Read Online Finally & Forever by Robin Jones Gunn - Free Book Online

have to deal with.
    “I’m glad Eli was okay,” Katie said. “I didn’t know it was still so prevalent.”
    “Not everyone gets it.” They walked a little farther before Cheryl added, “I’ve never contracted malaria. Jim has. And so did our son Andrew, of course.”
    Katie stopped walking. Cheryl came to a halt and turned to look at Katie. She stepped back to where Katie stood and held the umbrella over both of them.
    “Eli has a brother?”
    Cheryl looked surprised. “He didn’t tell you?”
    “No.”
    “That’s understandable. Andrew passed away before Eli was born. He was only four months old when he died from malaria.”
    Katie felt a clench in her gut. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to lose an infant. “Cheryl, I didn’t know. I’m so sorry to hear that.”
    Cheryl nodded and looked away. “I can see why Eli wouldn’t have said anything to you about him, because Andrew was never really part of Eli’s life.”
    Katie could see the pain on Cheryl’s face even though she spoke with quieted emotion.
    With equally quieted sympathy, Katie said, “But Andrew was part of your life.”
    Cheryl looked at Katie, and the two women exchanged gazes as the rain gently came down around them and made a soft pinging sound on the taut umbrella.
    Katie wrapped both her arms around Cheryl and gave her a long hug. “I’m so sorry you lost your firstborn son. So sorry.”
    When Katie pulled back, she could see tears in Cheryl’s eyes.
    “Thank you for saying that, Katie. It was such a long time ago. Andrew was so small. He was a preemie, and he had respiratory problems from the beginning.” Cheryl dabbed her tears. “We spent a lot of time at the hospital in Johannesburg during the brief four months of his life. There really was nothing that could be done.”
    Katie blinked away the tears that had rimmed her eyes and kept looking at Cheryl, not sure what else to say. She didn’t want anythingto pop out of her mouth that would sound dumb. Cautiously choosing her words, Katie said, “You guys have faced a lot of difficult situations living in Africa, haven’t you?”
    “Yes, we have.” Cheryl drew in what appeared to be a deep breath of courage. “I’m not sure that what we’ve gone through is any more difficult than what everyone else experiences in a lifetime regardless of where that person lives.”
    Cheryl started to walk again, and Katie moved right along with her under the big umbrella. All Katie could think about was the terrible experience Eli had recounted to her that had happened to both him and his mom when he was eleven and they lived in Zambia.
    Perhaps Eli’s mom would feel comfortable talking about that another day. Not today. One sorrowful memory on a rainy day was enough.
    “There are always obstacles in life,” Cheryl said. “But we love it here. We wouldn’t want to live anywhere else or do anything else. This is home to us.”
    “I can see that,” Katie said. “For Eli this is home too. I saw it in his face the night we arrived.”
    “And is it starting to feel like home for you too, Katie?”
    Katie didn’t answer right away.
    “Give it time,” Cheryl said confidently.
    The two women arrived at the cottage, and Cheryl shook out the wet umbrella. Katie opened the door. Eli looked up from where he was reading a book on the small sofa that was once again covered with papers and files. Katie had found Eli reading more than once over the past few days, and each time it surprised her. College was over. He didn’t have to read books on theology or
Star Constellations of the Southern Hemisphere
. But he said he wanted to. Eli told her last night about how much he loved to read. Katie didn’t know any guy who loved to read. This was one of the curious discoveries Katie was making about Eli. His personality was becoming more and more attractive to her.
    Last night they had discussed how Eli probably learned to enjoy reading so much because the Lorenzos didn’t have a