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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
"The Promise"
JasmineSky
Catharine Parker held the hand of her lover and wondered how it had all come to this.
She'd met Randall Parker fifteen years ago, when she was twenty-two and he was thirty-five. He was handsome and charming. After a whirlwind courtship, she'd married him. At first everything had been all right, and she loved working for The Centre, the organization her husband had helped found. She assisted various teams on a variety of altruistic projects.
It wasn't until after their daughter was born the next year that Catharine had sensed something was amiss. He husband suggested she stay home and be a full-time mother.
She had rejected that idea. He became more and more distant and gave her less and less to do.
It was then that she met the love of her life. So gentle, and such a sense of humor!
He was interested in every word she had to say. He made her feel special.
Soon, they were lovers. She felt little guilt at betraying a husband that barely spoke to her and did not have enough faith in her to tell her about Centre business.
Catharine was too intelligent and curious to let things go, so she began her own investigation. She was shocked at what she had found. Her lover had told her part of the story, and the rest she figured out on her own.
On one of her summer escapes to the Vermont lodge of a dear old friend, she came up with a plan for un-doing some of the damage the Centre was doing---damage done with her husband's approval.
As soon as she was back in Blue Cove, she and her lover met at their special place. She told him about her plans and he agreed to help in any way he could. He felt he had contributed to the problem and wanted to make amends.
A car horn sounded outside their cabin. "I have to go now." he told her and took her in his arms for one last kiss. Catharine had no way of knowing it would be their last.
Now, she sat at his bedside holding his hand. She bent over the kiss his unfeeling lips.
"Jacob, my love." she whispered, "I swear I'll rescue those children---even if it's the last thing I ever do."
