A Taylor-Made Life (32 page)

Jon, Sophia and Nic crowded around in
a bear hug.

“VITA’s gonna kick butt tomorrow.” Jon
waggled his eyebrows. “People are already lined up in front of
stores for the release at midnight. Holy crap. This is huge,
Taylor.”

I giggled. “I thought it would be.
It’s a great game. You guys did an amazing job.” I smiled slyly at
them. “I was saving this for tomorrow, but I want to tell you three
now.
Computer World
gave VITA five Atomic Asteroids. And the
word is Computer Boy loves it, too.”

Sophia clasped her hands and squealed.
“Computer Boy? He hates everything. Oh my God, I feel like I’ve won
the lottery.”

A hand touched my arm. I turned and
found myself face-to-face with a flower. A daisy. I took the
offering and lifted my gaze to Matt’s.

Gulp.

His bright smile and blue eyes were
just as devastating as I remembered.

“Hey, Tay. Great speech. I’m sure
Gavin would be proud.” He arched his eyebrows and slid his gaze
down my body. “Jesus, you look fantastic.”

My cheeks heated, and my heart
pounded. “What brings you here?”

“I felt we had a little unfinished
business…and I wanted to wish you a happy twentieth birthday.” He
shifted nervously. “Hey, do you want to grab a cup of
coffee?”

“Mommymommymommy.” A small hand
grasped mine.

I smiled down at my son’s dark head
then stared up at Matt’s blond hair in contrast. “I’m sorry. My
family’s taking me out to celebrate.”

His smile fell in obvious
disappointment. “Oh. Sure. I should’ve known.” Then he squared his
shoulders and lifted his chin. “Maybe another time?”

I nodded. “Maybe.”

Matt McCallum was still every girl’s
dream, and my mind whirled with possibilities. In a perfect
world—one without cancer—in another life, Matt was tailor-made for
me. I squeezed Aaron’s little hand. But today, I preferred the life
I had. The life I’d made.

NOT THE END

First, I want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He
provided the inspiration and the perseverance to make this story
what it should be. I am grateful and humbled to my bones at the
doors He has opened, but I am on my hands and knees before Him at
the doors he closed. Without Him, this story would be so much
less.

I want to thank my family, crit
partners, beta readers and editors, especially, Gina, Dani, Lisa,
Jenna, and Melissa. They helped mold and shape the story and
encouraged me along the way.

Thank you, Canada, for your endless
supply of encouragement, sound advice, prayers and longsuffering
with my neediness on this project. You are my cheerleader, honest
assessor, friend, and spiritual sister. You’ll never know how much
I love and appreciate you.

Finally, I want to encourage anyone
who has suffered because of cancer. It’s a horrible evil, but there
is an answer—all of us working together. When I began this project,
it was in an effort to help in a helpless situation, to do
something for a friend suffering. Through my prayers, I asked,
“What can I do?” and He gave me the scripture Acts 3:6, “Silver and
gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee....” I write
stories. That’s what I had and that’s what I gave – this story. I
pray the Lord uses it as he purposed. Take heart on the hard road.
You’re not alone and, no matter the circumstances, this is not the
end.

I leave you with Gavin’s parting
prayer and hope that you will make it your own—May He bring you
life, and in that life, may you find joy. Thank you so much for
reading.

Kary
Rader

Kary Rader is a stay-at-home mother of
three, avid reader, and slave to the characters and worlds inside
her head.

Always creative, she's drawn to
stories with fantastical worlds and creatures. With a little bit of
magic and divine guidance, there isn't anything that can't be
accomplished. It's the power of words that creates and
destroys.

Vanquishing evil and injustice while
finding eternal love in the process is all in a day's work. And
with the help of her critique partners and master cartographer,
imaginary places come to life.

Let the fantasy begin….

You can find her at
www.karyrader.com