Ever After

by Karen Kingsbury

  BOOK CLUB QUESTIONS

  Explain Lauren Gibbs’s feelings toward the war at the beginning of Ever After. What had shaped her viewpoints?

  Do you think it would’ve been possible for Lauren to continue living in Fallon without spending additional time in the Middle East? Why or why not?

  Discuss Shane Galanter’s feelings toward war and the military at the beginning of Ever After. What had led to his viewpoints?

  What are some of the differing opinions in the United States today regarding war in the Middle East or the defense of the country? Discuss.

  Share an opinion that is different from yours regarding this issue. What do you think might lead someone to have this opinion? How can you better understand that person?

  Explain how it is possible to have differing opinions and still be like-minded on the bigger issues. How did Shane see this as a possibility for him and Lauren early in the book?

  Describe the character Justin Baker. What made him such an amazing young man? Why would a young man like Justin want to join the armed services? What characteristics do you see as common in the men and women you know who serve this country?

  Give examples of Justin’s character, and how Lauren, Shane, and Emily could see that character in action during the summer when he and Emily were dating.

  Why did Justin feel strongly about serving in Operation Enduring Freedom, and the war in Iraq?

  Why did Lauren feel she had to return to reporting on the war? What did she expect to find when she returned, and what did she pray for?

  What was the epiphany for Lauren, the turning point that broadened her viewpoint on the war? Explain that scene and the emotions Lauren felt.

  What emotions and feelings did Lauren have when she witnessed Yusef killed by a sniper? How did she feel about the war then, and her prior reporting on it?

  Based on Justin’s emails, photos, and firsthand accounts, what were his feelings toward the war? What were his feelings toward the Iraqi people?

  How did Emily react to the news that Justin had been killed? Did it change her opinions on the validity of the war? How did Lauren react?

  Explain Shane’s feelings as he received word about Justin’s death. What did he feel was the one enemy that could threaten a soldier? Why?

  How did Shane find his way back to having purpose in his position as an officer in the military? Explain his feelings when Justin’s body returned home in a flag-covered casket.

  Explain the support Justin and his family received during the memorial service and graveside service. When have you seen that sort of outpouring of support for a member of the military? Describe the time.

  The lasting message of Ever After deals with love and sacrifice. Explain how those two are intertwined, and how they model the greatest sacrifice of all — the one Christ made on the cross.

  Tell about a soldier in your family or circle of friends. What price did he or she pay in the fight for freedom?

  What can you do to support the troops in your area? How can you involve your family or church, your friends or coworkers?

  Read this sample chapter from Karen Kingsbury’s

  One Tuesday Morning.

  SEPTEMBER 2, 2001

  There were too many funerals.

  Jamie Bryan locked eyes on the casket anchored atop a specially fitted slow-moving New York City fire truck, and that was her only thought. Too many funerals. So many that this one—like those before it—was steeped in tradition: the haunting refrains from fifty bagpipes, the white-gloved salute, the lone bugler sounding taps, the helicopter passing over head. Jamie knew the routine well. Hundreds of dignitaries and several thousand uniformed firefighters lined Fifth Avenue outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the same way they’d done five times already that year.

  A sad melody lifted from the bagpipes and mingled with the early September wind.

  “I hate this,” she whispered without moving.

  Her husband stood a few inches away, tall and proud, his blue uniform pressed crisp, right hand sharply at attention near his brow. He squeezed her hand. No words came, no response to her statement. What could he say? Funerals were part of the job. Sometimes ten a year, sometimes twenty. This year was the lightest yet. Only six so far—six men like Jake who went to work for the FDNY one morning and never came home.

  The funeral music swelled, and Jamie Bryan could feel the walls, feel them growing and building within her. The first bricks had been with her since the beginning, back when she first considered marrying a New York City firefighter.

  Back when she and Jake Bryan were just twelve years old.

  “I’m never leaving New York City.” They’d been playing tag with neighbor kids outside his house one day that summer. Everyone else had gone in for dinner. “I’ll be FDNY like my daddy.” Certainty shone from his eyes as they made their way onto his front lawn. “Puttin’ out fires and savin’ people.”

  “That’s fine for you.” She’d dropped to the ground and leaned back on her elbows. “When I grow up I’m gonna live in France.” She stared at the hazy humid New York sky. “Artists live there.”

  “Oh yeah?” Jake flopped down beside her. “Before or after you marry me?”

  She lowered her chin to her chest and raised her eyebrows at him. “What makes you think I’d marry you, Jake Bryan?”

  “Because …” He twisted his baseball cap and shot her a grin. “You love me. And you always will.”

  That had been it, really. They didn’t date until high school, but after that summer Jake Bryan had been the only boy for her.

  “What do you see in him?” Her father peered at her over the top of his newspaper the day after her eighteenth birthday. “He’ll never be rich.”

  Jamie had rolled her eyes. “Money isn’t everything, Daddy.”

  “But security is.” Her father let the newspaper fall to the table. “You’ll get neither from Jake.”

  Anger had flashed like lightning across Jamie’s heart. “How can you say that?”

  “Because.” Her father had rested his forearms on the table, his expression softer. “It’s a tough job, fighting fires in New York City. The danger’s always there, Jamie, as close as the next call.” He gestured in the direction of Jake’s house. “Look at his mother. She lives with the danger every day. It’s in her eyes, part of who she is. That’ll be you one day if you marry Jake Bryan.”

  Her father and Jake’s were both Staten Island men, hardworking New Yorkers who made the commute to Manhattan every day. But the similarities stopped there. Jake’s father, Jim, was a fireman, a chaplain who always had something to say about God or the importance of faith.

  “What good thing has the Lord done for you today, Jamie?” he’d ask, grinning at her with piercing blue eyes that would light up the room.

  Jamie was never sure how to answer the man. She had no practice at giving God credit for the good things in life. Small wonder, really. Her father, Henry Steele, was an investment banker who had built a small financial empire with nothing more than brains, determination, and self-reliance. At least that was his explanation.

  Their family had lived in the same house where Jake and Jamie and their daughter, Sierra, lived today. In an elite section of Westerleigh, not far from the Staten Island Expressway and the ferry ramps. The sprawling two-story colonial had a finished basement and a built-in pool in the backyard. Back then Jamie and her sister had been friends, just two years apart and living the charmed life of summer beach parties and winter vacations in the Florida Keys.

  All of it compliments of Henry Steele’s hard work and ingenuity.

  God got no credit at all.

  “A man doesn’t need anyone but himself,” he would tell Jamie and her sister. “Religion is a sign of weakness.” Then he’d shoot a pointed look at Jamie. “Of course, when a person fights fires in New York City, faith might be a necessity.”

  And so Jamie waited month after month for something terrible to happen to Jake’s father. But in the end it ha
d been Jamie’s father, not Jake’s, who died the tragic death. One evening when her parents were driving home from the ferry, her father lost control at the wheel, careened off the road, and wrapped their car around a telephone pole. By the time paramedics arrived at the scene, both her parents were dead. Jamie was twenty that year, her sister, eighteen.

  Their parents carried a million dollars’ life insurance each, and a lawyer helped the girls work out an agreement. Jamie got the family house; Kara got a full ride to Florida State University and stocks. They were both given enough savings to last a lifetime, but no amount of money could stop the arguments that developed over the next few years. An ocean of differences lay between them now. It had been five years since they’d spoken to each other.

  Three years after the death of her parents, Jamie remembered her father’s warning about Jake’s job as she stood by and watched him graduate with his fire science degree. Weeks later he was hired by the New York Fire Department. The next summer Jake and Jamie married and honeymooned on a Caribbean cruise, and since then Jamie hadn’t been more than a hundred miles from the East Coast.

  But she no longer wanted to travel the world. Sights from a dozen exotic countries could never rival the pleasure she felt simply loving Jake Bryan.

  “You don’t have to work, you know …” Jamie had mentioned the fact to Jake just once—a month before his first shift with FDNY. “We have enough money.” Jake had bristled in a way she hadn’t seen him do before or since.

  “Listen. Fighting fires in New York City is part of who I am, Jamie. Deep inside me.” His eyes held a hard glint. “It’s not about the money.”

  The bagpipes stopped, and a sad silence hung in the air.

  A bugle cry pierced the quiet morning, and the lonely sound of taps filled the street. Jamie stared at the coffin again. The dead man had been a proby, a probational firefighter still serving his first year with the department. This time deadly smoke, fiery flames, and falling ceiling beams weren’t responsible.

  The man’s engine company had simply responded to an auto shop on fire. For several minutes the proby worked a massive hose reel at the side of the engine, then he climbed back into the cab. His buddies found him not long afterwards, slumped forward, dead of a heart attack at twenty-seven years old. Just five months after graduating top of his class.

  He was the fourth fireman to suffer a fatal heart attack in ten months.

  The bugle rang out its last note, and in very little time, the sea of blue began to break up. Jamie and Jake held hands as they made their way back to his pickup truck and headed home to Sierra.

  Sierra …

  The image of their four-year-old daughter filled Jamie’s heart and for a moment dimmed the deep ache there. Sierra had Jake’s blue eyes and Jamie’s trademark dimples. No one knew where Sierra had gotten her blonde silky hair, but she was a beauty, inside and out. Days like this, Jamie could hardly wait to hold her, to soak in the warmth and hope of her precious laugh. The girl had held both their hearts captive since the day she was born.

  Jamie stared out the truck window.

  Manhattan smelled of warm bistros and cabbie exhaust fumes. It didn’t have a downtime. The sidewalks teemed with people as much now as they would on a weekday. She keyed on a couple about the same age as she and Jake, dressed for business, walking briskly toward some lower Manhattan destination. The two exchanged a smile, and for a fraction of a second, Jamie wondered, Do they know about the dead fireman? Do they spend time pondering the fact that men like Jake are willing to die for their safety?

  Jamie shifted and slipped her hand into Jake’s. Of course they don’t. Unless they know a firefighter or police officer, unless they regularly attend the funerals, why would they? She leaned back in her seat and looked at Jake. The silence between them was heavy, and words didn’t come until they hit the ferry docks.

  “When’s the last time you had your heart checked?”

  Jake glanced at her. “What?”

  “Your heart.” She swallowed and tried to find a neutral tone. “When’s the last time you had it checked?”

  “Jamie …” Understanding flooded his eyes. “I’m fine. There’s nothing wrong with my heart.”

  “I’d rather have the doctors decide.”

  “Honey, heart attacks are part of life.” He worked his fingers a little more tightly between hers and kept his eyes on the road. “Not just for firemen.”

  She stared out the window again and let the air ease from her lungs. Did he always have to read her mind? Couldn’t she keep even a little fear to herself? He would never be honest with her as long as he knew she was afraid. Every time he sensed her concern, he had the same answer. Not me, Jamie … I’ll be careful … nothing’ll happen … And now this. There’s nothing wrong with my heart …

  They pulled into line at the Whitehall terminal and inched their way onto the ferry. When they’d driven up as far as they could, Jake slipped the truck into park and faced her. His voice was a gentle caress. “I’m sorry.”

  She turned to him. “For what?”

  “For the funeral.” He bit his lip. “I know how much you hate them.”

  A cavernous pit of sorrow welled within her, but she wouldn’t cry. She never did, not in front of him, anyway. “It’s not your fault.”

  “You could stay home next time.” He reached out and loosely gripped her knee. “Lots of wives do.”

  “No.” She gave a quick double shake of her head. “I’d rather go.”

  “Jamie …” The ferry gave a slight lurch and began to move across the harbor.

  “I would.” She gritted her teeth. “It reminds me what I’m up against.”

  “Come on, baby.” A chuckle sounded low in his throat, one that was weighted in empathy. “When are you going to stop waiting for something bad to happen?”

  “When you work your last shift.” Their eyes met and desire stirred within her. They’d been married nearly a decade, but he still moved her, still made her want to hold on to him an extra minute or two every time they came together.

  He leaned over and kissed her, the slow passionate kiss of a love that didn’t happen in spurts, a love that colored every page of a life they’d written together. He moved his lips along her cheekbone toward her earlobe. “Ten years is too long to worry.”

  “Nine.”

  “Nine?” He drew back, and his little-boy expression almost made her laugh.

  “Yes. You’re almost thirty-six, Jake. You said you’d retire at forty-five like your father. That’s nine years.”

  “Okay, nine. It’s still too long to worry. Besides … I love what I do.” Without waiting for a response, he worked his fingers up beneath her rayon blouse and pressed his thumbs against her ribs. “Almost as much as I love you.”

  She squirmed and couldn’t contain a giggle. “Stop it!”

  “Anyway, you’re worrying about the wrong thing.” He tickled her once more, and when she twisted free, he held his hands up in surrender.

  “Oh yeah.” She caught her breath and straightened her shirt. “What am I supposed to worry about?”

  “Beating me at tennis.”

  “Okay.” She forced a sarcastic laugh. “I could try to worry about that.”

  “What? Is that arrogance in my fair damsel’s voice?” He stifled a grin. “You beat me in three sets last week, and now I’m no challenge? Is that it?”

  She let her head fall back and she laughed, this time without reservation. “Okay … I’m worried, Jake.”

  “Good. And don’t forget—today’s Sierra’s first lesson.”

  “Here we go.” Jamie could feel the sparkle in her eyes. “She’s four, Jake.”

  “Martina Hingis was probably four when she picked up a racket.”

  Jamie’s laughter rang through the cab. “You’re crazy.”

  “About Sierra, yes.” Jake’s smile faded some. “I don’t know what I’d do without her.” He took her hand. “Or you.”

  “Me either.” She se
ttled against the door of the truck, still facing Jake. “Sierra’s perfect, isn’t she?”

  Jake stared out at the harbor, and his eyes grew distant. “Being a dad has given me these feelings …” He angled his head. “A love I can’t describe.”

  Jamie smiled, slow and easy. The cry of the bagpipes faded from her memory, and one by one the clouds of fear lifted, breaking up like morning fog over the water. Jake was right. Worrying did no good. Especially when every day held so much life for their little family.

  “Come on.” Jake opened his truck door and motioned for Jamie to follow. She did, and the two of them walked to the front of the ferry, found a quiet spot against a railing, and turned to face the receding New York skyline.

  “It’s breathtaking every time.” She stared past the Statue of Liberty and lifted her eyes to where the World Trade Center towered over the rest of lower Manhattan. “You’ve been on every floor, haven’t you?”

  “Of the Twin Towers?” Jake squinted and gazed up at the tall buildings. “Probably. Jammed elevators, chest pains, faulty wiring in the office coffeemaker.”

  “And the bombing.” She lifted her chin and studied his face. “Don’t forget about that.”

  “Yeah.” He lifted one shoulder. “But the fire was out before we got there.”

  “Still … it was scary. I remember it like it was yesterday.”

  “The towers are safe, Jamie. Stairwells run down three sides.” He narrowed his eyes and looked back at the buildings. “It’s the old warehouses and abandoned factories. Those are scary.”

  “I know.” She gripped the railing behind her and studied the city again. After a moment she shifted her gaze to him. “I’ll try not to worry so much. Okay?”

  He slipped his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “Okay. Besides, who of you, by worrying, can add an hour to his life?” He paused. “That’s from the Bible.”

  Jamie let the comment pass. Letting go of her fear was one thing. Claiming some sort of help or understanding from an old leather-bound book of ancient letters was another. But to say so would only upset Jake. And the day was too beautiful, their time together too short for that.