The Legacy: Making Wishes Come True (16 page)

He followed her line of vision. Far in the distance, he saw the lights of Boston Harbor, and beyond
that, the dark expanse that he knew was the sea. “Very different.”

“I wonder how we look to God. I wonder if he sees us from a different perspective, the way I can see the kids down there. I know so much about them. I know how they feel and what they want. It’s an odd sensation.” She shook her head to clear out her thoughts and glanced up at Richard’s face. Everything inside her yearned to press her lips to his, but she lacked the nerve.

Richard gazed down at Jenny. It took every ounce of his self-control not to kiss her. He knew if he did, their relationship would be forever changed. She’d know his passion, and then there’d be no returning to the safety of their childhood friendship. He feared she might not want to handle the added pressure. Nor would it be fair to require her to deal with their intensified relationship and cancer too. He took a long, shaky breath. “We’ll have this summer to make up for last one. It’ll be like old times, all right?”

“Sure. Just like old times.” She didn’t want old times. She wanted him to see her as a woman, not as a girl who was sick. She wanted
him
with all her heart. The Ferris wheel lurched and began to coast downward toward the ground, toward her everyday life.

“Looks like our time’s up,” he said, “Twenty minutes wasn’t long enough. I’ll have to remember that if I ever get you alone again.”

Alone
. The word echoed in her head as the wheel stopped at the bottom and Richard flashed a knowing grin. Her friends would be leaving soon, and so would Richard. Jenny would once again be alone.

*   *   *

Boston’s Logan Airport teemed with people returning from Easter vacation. “You two write to me,” Elaine said. “I’m going to miss you both so much.” She glanced over her shoulder to the doorway where people were boarding the flight to Burlington, Vermont.

“We will,” Kimbra told her.

“Maybe we can get together one time before we go back to school,” Jenny suggested.

“I can’t.” Elaine said. “My parents are sending me to a cancer camp. I’d rather do something with you all, but Mom’s making me go.”

“You’ll have fun,” Jenny said halfheartedly. She glanced up and waved. “There’s Richard. I guess he finally got the car parked.”

“My car keys set off the security alarm, and the security guards had to frisk me,” he explained as he reached them. “I’m glad I got here in time to see you off, Elaine.”

“You take good care of our friend here,” Elaine said, sniffing back tears.

His arm circled Jenny’s waist. “No problem.”

After another round of hugs, Elaine hurried to join the line of passengers. Jenny turned to Kimbra. “You’re next.”

“My gate’s down that way.” Kimbra pointed.

The three of them arrived at the gate for the plane to Baltimore just as the first boarding call was announced. “I’m glad you came,” Jenny told her friend.

“I had a great time. Your grandmother’s something else—there’s nothing she wouldn’t do for you, you know.”

“I know.” Now Jenny felt like bursting into tears. She hated saying good-bye. At least Richard would
be around for one more day. She couldn’t bear having everyone abandon her at once. “You have fun at that basketball camp.”

Kimbra leaned closer. “You have fun in Martha’s Vineyard this summer.” She lowered her voice to a whisper, and continued, “And let’s try and get some action going with the hunk. You know how I count on my friends to help me live romantically through them.”

“There’s someone out there just for you, Kimbra. I know there is.”

“Well, I hope this is the year he finds me.” The final boarding call was announced. “Thanks for spreading some of your money around, Jen. I really had a ball.”

“There’s more where that came from. Maybe we can do something wild and crazy during the holidays, since we didn’t get to do anything last year.”

“Such as?”

“It’s so cold here. Maybe we could all go to Florida.”

“Florida!” Kimbra grinned broadly. “Lead me on. We’ll look like anemic cucumbers.”

The two of them laughed. “What’s so funny?” Richard asked.

“Salad,” Jenny answered. He looked perplexed, and she and Kimbra giggled. Yet once Kimbra was on the plane and she and Richard were driving home through the snarl of traffic in the Logan Airport tunnel, Jenny felt a lump rise in her throat.

“You okay?” Richard asked, glancing sideways.

“I miss them already.”

“Sounds as if you’ll all be pretty busy over the summer. Think about going out to the Cape. Things will be different for you this summer.”

She knew what he said was true. This summer she could catch up on all the things she missed out on the year before. “You know, the one good thing that came out of this misery has been meeting them. They’re the best friends I’ve ever had.” She sighed and leaned against the headrest in Richard’s father’s Mercedes-Benz. “Noreen too. I miss her every day.”

He reached over and took her hand. “Once I come home from college in June, the first thing we’ll do is go sailing. We’ll pack a picnic lunch, go to the cave and then out on the water. Would you like that?”

“Of course.”

“Then think about that. Don’t be depressed over what you can’t change.”

What he said made sense. Nothing could bring Noreen back, and she still had Elaine, Kimbra, and Richard. She squeezed his hand in return. “Write me. I like getting your letters.”

“I’ll write. You can count on it.” He drove back to her grandmother’s holding her hand.

Jenny shifted nervously in the chair in Dr. Gallagher’s office. “What’s taking him so long? How long does it take for him to go over my dumb lab reports?”

“Calm down, dear,” her grandmother said soothingly. “Maybe he was paged. He’s got a hospital full of patients, and you’re an outpatient, so sick people get attended to first.”

Jenny chewed her lip. With only two weeks left before they went out to the summer house, she was especially tense.
Don’t let anything spoil this summer
, she pleaded silently.

Dr. Gallagher swept into the office. He banged his
chair into his desk and slapped a manila folder against the cluttered top.

“What’s wrong?” Jenny felt her heart thudding ominously as she looked at his face.

“Your blood work shows blasts, Jenny. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to check back into the hospital.”