Hannah's List (A Blossom Street Novel, Book 7) by Debbie Macomber

Author:Debbie Macomber
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Women, Romance, Contemporary, Medical, Sagas, Psychological, General
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2010-07-01T05:22:55+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

Leanne Lancaster collected her mail on the way into her apartment. It was all she could afford. Due to the stalled economy, they’d lost money when they sold the house and, because of the renovation loan, hadn’t had much equity, anyway. She’d signed a six-month lease on the apartment and eighteen months later she was still there. Her whole life seemed to be on hold.

She wished now that she hadn’t made the effort to see Mark. The trip had only depressed her.

Even his physical appearance had been disheartening. The memory of Mark before prison—neat, well-dressed, confident—was a stark contrast to the man he was now. The shock of it continued to reverberate and left her sick at heart.

More for the pretense of companionship than any interest in current affairs, Leanne turned on the nightly news. She watched for five minutes and switched channels. If she was looking for something to raise her spirits, this clearly wasn’t it. Instead, she tuned in to a game show and matched her trivia skills against the three contestants.

She lost. No surprise there.

She hadn’t always been like this. Despite the fact that she worked with cancer patients, or possibly because of it, she used to be positive and optimistic, someone with an irrepressible sense of fun. Her personality had made her ideal for the job; she’d had the ability to help patients endure difficult treatments and, if terminal, to value the last months or weeks of their lives. People who walked through the oncology center’s doors needed the medical staff to greet them with a positive outlook. These days with Leanne, they had to settle for compassion and gentleness. She smiled and said the right things, but her own life was a shambles.

The evening with Michael Everett had been a beacon in a dark, sad month. Her world had spiraled downward after seeing Mark. His rejection hadn’t seemed real until he’d said it to her face. It was as if the last vestige of hope had been stolen from her. After that, any remnant of optimism had vanished. What she didn’t understand was why she continued to care. She needed to wipe the slate clean and start again instead of allowing regret to define her mood.

The phone rang; Leanne glanced at the readout and saw that it was Muriel Lancaster, her former mother-in-law. “Hello?” Leanne answered as if she didn’t know who was on the other line. She tried to sound cheerful. Undefeated.

“Oh, Leanne. I wasn’t sure if you’d be home from work yet.”

“I just walked in the door.” That was a slight exaggeration. She’d been home long enough to know she couldn’t match wits with the Jeopardy! contestants.

“We heard from Mark this week,” Muriel said. “I…understand you went to see him.”

Leanne swallowed hard. “That was a big mistake. I should’ve called first.…That would’ve been better than showing up unannounced.”

Then she would’ve had some warning and could have made the much more sensible decision not to go.

“It went badly, then?” Muriel asked, but didn’t wait for a response.

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