Author: Teresa Mummert

He smiled down at me, the dimples that made me swoon settling in his cheeks. “Now you get your happily ever after.” He winked, and my stomach fluttered.

“But where? I mean…do I have to go back to Mississippi?”

Abel sighed as his eyes roamed over the house. “I’m not in California, am I? I like it here. This is my happy place now.” He glanced down at me and back at the building as he squeezed my hand.

“Where would I stay? What about Trish and my uncle?”

“You stay where you have the happiest memories and help others like I do, Kettle. Trish still has a chance if she makes a few changes in her life, but your uncle has been hanging on only for you. You need to let him go.”

“How can I just let someone go, Abel? How can I let him die?”

“Not everyone has a choice. Sometimes bad things happen. It’s not like he’ll be gone forever.” He smiled down at me.

“You and I are both…”

“It’s a lot to take in right now. You have all the time in the world to ask questions. Don’t you want to take a day off? Rest? It’s Sunday,” he quipped.

“Very clever.”

I thought that over as looked down at my tattered blue shoes. My thoughts went briefly to Brock, but try as I might, I knew all my memories were convoluted, and I had projected a savior image onto someone who needed saving himself. Abel’s thumb softly slid over the back of my hand, and I took a tentative step forward. My smile grew as I took another, pulling him behind me. I practically could smell the fresh paint that would go on the walls, see the lilies that would bloom in the flower bed near the porch.

Abel pulled open the door and waited for me to slip inside. I stopped at the base of the stairs and turned to him. “What about Trish?” I asked in a panic.

He took a step forward and sighed as his hands fell on my hips.

“Are we all? I mean, is everyone…?”

“No.” He laughed. “This is the same old sunny Florida. Some are like us—like James. Others are just…on the edge. Those are the ones, like Trish, that we can interact with. We can help push them in the right direction or be here to welcome them when the inevitable happens.”

“So is this like…heaven or something?”

“Hardly. The weather here kind of sucks.” He laughed, and I pushed against his chest.

“I’m glad you think all of this is so funny.”

“I’ve had time to get used to it. You will too. Give it time.”

My eyes glanced around the old house as I felt a fresh wave of sadness wash over me like Abel’s ocean eyes were doing right now. “Do you mind if I stay here with you for a while?”

He tucked my hair behind my ears as he lowered his face, his lips pressing gently against mine. It felt like being kissed for the first time all over again. My heart raced in my chest as my head swam with euphoria.

I slipped my hands up Abel’s chest and behind his neck as I pulled him closer. He was wrong about one thing. This moment, with my lips against his, was heaven.

Epilogue

I felt the change in the air as I stepped out of the car in Mississippi. The weight I’d carried around with me was gone, but sadness filled that void. I needed to see Brock, and I needed to get closure for what we’d been through if I wanted to move on.

Abel’s long fingers wrapped around mine, and he squeezed them gently. I glanced up at him, and he smiled as his free hand brushed the brown locks from my face.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked, as his green‐blue eyes danced over mine. I loved staring into them. They were deep like the ocean and full of the unknown but always calm.

“I’m sure.” I nodded as my hand rested on his chest. “I want to be able to move forward with you.”

His jaw clenched, and the muscles ticked under his skin. He didn’t want me to see Brock, but he wanted to be with me just as much as I wanted him. This was the only way. His hands came up to hold my face as he studied my eyes.

“I love you, Lie.”

“I love you too, Abel.” I placed my hand over one of his as I smiled up at him. “I’ll be OK.” He nodded as his hands fell to his sides; then he shoved them into his pockets.

I stared at the massive gray building that stood before me, the color matching Brock’s eyes.

I pulled open the heavy door, and my eyes landed on a woman behind a thick glass window. She glanced up toward me but seemed unconcerned and went back to typing on her computer. I swallowed hard as I approached her, the walls feeling like they were closing in on me.

“I’m here to see Brock Ryan.” My voice cracked as I spoke, and I hated myself for letting her see how nervous I was.

Her fingers clicked away on the keys as she searched her records for his name. My eyes danced over the man who stood a few feet away from me, a gun holstered on his hip. He glanced at me and down at his weapon when he saw me staring.

“Guns make me nervous.” I looked back at the heavyset woman.

“They can’t hurt you now, sweetie. Go through those doors. Someone will direct you where to go from there.”

“Thank you.” I pushed my purse higher on my shoulder as I turned to the next set of doorways.

I was in a daze as I was being searched and sent off through another set of doors. The room was long and narrow, a glass wall dividing one side from the other.

“Seat three,” the woman behind me called out, and I nodded as I made my way to the third little desk with a phone on the wall. There were others in the room waiting to visit their loved ones, and I clutched my hands against my stomach as my nerves began to get the better of me, or maybe it was the memory of the shot that ended my life.

“I can’t wait until we get out of here.” I sighed as I looked around the shelter.

“I like that…’we.’” Brock smiled at me, and a girlish giggle escaped my lips. “You’re driving me crazy, Bird.” His fingertip slid over the tip of my nose playfully. “It’s like you’re in my veins. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

The door on the other side of the glass opened, and a row of men filed in, taking their seats across from their visitors. My heart stopped in my chest as my eyes locked on his beautiful, sad, gray eyes. He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes, and sat down across from me. With the glass it was like he was a million miles away, but I was transported back to that last night I'd spent with him. It felt like we were still together, clinging to hope of a future that never would come to pass.

His cold stare was fixed on me as I slowly picked up the phone on the wall beside me. After a second he did the same and slowly raised it to his ear.

“You look…the same.” I don’t know why I said it. Time meant nothing to us now.

“You look different. You’re…happy,” was all he said as his gaze fell to my lips.

“I am.”

“You aren’t supposed to be here, Bird.” He glanced around before leaning on his elbows.

“Why did you do it?” I asked, my voice getting caught in my throat. My vision blurred with tears as I focused on his faded orange jumpsuit.

“You know why.” His eyes narrowed as he leaned closer, like he was going to whisper a secret to me, but I could only hear him through the receiver.

My chest tightened, and I forced back the tears that threatened to fall. “That’s not fair, Brock. I’d do anything to take back what happened.”

He shook his head, his eyebrows pulled together. “You’re better off now.” He smiled sadly. “No one can hurt my Bird.”

“You killed them. You killed us.”

“I think about you every second of every single day.” His voice sounded wistful. We stared at each other for a long moment as a million things left unsaid passed between us. “That’s my punishment. I get to spend eternity knowing I can’t be with you.”

“We could have had our forever, Brock.”

His head dipped, and he ran his hand over the still‐short buzz cut. “We never had forever, Lie.”

“This wasn’t supposed to happen.” I shook my head as tears flowed over the apples of my cheeks.

“I’m sorry.” He shook his head, his jaw clenched. “I’m so sorry, Bird.”

My mind raced as I thought of all the kids in my school—of Shelly and Ms. Campbell.

“That day…” My words caught as I struggled to keep my composure.

His eyes glanced around and to the phone at my ear, like he was worried I’d say something that shouldn’t be overheard. “That day is over now. You need to move on and try to…” He squeezed his eyes closed as he struggled to keep his composure. “Be happy, Bird.”

I nodded, but the fear of that day was heavy in the air around me.

“It haunts me,” I whispered.

“You have nothing to be scared of anymore. You are safe. They have their monster in a cage. No one can hurt you anymore. You’re free, Bird. I set you free.” A tear ran down his face, and my hand twitched, wanting to wipe it away.

“Did you do it…on purpose? Did you mean to hurt me?” My voice was barely a whisper; I was terrified of his response.

Brock’s face turned serious. “Never. I never would have hurt you, Bird.”

“You did.”

“Time’s up,” a guard yelled, startling me, and I jumped.

“I love you, Lie. I’m sorry.” He stood, pushing back his chair.

“Brock, I forgive you.”

He hung up the phone, his eyes lingering on me for an extra second before he was escorted away with the others.

I felt dazed as I stood from my chair and headed toward the exit. The door in front of me opened, and I smiled faintly to the guard as he nodded in return. I stepped through the last doorway and tilted my head up to the sky, my eyes closed, as I bathed in the fresh air and sunlight. I was free.

Strong arms wrapped around me from behind as I was lifted from the ground. I squealed, instantly feeling the tension ease from my shoulders in Abel’s embrace. His lips came down to kiss me on the cheek before he lowered me to the ground.

“How do you feel?” he asked, as I spun around, looping my arms around his neck.

“Free.”

His lips pressed against my forehead. “I love you so much, Kettle.”

“Stop calling me that.” His chest rumbled with laughter as I pulled back to admire his dimples. “I love you too, Abel.”

“Forever?” His eyebrow cocked.

“Like I have a choice.” I pulled his mouth to mine and kissed him.

“Cold‐blooded, Kettle.” He smacked me on the butt, which made me jump as I squealed. His hand grabbed mine, and he kissed the back of it as we made our way to his black Barracuda.

I slid into the passenger seat as I waited for him to join me. He got in, slamming the door and drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.

“What?” I asked him.

He smiled as he turned the key in the ignition, and the engine roared to life. He put the car in reverse, and dust swirled in a cloud around the car as we pulled out of the parking lot.

“I just wonder what things would have been like if we had met before.” He let his thought hang in the air, and I imagined what life would have been like with Abel as I slung my arm out the window, letting my hand twist in the wind.

I took Abel’s right hand in mine as I leaned back in my seat and propped my feet on the dashboard, my eyes scanning his perfect angelic face as my hair whipped around my face. “I think we were always meant to be, one way or another.”

“Yeah?” He glanced at me with a crooked smile.

“Yeah.” I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth. “You don’t think so?”

He shrugged as he turned onto the highway, and we headed west. “I just don’t know what I did to deserve you.”