Remember Laughter Read online

  Remember Laughter

  Healing Hearts

  Ginny Sterling

  Contents

  Foreword

  Introduction

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Epilogue

  Afterword

  Remember Home (Lawfully Gifted)

  Remember Love

  Remember Dreams

  Remember Honor

  Tempting the Billionaire

  About the Author

  Krista – Thank you for being a part of my Healing Hearts Group on Facebook! You are a joy!

  Sandra – I promise, I’m writing as fast as I can! LOL! I love my guys books too! – and YES!YES!YES!

  Griffin is in here and just as great as ever.

  And finally?

  To my husband… You are my inspiration for every single book. Each character has a little bit of you, making them perfect. I’ve never regretted that first email and love you more every day. Thank you for loving me.

  Foreword

  Trigger warning

  In this story, there is a tragic scene at the very beginning that I have tried to keep tasteful and gentle as possible. When someone loses a loved one, it’s terribly painful and traumatizing, no matter how you sugar coat it.

  From the darkest moment, the soul is drawn to the light.

  A friend once told me that phrase and it stuck with me. As I created Jason’s character – I wanted his essence to be as upbeat, fun, and charismatic as possible. I needed him to be a goofball with substance and I think he turned out wonderfully.

  I hope you enjoy the book!

  ~ Ginny

  Praise for Ginny Sterling

  What can I say except I absolutely loved this story, I laughed out loud and I shed emotional tears.” – Amazon Reviewer (Remember Home)

  “This series has quickly become one my favorites. Love the storyline, love the characters, love the back stories and love the sweet romance between each couple.” – Amazon Reviewer (Remember Love)

  “What an amazing start to a new series, Healing Hearts, a clean contemporary and extremely emotional tale. I loved the characters, the angst, and the honest discussions, along with the chemistry and interactions. The people are broken, but with encouragement, friendship, and the added benefit of animals, it is the beginnings for healing.” – Amazon Reviewer (Remember Hope)

  Introduction

  When one door closes, another one opens…

  Leia Ketch has been through more than any one person should ever experience. An untimely demise, starting over anew, and having to rely on herself has all been a brutal education in the game of life. Putting on a brave face and trying to remain strong, she gives in to her loneliness and replies to a stranger’s email as a favor to a friend.

  Jason Hody is caught off-guard when his former chief calls in an unexpected favor. He knows that he’s an obnoxious, playful, and outgoing—but it’s a mask. There’s so much more to the soldier hidden deep inside. Emailing some woman as a favor causes a blip on his internal radar, but something about her sparks an interest he can’t resist.

  Can they develop a friendship to fill in the missing pieces of their hearts? Does this attempt at matchmaking turn awry? Could opposites truly attract despite being thousands of miles apart?

  Chapter 1

  December 2016

  “Chandler, let me get my purse and I’ll be ready to go shortly,” Leia said, trying to keep the frustrated tone out of her voice. She didn’t understand why her husband was in such an all-fire hurry to get to the Christmas party. They’d already announced they were scaling back the budget, which meant that the hospital was no longer going to be giving out the lavish gifts they had in the past.

  Running through the house down the hallway, she slid on her pantyhose and regretted that she hadn’t had a chance to slip on her heels yet. Then again, it was just as Chandler requested. Her fancy high heels would only mar the wood floor they’d just had refinished because of her penchant for the extravagant shoes. She never got to dress up or go many places since they’d married, anymore. Chandler claimed that being a doctor gave him the ability to provide well for his wife so she would never have to work; and hopefully, for their family someday.

  That day hadn’t come yet and she prayed for it every single month.

  … And every month she cried when she got her period.

  “Leia?” Chandler called out again. She could hear the irritation and impatience in his voice as he spoke. “We are running behind and they asked me to be there early to prepare for my speech. Remember, I’m hosting and giving out the awards tonight? This is my night and being late on my night isn’t going to happen.”

  “Yes, dear,” she said politely, rolling her eyes and snatching a plain black purse that would simply have to do. Chandler always liked her to wear matching items together in order to show her off. He’ll just have to settle for a little bit less tonight, she thought, wincing as she knew she would get the pep talk about ‘maintaining their image’ and ‘putting the best foot forward’.

  Maybe she could play it off in the dim light of the hallway?

  Her gown tonight was a deep blue with custom dyed ornate shoes. The clips on the toes of her feet were lovely, sparkling with each step. She stopped by the hall bathroom and yanked a can of hairspray out, dousing herself for good measure, and patting her hair gently to make sure the elegant coiffure stayed in place for the next several hours.

  “Are we ready now?”

  “Yes. I’m so sorry about that. I had a run in my pantyhose and needed to grab a new pair.”

  “I wish you wouldn’t insist on getting the cheap stuff. It seems like you go through them all the time.”

  “There’s no reason to buy anything more expensive when you can get a run in them just slipping them on.”

  “Maybe it’s time for a pedicure again then?”

  Leia glared at him and bit her tongue.

  It was no use arguing because her husband simply had to be right. Instead, she opened the door to the BMW and slid into the leather seat, pulling the fabric of her gown inside carefully to keep it from wrinkling.

  “You do look gorgeous, Leia.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I love you, sweetheart.”

  “I love you, too – and I’m so proud of you,” she said softly, knowing that he worked himself to the bone. They were very well off financially with several accounts in different banks, cars in every garage of the four-car garage, and designer furnishings all over their model home. Everything was luxurious and screamed money when you laid eyes on them.

  For a girl who’d grown up in a small town, meeting Chandler while she attended college had been a dream come true. The handsome young doctor had gone to the same university and graduated a few years before her. She remembered seeing him on campus, thinking about how gorgeous he was and soooo out of her league.

  Until that day.

  She’d made an appointment to get her ear repaired from where her earring had snagged on her purse, ripping it free of her ear lobe. It had been terribly painful and she wanted it attended to immediately. The handsome plastic surgeon in the office just happened to be the same man she’d admired a few years before.

  Chandler had caught a glimpse of her making an appointment with the recept
ionist and immediately worked Leia into his schedule. He’d repaired the cut, leaving not a trace on the tender lobe and just when she was leaving, he’d asked for her phone number on her last follow-up visit.

  Chandler had swept her off her feet quickly, marrying her six months later. Glancing down at her wedding bands, she sighed contentedly at the way her two carat diamond glittered in the streetlights as they flew down the highway overpass towards downtown Dallas.

  “Chandler, I’ve been thinking…” Leia began quietly. “I know we are both hoping for a family soon. I’ve started taking the prenatal vitamins to get my body ready, but do you think we should get something a little more family-friendly to drive?”

  “What’s wrong with my Beemer?”

  “Nothing at all. I was thinki…”

  “You want a minivan?” he interrupted with a quick, distracted smile as he watched the road ahead of them. “Fine. Go pick yourself out a mom-mobile.”

  “I was thinking maybe a SUV with all the fancy airbag systems? They have these new latches that you can lock down the baby carriers in the back seat safely now, without having to fiddle with a bunch of attachments.”

  “Leia, I’ve always told you that you can get whatever you want.”

  “I know, but I don’t keep the checkbook and I worry about money.”

  “Why, honey?” he asked in an annoyed voice, slapping at the steering wheel as a sign of frustration. “I’ve told you before we’ve got plenty of money. I make more than enough to provide for everything you, or my son, could ever want.”

  “And if we had a girl?”

  “Girls get expensive, but I think we’ll be okay regardless…” he drawled, teasing. “How about a boy first, and then a girl?”

  “How about we focus on a healthy baby?” she countered.

  “I like the way you think.”

  She smiled at his handsome face as he winked at her. Leia loved his smile and the way he pampered her. He would be such a good father, if she could only get pregnant. Turning back towards the front, it barely registered in her mind that she was staring at a pair of bright headlights.

  Pain.

  Everything hurt and it was so bright, she thought numbly. Her mind was fragmented with moments, glimpses, and things she couldn’t put together just yet. Why did she ache so bad and where… where was Chad?

  No, that wasn’t right. Chet? Chad? Owww!

  Chandler?

  Yes.

  Soooo tired.

  So much pain and dizziness!

  “Mmmphad?” she tried to call out, realizing her jaw wouldn’t move. She could feel her tongue moving but that was it. Her head ached terribly, more so on the right side of her face. Her ears felt stopped up, making her want to yawn just so she could pop them and relieve some of the pressure.

  “Mrs. Ketch, try not to talk or move. If you are hurting, use your right hand to stretch your fingers out. One finger for pain, two fingers to tell me you have no pain, okay?”

  Leia extended her fingers and tried to wiggle them. They were stiff and her arm ached like it hadn’t been used for a while. Cracking open her eyes, she winced at the bright light above her and the dull hum of the fluorescent lights in the room, pierced by a machine beeping nearby. She stared with effort through slotted eyes at the hand that felt so hard to move, seeing that her knuckles were covered in bruises, mottled green and purple.

  “Mmmhhpph?”

  “Don’t talk. Just rest. They wired your jaw shut due to a fracture. They will take the wiring off in a little over a week and work you back up to eating solids. Do you want a pen and paper since you are awake and feeling alright?”

  Leia couldn’t help but roll her eyes and even that gave her a headache. She didn’t feel alright, but she did have a ton of questions to ask. She just wasn’t sure she was up to holding a pen with the effort it took to extend two fingers.

  What hospital was she in?

  What had happened?

  Where was her husband?

  “Try to get some sleep and I’ll be back later with some more medication for you. I’ll bring you some paper and a pen as well, so you can talk to the doctor when he comes in. Now, let’s get you something to help you sleep so your body can heal.”

  Leia watched the nurse press the button on the remote on her bed. Another wave of nausea and dizziness hit her as the drugs were dispensed directly into the I.V. in her arm. Closing her eyes, she felt herself drift off into a deep sleep.

  “And if we had a girl?”

  “Girls get expensive, but I think we’ll be okay. How about a boy first, and then a girl?”

  “How about we focus on a healthy baby?”

  “I like the way you think.”

  Chandler was talking as Leia turned her head ever so slowly towards the front of his vehicle. She saw the headlights moving in slow motion, growing ever closer and closer.

  Everything was silent in her dream.

  Oddly silent.

  The sleek BMW crumpled like an accordion and the windshield splintered into thousands of tiny pieces resembling a cloud of diamonds raining down on her. She could smell the exhaust, but still heard nothing. A large pillowy object unfolded before her, one piece at a time, before inflating.

  Airbag.

  She knew Chandler was beside her in the driver’s seat and saw his hands reaching strangely for the headlights of the other vehicle as it climbed upwards towards the compartment of their car.

  Horrified, she realized that the vehicle was continuing it’s ascent up the hood in slow motion. She was trying to scream, but her mouth wouldn’t move and no sound was coming out. The car was still advancing, up and over, as one tire passed beside her head, hanging eerily suspended as her eyes drifted shut uncontrollably.

  But this was just a dream, wasn’t it?

  This was her nightmare and she could control it if she tried, couldn’t she? She wanted to look around but couldn’t move. Something wouldn’t allow her head to turn towards her husband. Leia tried to move her arm blindly towards where Chandler was in the driver’s seat, only to have something slice through the tender skin of her forearm painfully.

  Chandler? She called out wordlessly in the silence. Can you hear me?

  As if someone flipped on a light switch, the sounds returned all at once in a horrifying series of roars. Leia heard sirens wailing, someone was screaming, and the clatter of an engine seemed to be all around her, resembling the sound of a helicopter. Bright lights, noises, and intense pain as someone tugged on the seatbelt clenching her body in the passenger seat that cradled her.

  “Lady? Are you okay?”

  “Leia? Are you in pain?”

  How did they know her name?

  Did she know whoever it was that was trying to help her move?

  “Mrs. Ketch, you are screaming in your sleep. Do you need more medication; are you in pain?” the nurse said loudly, gently shaking her arm. Leia’s eyes shot open in awareness and filled with tears.

  That hadn’t been a dream.

  They had been in a terrible car accident.

  She knew without a doubt her husband was dead on site, crushed by the other vehicle. The screaming in her dream had been her, and she was still making the guttural noises through clenched teeth wired shut.

  The nurse hurriedly clicked the medication button on the controller nearby and smoothed her hair back gently from her head, as her body fought against what her mind already knew. She struggled to get up, wanting to run away from this nightmare, but nothing was working. Her limbs felt so heavy, like she was moving through quicksand. Her eyes were closing against her will.

  “Give it just a moment, Mrs. Ketch and the medication will do it’s magic.”

  Leia knew nothing would bring back her husband.

  Two weeks later

  Leia got a taxi ride home from the hospital and walked up to her front door, where several dead bouquets lay on the front step. She felt completely numb, realizing that she was about to walk into a house full of memories an
d unsung wishes. They had so many hopes for a future together that were suddenly gone. Inserting the key in the lock, she hesitated, unable to turn it.

  It wasn’t physical.

  It was mental.

  If she was going to handle dealing with her loss, she could not put herself through this over and over again every time she walked through her home. There had been touches of her husband in every room. Pictures hung on the walls of vacations they’d taken together. They even had a scrap board in his office of places they wanted to see at some point.

  Places they would never go together.

  A shaky sob escaped her, unwittingly causing her to yank her hand back from the key where it was perched in the lock. She reached up and pulled the key angrily from the lock, turning towards the expanse of garages beside their large home.

  The furthest one from the house was where her favorite vehicle rested. Chandler had his BMW toy car and she had her jeep. The other garages held a classic car that he swore he would get running someday, and a hybrid sedan that neither of them liked driving after they had bought it. It just sat there untouched behind the closed garage door.

  Chandler’s parents had the funeral while Leia had lay drugged and recovering in the hospital. Her husband was gone, her life was gone, and her dreams had faded away without a chance to even say goodbye.