Readingteacher

From the moment my son came into the world—my life changed in the best way. I’d found my purpose. My reason. My heart beats for this kid every damn day. My company is thriving, and life is good. But then Emerson Chadwick happened. It must be the universe’s way of messing with me when I least expect it. Our town’s new pediatrician is gorgeous and brilliant and—complicated. I’m not looking for complications. To make matters worse, my little boy is crazy about her, and now she’s moved in next door. She’s everywhere I turn.

Where her daughter had played Gretel in front of a cheering audience, only two faint stage lights remained. The theater was deserted and eerily silent; the only sound she could hear was her own heart, pounding in a frenzy against her chest. She rushed outside and stopped sharply at the top of the stairs, stunned, her blood turned to icicles. Darkness had fallen, thick and filled with ocean mist, lampposts like ghosts sprinkling yellow haloes in the sky. Paige was gone. They’d taken her little girl.

With all his family and friends gone except an estranged grandson, retired Major League ballplayer Murray McBride is looking for a reason to live. He finds it in Jason Cashman, a spirited 10-year-old boy with a terminal heart defect and a list of five things he wants to do before he dies. Murray is determined to help Jason fulfill his dreams. Together, they race against the limited time each has left, ticking off Jason's wishes one by one.