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The
Heart Has Forever
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Covenant Communications Inc
ISBN: 1577346475
Published: June 2000
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Love
conquers all…if you give it enough time.
Andi Reynolds
has fallen reluctantly—but joyfully—in love with sports superstar Greg
Howland. Despite his conversion to the gospel, Greg is surrounded by people
who want to exploit his fame and wealth. It is a constant battle to find
time for his new faith…and his new love.
Andi’s sister
Clytie, an
anchondroplastic dwarf, is also discovering the magic of romance, but hers
comes at a terrible price because intelligent, cynical, funny Thaddeus is
dying. Will she be able to give her heart, knowing that soon all she will
have left of their love is her memories?
“I loved it so much! I didn’t think
you could possibly make the sequel better, but you did. Once I started
reading it I couldn’t put it down.” - Shannon,
Beaverton, Oregon—from a letter
Excerpt from
Chapter 7
Clytie’s
decision was instantaneous. Thaddeus was definitely cute. And, if not exactly
Prince Charming, he was at least more pleasant than he had seemed at first. She
was glad, too, she thought guiltily, that he was blind. It was easier to be
herself around a guy who didn’t watch her every move. Or maybe she was only at
ease because Thaddeus couldn’t see that she was a dwarf. For the first time in
all her sixteen years, Clytie Reynolds was in a young man’s presence and
feeling graceful and pretty—almost like a homecoming queen.
“What
do you look like?” Thaddeus asked bluntly as he turned the board to allow her
the first move in their second game of chess. When she didn’t immediately
respond, he added, “I mean, I’d like a mental picture—if you want to tell
me.”
“I
don’t mind telling you,” Clytie said quickly, but not entirely truthfully,
as the romantic notion of the homecoming title popped like a balloon on the
royalty float. Finally she said, “It’s just that I, um, don’t know how to
describe myself.” That wasn’t true, either. She knew exactly what she looked
like—short, stubby arms, thick, bowed legs, and all. “Well, I have long,
blonde hair,” she began tentatively. “It’s almost to my waist. And my eyes
are blue.”
I’m
not embarrassed to be a Little Person, she reminded herself. Heavenly Father had a plan to send me to earth this way. But if she
wasn’t embarrassed, she wondered what she was. Wistful, perhaps, to lose the
role of romantic heroine so soon. Or sorry to disappoint Thaddeus, who surely
hoped for a prettier girl to picture.
“I’m
wearing blue overalls and a pink T-shirt,” she continued evasively,
“and—”
“How
tall are you?”
She
looked at Thaddeus in surprise. “I’m kind of short.”
Thaddeus
leaned against the wall. “I figured you were, Clytie. Since I haven’t heard
your feet on the floor as we’ve played chess, I have to assume either they
don’t reach it or you’re paraplegic or something.”
“Do
you watch a lot of detective shows?”
“I
don’t watch a lot of anything.”
Then, to soften the sting, he added, “But I used to read Sherlock Holmes.”
“You’d
make a good detective,” Clytie said, vowing to choose her words more carefully
in the future. “I am a Little Person.”
“Uh,
huh.”
“I
mean, I’m a dwarf.” She watched his face for signs of revulsion, or at least
surprise, and was puzzled when he only nodded. “Did you hear me?”
“Yeah,
Clytie,” he said. “I’m blind, not deaf, remember?”
Clytie
saw him flinch as he realized how sarcastic his words were. When he smiled
sheepishly she knew how hard he was trying to be nice. It didn’t come
naturally.
“So,
what’s it like?” he asked. “Do people stare at you?”
“A
lot of the time.”
“I’d
hate that,” Thaddeus said. “The only good thing about being blind is that I
don’t have to watch people pity me.”
“I
don’t think people pity me,” Clytie said. “I think they’re curious,
mostly.”
“That’s
just as bad.”
“No.”
Clytie rolled a pawn between her fingers as she considered. “I think it’s
normal to wonder about people who are different than us. I mean, you asked what
it’s like to be a dwarf. You’re curious.”
“You’re
right,” Thaddeus conceded with a frown. “I’m a jerk.”
“No!
I don’t mind. I just wish I knew how to explain what it’s like to be me. Can
you tell me what it’s like to be blind?”
“I
can show you.” Thaddeus reached across the chessboard toward Clytie’s face.
When she leaned forward, his fingers spread across her forehead, then joined to
cup gently over her eyes. “So, what’s it like, Clytie?”
“Dark.”
“Now
imagine if the darkness never went away.”
Clytie
was silent for several moments. Finally, she sighed. “I can’t.”
Thaddeus
removed his hands. “I couldn’t either, until it happened to me.”
“You
weren’t born blind?”
He
shook his head. “No, it’s a relatively new experience. The whole time I was
in the blind school, I kept asking myself if it was better or worse to be able
to see for the first sixteen and a half years of my life. At first, it seemed
lots worse to be suddenly blind, because this way I know what I’m missing.
Lately, though, I’m not so sure I was right about that.” He leaned forward.
“Okay, here’s where I launch into the first semi-flirtatious repartee ever
attempted by a socially inept blind guy talking to a dwarf. In a hospital. On
the Saturday before Easter. Working without a net.” When Clytie giggled, he
grinned. “Ready? Here goes: I’m glad now I haven’t always been blind since
the mental picture I see of a petite girl with long, blonde hair and big blue
eyes is very appealing.”
“Even
if she’s built like an Ewok?”
Thaddeus
clearly couldn’t decide if he should laugh at Clytie’s self-deprecating jab.
When finally he couldn’t resist a chuckle, she beamed. “You’re lucky to
have the pictures in your head if they make you laugh.”
“You
make me laugh,” he corrected. “And that’s something I haven’t done much
of in the last few months.” He shook his head in admiration. “Are you always
so upbeat?”
“I
don’t know…”
“Really,
Clytie, isn’t there something about your life that drives you crazy?”
“Well,”
she confided, “I don’t like to shop. You wouldn’t believe how hard it is
to find a shoe in my size without Big Bird on it. At the mall, it’s pretty
lousy being different.”
“If
being small is what makes you different, Clytie, every girl in the world ought
to be just your size.”
Clytie
drew in a breath and held it. He meant it, she thought. Thaddues really meant
it. She had never felt this way before and hoped the warmth that had spread from
her heart to her cheeks would stay forever.
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