More About ELI'S HEART

A Second Excerpt from the Book

The story of a love which faced many obstacles, Eli’s Heart is about a brilliant young pianist who was born with a frightening congenital heart condition, Tetralogy of Fallot. Refusing to give in to his heart, Eli first gives it to music and then as a teenager, to a girl who later becomes his wife, despite his mother’s best efforts. The Kindle edition of the book will be on sale April 20 and 21 for ninety-nine cents.

In this excerpt from Chapter 6, Krissy is a sophomore in college and Eli in his third year; they are six hundred miles apart. They had met when Eli was sixteen and Krissy fifteen, and a friendship was on the verge of becoming more, though she lived in Tennessee and he in New York. Eli has just learned about his mother confiscating some of Krissy’s letters; he’s written to her to apologize and hopes they can reconnect. Here’s her response.

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     Receiving Eli’s letter had truly been a shock. Remembering so vividly what had happened between them had been emotionally draining. After the rehearsal she went to her room and stretched out on her bed. She re-read the letter and thought about him for a long time.

     She could see him clearly in her mind: the young man she had realized, too late, that she loved. As she handled the letter she thought: Eli touched this. It gave her a sense of being connected to him. It reminded her what beautiful hands he had, with long, slender fingers that made music so wonderfully.

     Krissy wanted to get a letter in the next day’s mail; she had to take advantage of this chance she’d been given to apologize to him. It took her three attempts and over an hour, but she finally decided what she had on paper was what she needed to tell him.

Dear Eli,

It was a wonderful surprise to receive your letter. I didn’t even have to open it to know it was from you. Your handwriting told me!

Thank you for calling my mother and getting my address from her. I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you did that.

I am happy here. I love being at the Conservatory. I love Cincinnati. There is music everywhere, and I can’t seem to get enough of it. I go to every concert and recital that I possibly can.

I would like it very much if we resumed writing. I have wonderful memories of the time we spent together. It was a happy summer for me.

Thank you for letting me know you weren’t aware about my letters not reaching you. The worst thing about that was that you didn’t receive the apology I wrote you.

I am so sorry I stopped writing you for a while. I know it was careless and unthinking, and I will regret that for the rest of my life. I know you told me it didn’t matter when I saw you after the concert, but it did matter, and I hope you can forgive me.

I was so happy to hear from you. I’ve missed you, Eli.

I’ll look forward to hearing from you again soon.

As ever,

Krissy

     She re-read it five times and was satisfied. She had finally been able to tell Eli she was sorry she had hurt him. She had missed him. She had realized as soon as she saw the letter he’d sent her that she still loved him.

     She was sure he’d reply; it was what he had said in his letter he wanted to do. It seemed there might be a chance he still cared for her. He had said he’d been thinking of her, and he had things he wanted to say to her. What else could he mean?

     It dawned on her just before she went to sleep that something incredible had happened to her. She had been given a second chance.

Eli's Heart, Kindle edition, will be on sale on Amazon for 48 hours beginning April 20. $0.99

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