party? All the plans have been finalized and I can’t
cancel now without losing all the money.”
It really wasn’t the idea of losing the
money that bothered her.
“I want you to go on out to the house and
I’ll try to wrap this up and make it out by Saturday.”
“You want me to go on and be the only one
of us at our own anniversary party?
Don’t be ridiculous Mark,” she replied sarcastically, her disappointment
turning into anger. “Why can’t Dave take
over for you? Or is he busy too?”
“Look Anna,” he apologized, with his words
once again not going very far to soothe her anger. “I’m very sorry and I know how disappointed
you are but there’s really nothing I can do about this. Duty calls.
I can’t just walk away from this.
It’s too big.”
“It’s always too big, Mark. That’s what you said the last time. When will it not be too big?”
“Oh come on honey. Please don’t be mad at me. I can’t stand the thought of you hanging up the
phone and still being upset. Please just
go on out to the house and I’ll do my best to make it as soon as I can wrap
stuff up here. I promise. Will you do that for me? There’s no reason for us both to miss out on
the fun.”
“Oh, okay.
I’ll go but I’m not happy about this at all Mark. You have a lot of making up to do when you
get there. I hope you know that.”
She stifled her disappointment, knowing
that confronting him would do no good.
“Promises, promises, “he crooned. “Now go have a good time and I’ll check in
with you tonight. Tell everyone I said
hello when you see them.”
They exchanged small talk for another
minute or two before hanging up. She
stood there, staring at the phone for several minutes. She told herself that Mark would never miss
their anniversary on purpose. He’d
always made such a big deal out of it in the past, showering her with expensive
gifts or trips. She knew he’d spare no
expense making it up to her. Still, she
couldn’t silence that annoying little voice that kept tugging at her heart,
making her question just what Mark was really doing in Chicago. Why someone else couldn’t take over for
him? Shrugging her shoulders, she felt a
shiver run up her spine. She’d forgotten
about the chill in the air. Folding her
arms across her chest, she winced as her fingertips brushed across the bruises
on her right upper arm. Closing her
eyes, she tried to block out the memory of the argument they’d had right before
he’d left. Her aggravation slowly crept
back in as she thought of it all.
Deciding that she’d rather head out to the Hamptons than spend the night
alone in the city, she went back into the bedroom to finish packing. At that moment, if she had to be alone, she
knew she’d rather be at the beach house than at the condo, surrounded by her
memories.
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