Page 77 of Chasing Sunrise

“Ian Holder. It’s surreal to meet you. I never miss your show.”

She listened to their conversation as she got her emotions under control.

“Great to meet a viewer.” He was always so polite to fans.

With a sniff, she raised her head and turned. Kasey kept one arm around her shoulder. She cleared the wetness from her face with her fingers. “Ian is the man who was in the collision with my parents.”

Kasey squeezed her shoulder.

“As you can see, he isn’t in a wheelchair. Isn’t it incredible?”

“What do you do, Ian,” Kasey asked.

“I’m a doctor.”

How wonderful.

“I was explaining to Amanda how I’ve been searching for her for years.”

Thunder rumbled in the distance.

She cleared her throat. “Why don’t we go inside. You can tell us why you wanted to find me.”

Amanda entered the house, her mind a chaotic, grateful jumble. She was surprised, thankful, and thrilled Ian’s life turned out so well. And somehow, she felt lighter. All of her—her body, her mind, her spirit—lighter.

Once they were in the house and seated around the kitchen table, each of them with a glass of sweet tea, Ian said, “I was a twenty-five-year-old deadbeat. I illegally sold marijuana and still lived with my parents. All my money went to drugs and booze. Although I hadn’t been drinking the night of the accident, another time and place and I’d have been the drunk driver. When I woke from the coma, my family told me how you spent hours at the hospital.”

He hesitated and looked at her. “You never showed up again once I woke.”

“I was there the day you woke, but couldn’t face you,” she explained. “That day I left for college.”

“I see. Well, in the six months after the wreck, I had three more surgeries. One performed by a neurosurgeon who helped me walk again. My recovery took two years. I’ve not looked back since. I’m now a neurologist, married to a wonderful woman, and we have three boys.”

“I can’t tell you how relieved I am your life turned out so well.”

“I couldn’t have done it without your help. I didn’t have money and neither did my parents. That half a million you signed over truly changed everything. You saved my life.”

Taking a deep breath, her whole body calmed. She’d searched for peace, for quietness, for internal harmony for years, but this was the first time she’d achieved it. Maybe the first time in her whole life.

“Half a million?” Kasey looked shocked.

“Money from my father’s insurance policy minus what it’d cost to bury my parents and pay the lawyer to deliver the money to Ian and keep my whereabouts secret.”

“You gave him all the insurance money?”

“I sold the furniture in the apartment and had the money in their bank account and savings. I was fine.” She sipped from her glass.

“If you were in college, I’m sure you could’ve used that money.” Ian sat back in his chair. “I’d like to repay you.”

She choked on the tea and coughed. “Absolutely not. You don’t understand. I felt like the wreck was my fault.” She explained about driving her parents around when they were drinking and how she’d been at college orientation the day of the crash.

“You weren’t responsible for them,” Ian insisted.

“After years of therapy, a river of tears, and beating myself up, I can honestly say—” Amanda took a cleansing breath. “No, I wasn’t.”

Kasey lovingly looked at her and clapped.

She smiled as she swallowed back more tears. Her voice was hoarse and choppy. “I can’t believe it. I haven’t been able to get rid of the crushing blame since the accident. But now, after meeting you, the guilt has vanished.”

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