“The future is an amazing place when we’re in it together,” I vowed, as I placed my hands on either side of his face and kissed him softly on the lips. As I did, an intense feeling of completeness drenched my heart and I found myself not wanting to pull my lips from his. Thankfully, he leaned back and gazed into my eyes.
“Together,” he whispered, and brought his lips to mine once more.
Epilogue
Even through my wiser and braver eyes, my old neighborhood park looked just as dilapidated as it had so many years ago. I slid behind one of the poplar trees and peaked around its trunk. She was sitting amongst the wildflowers just as I’d remembered, plucking away at yellow petal after yellow petal. The entire park was deserted, for which I was grateful. Still eyeing the young girl, I sent an image into her thoughts in order to shroud myself, and then stepped out from behind the tree. As I approached she was talking quietly to herself.
“He loves me. He loves me not…” she recited.
“Love is never left to chance, dear.” I instructed vaguely.
“Huh?” she piqued at my voice. She spun around and eyed me wearily, as my eyes lovingly swept over her scraggly blonde hair, dirty jeans, and too big t-shirt. Her bright blue eyes glanced around the park until she was sure there were no other kids around that I could belong to. She looked up at me once more with a confused expression. “Do I know you?”
“No, dear. I’m only visiting.” I smiled down at her warmly. She titled her head as if contemplating something and then asked another question.
“Who are you visiting?” she asked curiously.
I chuckled and watched her eyes inspect my mother’s aquamarine necklace as I played with it. “It would seem the only one I’m visiting with at the moment is you! How’s that sound?”
She stood awkwardly, her ankle rolling over a rock as she pitched sideways. I grabbed her arm just in time, and watched as she cringed in pain from several fresh bruises I knew all too well.
When she cried out I released her arm, but didn’t ask questions. I already knew whose hands had inflicted those wounds. Anger boiled in my veins as I thought about him, and I shuffled my feet and waited for her to recover.
“Do you have grandkids?” she glanced around again.
“I will someday,” I laughed, and gestured to the flower she held in an effort to change the subject. “May I?”
She handed me the fragile flower and I inspected it with interest. I held it up to my nose and breathed its fragrance in with eyes closed, and then I smiled.
“They say Sweet William will always find his Black-Eyed Susan,” I mused.
“Who’s Susan?” she asked. “Why does she have a black eye?”
“Their story is one of America’s oldest and least known romance tales,” I explained, and held up the flower with raised eyebrows. “Actually, this particular flower was named for her. This is a Black-Eyed Susan, named such for its dark center.”
I handed the flower back to her as I continued, “After meeting beneath the silver light of a full moon in a field of wildflowers, William asked Susan to marry him, presenting her with a bouquet of those very wildflowers. Only one day before their wedding, sweet William was taken prisoner on a war-bound vessel set for the high seas. Throughout his plight-ridden journey, her memory kept him alive; the hope of seeing her again pushing him to survive. Upon his release a year later, William was informed that Susan had run away to evade an arranged marriage. After searching for his true love for months and months, sweet William decided to return to the field where they had first met. That night as the full moon rose, William finally arrived at the field to find his dear Susan sleeping. She clutched a dried bouquet of wildflowers in her hands…the very same kind of flower you hold in your hand today.”
She glanced down at the yellow flower in her hand and smiled. “I want a sweet William.”
“Maybe you already have one,” I hinted with a conspiring grin.
“I doubt it. Plus, I don’t really want a black eye,” she clarified with a giggle.
About the Author
Kristen Day is a native North Carolinian who, in true southern fashion, is addicted to sweet tea, baked goods, and football. She graduated from Appalachian State University and bleeds black and gold.
When she’s not kayaking or making jewelry, she writes paranormal romance and urban fantasy novels. Forsaken is the first novel in the captivating and addictive Daughters of the Sea Trilogy.
Connect with her online at: www.kris10-day.blogspot.com or www.goodreads.com/kris10day
