What a surprise to go online and find that you had
sent me an emaill I don"t check my email every day, but
*I sure wili from now on. You have no idea how good
*it is to feel a connection with you again. I"ve missed
you so much, my Maggiel When I saw you at the hotel
restaurant on Thursday, it was all I could do to remain
in my seat and keep my conversation focused at our Looking for YouAltMy Life173
table. You looked so beautiful, and I must admit I felt
some furious jolts of jealousy seeing you there with
Cohn Byers. Yet all the time, I kept telling myself you
were only there on business-what else could it be?
But Barbara seemed set on thinking that you and Cohn
were Pine Mountains" hottest new couple. And, of
course, what could I say without revealing everything?
But when I got your email, I knew I"d been right to
believe the best in you. I suppose the heart can be a
fickle thing when it comes to hurt and love. And I must
admit to my weakness in that area when Barbara car-
ried on about you two. I felt the bitter taste of some
serious hurt. And I didn"t like it, not at aill But I realize
that"s the risk of loving someone-a person could get
hurt. And, as you may already suspect, I was hurt once
before. It was a long time ago, and I"ll tell you all about
it someday But since that time, I suppose I"ve kept my
heart locked up safe and sound. That is, until you
arrived in town. Well, its" very late, my dear one. But I
hope to continue this conversation with you later. And
hopefully, it won"t be long until we can be more open
with our relationship. I do think Leah is growing more
confident all the time, but I must admit, I sense troubles
with her whenever I bring up your name. I think it has
something to do with her mother, but I can"t be sure.
In the meantime, know that my feelings for you are as
strong ~no, strongerl) than ever
Love,
Jed
Maggie felt tears of happiness in her eyes, and immedi-
ately began her answer.
Dear Jed,
Thank you for your wonderful email letter. It means so
much to me. I have missed you desperately Even
tonight I worried that this little "break" might mess up
something between us permanently But now I feel
certain that it won"t. I wish this thing with Leah could 174Melody Carlson
be over but I do understand, and I know she needs
ore time. Honestly I"m willing to wait as long as it
kes. I think if we can just keep in touch (even if it"s
L.
only through email) I"ll do much better. I guess I must
pretty" insecure at heart, for it"s easy for me to think