Read Online The Beginning of Always by Sophia Mae Todd - Free Book Online Page B

There’s no reason why any child should not receive world-quality treatment, and there is no reason why any family should struggle to spend time together during a stressful time of recovery. The New York City Community Children’s Hospital Family House will provide just that, and there’s great hope that tonight we can make this dream into a reality.
    “Family is the most important part of life, and community binds and serves to build those bonds. Tonight we celebrate that union, and I invite you to toast the brave sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, and to all those in between and beyond, who will make use of this family house. Because a house is just a house, but a home is truly where love is. Where people are.
    “Cheers.”
    Alistair picked up his drink and toasted the crowd before tossing the glass back and taking the whole cup in one shot.
    The last word Alistair spoke reverberated in the great hall for the gentle side of a second. There was a pause from the audience, and then one person began applauding vigorously. Others joined in, some guests stood up, others whooped. Soon the entire room was bursting with the sounds of cheering and clapping, demonstrating their approval of Alistair’s speech. He just stood there behind the podium while his eyes swept the room from left to right. His mouth held the sliver of a grin, and finally he raised his hand in a single wave and said into the microphone, “Thank you. Now please enjoy your dinner.”
    The cheering increased and Alistair took two steps backwards to wait by the side as the director hustled back to the podium.
    “Wow!” the harried director exclaimed. “Wow! Mr. Blair, we at the hospital cannot be more thankful for …”
    The loud buzzing in my ear rose to a feverish pitch, and I tuned out the director’s words until I could hear nothing but the whining of a thousand bees. I kept my eyes locked on Alistair while the director prattled on. Alistair had his hands shoved in his suit pockets and his posture was completely relaxed, utterly confident. His eyes were on the director and, while not unkind, they were not warm. He nodded vaguely at the director’s words.
    I couldn’t help but stare at Alistair, so starved had I been for the mere glimpse of him.
    He had changed.
    I had changed.
    Yet old memories stirred, every feeling possible twisting my insides.
    I blinked back tears.
    And then, all of a sudden, Alistair turned very slightly to his right and his attentions homed in on table 32. My table. Our eyes locked and every nerve in my body gave a jolt. The buzzing ceased, everything dissolved away, and all I could process was the manic racing of my heart and my body breaking out into a cold sweat. Alistair continued to stare at me and I back at him. No one seemed to notice.
    Alistair’s expression didn’t change, his body language remaining stoic. I couldn’t blink for fear of breaking the connection, and I couldn’t breathe in case this was all a dream. The director gestured in the air with his hands, waving them in Alistair’s line of vision, but Alistair didn’t even flinch. He continued to stare at me, then raised his chin up in an arrogant pose as if saying, “Yes, I did just do that.”
    Yes, he had just talked about St. Haven, a town he’d openly scorned since the first day he’d landed on our dirt roads.
    Yes, he had just shared something utterly personal about his past.
    Our past.
    Mine.
    He’d told my story.
    He’d spoken of my mother, how neither Nicholas nor I had been there to see her when she went in for chemotherapy, the first time or the subsequent times.
    As she went in, over and over again.
    Or when she passed away in a Chicago hospital.
    Tears threatened and I couldn’t believe that my lip was quivering slightly. My back was rigid and my skin was flushed and stung all over. Heat climbed up my neck and spread back down. I hadn’t felt this wound up in years … since the last time I saw