Pure Hearts by Jeannine Allison

Author:Jeannine Allison [Allison, Jeannine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: novel
Publisher: Jeannine Allison
Published: 2017-06-21T16:00:00+00:00

We’d laid in bed until almost eleven o’clock before I—regretfully—had to leave. After stopping by the pharmacy to pick up some more of my medication, I went home and started cooking. Kevin and Lindsay were coming over to my apartment to watch football, and I’d agreed to make my special wings for Kevin, as well as Lindsay’s favorite dip.

It seemed insane, but even after spending all day with Iris yesterday, I couldn’t wait to see her again. Not that I would have to wait long, because even though she knew nothing about football, she eagerly accepted my invitation to watch the games with us.

I hadn’t been this happy in a long time. Not because I’d been sad or angry. Truthfully, I hadn’t been much of anything. My mother and I had been in the same place up until recently, so content in our lives that we didn’t even notice things were missing.

It was strange, because one would think that nearly dying was what would have turned it all around for me. That might have been the case for my mother. I knew many had profound epiphanies after a near-death experience, they saw the light and realized how precious life was and how we had to make the most of every day… yada yada yada. But that wasn’t me. I was fairly certain I would have been an insufferable prick until the day I died, near-death accident or not.

It wasn’t the possibility of death that woke me up. It was her.

Her presence, her radiance and positivity, it existed outside of life and death, happy and sad; she was remarkable. And she didn’t even know it.

Now, Iris was sitting next to me on my couch, my arm around her shoulders, while Kevin and Lindsay sat on the recliner by the door—Lindsay on his lap. The halftime performance was on, but none of us were paying attention. As the wedding got closer it seemed all we did was talk about it. Even with almost everything picked out and done, somehow there was something to obsess over or some magazine she had to read. And now that Iris was here, someone who knew none of the details, Lindsay was more than happy to share.

I was zoning out, the conversation about color scheme not holding a bit of my attention, when Lindsay asked Iris a question.

“You’re coming to the wedding, right?” She was practically bouncing on Kevin’s lap with excitement.

My eyes jumped to Iris’s as a slight panic moved through me. “I didn’t—” I started, only to be interrupted by Lindsay.

“You didn’t invite her?” she asked, her wide eyes going back and forth between us.

“Not because I didn’t want to,” I rushed to say, my gaze on Lindsay. “I just… you sent invitations out months ago and I didn’t want to ask. I didn’t want to mess with the bride, you know?”

I looked down, hoping Iris could see the truth in my words. This wasn’t me having cold feet about our relationship—no, my feet were nice and toasty.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.