“Right.” Cory checked his dinner again. He poked his fork around and pushed the carrots to one side. “If we get his signature … I can meet him.”
Megan waited for a second. Then she breathed long and loud and looked at her plate. “Let's talk about something else.”
They talked about soccer practice and the other guys on the team and about her work at the restaurant, because she had a rich guy come in today, a big baldy, who left her a twenty-dollar tip.
“That's why the ice cream!” Cory raised his fork in the air.
“Exactly.”
After dinner, they played Scrabble, but Cory couldn't think about big words. Some turns he couldn't think about any words at all. He wanted to read the newspaper, the sports section. Because the 49ers were getting ready for the season and he didn't want to miss a single story.
Megan won with the word zebras, and Cory hugged her. “Good job.” He took a few steps back. “I'm gonna read the paper.”
“How about the dishes first?” Megan had dark hair, and she tossed it over her shoulder when she stood up. It was easy to think of her as older, sort of his mom's age. Maybe twenty-nine or thirty. But she was twenty-five. Megan said that wasn't exactly young and that she had an old soul.
The two of them washed dishes, him scrubbing the plates and Megan rinsing. When they were finally done, he grabbed the paper and ran it to the couch. He was halfway through the sports section when he saw it. The headline read, “Derrick Anderson Hosts Pizza Party at Youth Center.”
Cory raced through the short story. It talked about how Derrick Anderson loved foster kids, and that he was having a pizza party on Friday night at the youth center. All foster kids and their parents were invited.
“No way!” Cory shouted. “Megan, look at this!”
She was washing off the counter and made a little laugh. “Must be big. Read it to me.”
“It is big!” He read her the story, every line, and then he let the paper fall to the floor and he ran to her. “Please, Megan. I could meet Derrick Anderson! He's the backup quarterback for the 49ers, the famous one who used to play for the Bears. Remember him?”
“The whole world knows Derrick Anderson.” She did a sad sort of smile. “Well, they used to know him. Back in his prime.”
“What?” Cory jumped around. “He's still in his prime, Megan! He's thirty-nine, and he's still one of the best quarterbacks in the league.” He jumped some more. “I can't believe we can meet him.” He stopped, his eyes wide. “We can, right? Can we? Please, Megan?”
Her eyes twinkled. “Are you kidding?” She messed her fingers through his hair. “That's the best Friday night offer I've had for a year, at least.”
“Did you know about this, the pizza night?” Cory blinked at her. Megan volunteered at the youth center three times a week. She should've heard about this long before the newspaper.
Her eyes danced. “I had an idea. But I wanted to be sure before I told you. The 49ers' front office set it up. I guess the team wants to do whatever it can for the city. With all the talk about building a new stadium thirty miles south in Santa Clara.”
“Yeah.” Cory didn't like thinking about a new stadium. The 49 years had played at the same place since 1971. They were the best pros ports franchise in the state. Anyone knew that. Plus, Megan said if the mayor convinced the 49 years to stay in the city they were going to build a bunch of new houses and stuff. Cory and Megan would have to move for sure. He blinked and tried to forget about the whole stadium thing. “Besides, Derrick's doing the pizza party for a different reason.”
“Oh, really” Megan gave him a half smile.
“Yeah, because he likes foster kids. And that's all”
Megan titled her head, and her eyes said she was done teasing. “I think you're right.”
“So”—he felt his heart dance around inside him—“We're going?”
A laugh came from Megan. “Definitely.”
He grinned and held out his hand, official-like.“ Okay, then. It's a date.”
“Date.” She shook his fingers, and then she laughed and went back to wiping the counter.
Cory picked up the paper again and stacked it on the sofa. Friday was only four days away. Which meant it wasn't too soon to do what he'd done a hundred times before. He ran to his room, pulled a box out from beneath the bunk bed, and grabbed a piece of paper and pencil. He took out a dictionary to use for his table, and he started to write.
Every other time he'd done this he never actually give the letter away. Because when his mom was alive, she told him he couldn't just send it off without knowing where it would go, or if it would even be opened. So usually, he wrote the letter and threw it away. Or tucked it into his box, or his backpack. In case he every ran into the guy at the park or something.
But this … this was the most exciting thing to every happen, because Derrick Anderson could deliver his letter, Cory was sure. And maybe these were the good plans from God his mother had always told him about.
Cory thought fro a long time. He would write the best letter yet, stick it in the nicest envelope, and write across the front. So Derrick would know who to give it to. And Derrick would do it, because he loved foster kids. The Chronicle said so. And the letter was for one of Derrick's teammates, one of the most famous foot ball players in the country. A man Cory prayed every night he might someday meet.
The man was quarter back Aaron Hill, but Cory didn't want to meet him because he was the city's favorite football player. He wanted to meet him for a different reason.
Because Aaron Hill was his dad.
One Tuesday Morning
Karen Kingsbury
I'm a firefighter, God, so I know I've been in some tough places before. But this…this not knowing the people I love…this is the hardest thing I can imagine.
The last thing Jake Bryan knew was the roar of the World Trade Center collapsing on top of him and his fellow firefighters. The man in the hospital bed remembers nothing. Not rushing with his teammates up the stairway of the south tower to help trapped victims. Not being blasted from the building. And not the woman sitting by his bedside who says she is his wife.
Jamie Bryan will do anything to help her beloved husband regain his memory, and with it their storybook family life with their small daughter, Sierra. But that means helping Jake rediscover the one thing Jamie has never shared with him: his deep faith in God.
Jake's fondest prayer for his wife is about to have an impact beyond anything he could possibly have conceived. One Tuesday Morning is a love story like none you have ever read: tender, poignant, commemorating the tragedy and heroism of September 11 and portraying the far-reaching power of God's faithfulness and a good man's love.
Softcover: 978-0-310-24752-4
Audio CD, Unabridged: 978-0-310-26259-6
Pick up a copy today at your favorite bookstore!
A Riveting Story of Secret Sin and the Healing Power of Forgiveness
Oceans Apart
Karen Kingsbury
Airline pilot Connor Evans and his wife, Michele, seem to be the perfect couple living what looks like a perfect life. Then a plane goes down in the Pacific Ocean. One of the casualties is Kiahna Siefert, a flight attendant Connor knew well. Too well. Kiahna's will is very clear: before her seven-year-old son, Max, can be turned over to the state, his father must be contacted; the father he' never met, the father who doesn't know he exists: Connor Evans.
Now will the presence of one lonely child and the truth he represents destroy Connor's family? Or is it possible that healing and hope might come in the shape of a seven-year-old boy?
Softcover: 978-0-310-24749-4
Unabridged Audio Pages® CD: 978-0-310-25403-4
Pick up a copy today at your favorite bookstore!
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Beyond Tuesday Morning Page 31
