“A long weekend for her, I bet.”
She nodded. “Then I’m taking Winnie and Laine to the private airport. Laine’s publishing house is sending a plane for her around eight. Winnie’s flying back with her. She doesn’t want her to be alone.” She stopped in the middle of the walkway. A gust threw her ponytail around her shoulder. She looked at Christian and ran her hand through his disheveled thick, wavy black hair. She let her thumb fall to his face, where it traveled softly across the dark circle beneath one eye. “When have you slept?”
He smiled and took her hand. “How bad is it if I say I can’t remember?”
“Bad.”
“I’m going to head home and get some rest now. A new crew has come in and they can handle everything from here.” He pulled her hand toward his mouth and kissed it gently. Then moved it away and wrapped it behind her back, pulling her toward him. “You know I’m crazy about you, don’t you?”
She felt the heat of his closeness rise inside of her. Whenever she was near him, everything inside of her felt alive. Even as tired as she was, he awakened each of her senses in ways that she had been convinced were entombed the past few years. “I think I might know that,” she said, smiling.
He leaned down, kissed her softly, and then propped his head against hers. “I’ll call you later.”
“Thank you for everything. For your understanding, for your help, for being here. You just made every part so much easier. Thank you.”
“Thank you for finally letting me.”
She laughed. “You’re very persistent.”
He leaned back. “And you’re very stubborn.”
She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him again. “Yes, I am,” she said with a wink and walked out the door.
* * *
“I’ll see you when you get home,” Albert said, reaching down and taking Winnie’s hand.
Winnie felt the hairs on her legs grow an inch. She knew she should have taken the time to shave last night. “I’ll look forward to that.”
“You called the kids? told them what you were doing?” he asked as they walked toward the main entrance to The Cove.
“Yes, I told them I would be there as long as Laine wants me there. Trust me, when she’s ready for me to leave, she’ll have no problem telling me.” She laughed softly. Then the ache of Laine’s loss coursed through her again. “It breaks my heart, Albert.”
“I know it does, Winnie. We both know what she’s going through. That’s why you’ll be so good for her.”
Winnie shook her head. “I’m not sure about that. She had a strength last night I didn’t have.”
“Well, there will be days she won’t be so strong.”
She looked at him and saw it. For the first time, she saw the pain of his own loss in his eyes. She had been so selfish. Only thinking about Sam and what she had let go of. As if she were doing Albert some big favor, when he had gone through the same tragedy she had. She stopped in the middle of the breezeway. “Albert, look at me.”
Albert stopped pulling their bags and set them upright. Then turned to look at her. His white hair made the blue of his eyes sparkle. “What?”
She reached for his hand. “I’m so sorry. I haven’t even thought about your loss through all of this.”
He smiled. “Winnie, I’m fine. I grieved well. I grieved hard. I plowed through it with everything inside of me. When the grief was so great I couldn’t stand, I just collapsed. When the loneliness would overtake me, I would cry. When I needed to be with friends, I’d call one up. When I needed to be alone, I didn’t apologize for it.”
Winnie smiled.
“I’m okay. I still miss her. I miss everything about her. But we were still two normal married people, Winnie. So I haven’t idolized her death either. I’ve just accepted it. And now I’m ready to move on to the next phase of my life. I know she would want me to. And I’d like to move on with you.”
Winnie couldn’t help herself. She grabbed the edges of his shirt, pulled him toward her, and planted a wet one right on his lips. When she finally let him go, she looked at him slightly horrified. “I’m not a hussy, Albert. I’m Baptist,” she said, wiping at the edges of her pink lipstick and then wiping it from his face.
He laughed and shook his head, then finally pulled her hand away. He reached into his back pocket, pulled out a handkerchief, and wiped his mouth. “You are one of a kind, Winnie. You are one of a kind. Now let’s get you to your car.”
* * *
Laine stood on the balcony and leaned against the railing. The rain had finally stopped. She closed her eyes as warm, bursting breezes washed across her face, remnants of the thief that had come in the night, still toying with her. She had found herself awash in tears every time she thought about the reality that was now hers. Mitchell was gone. She would never see his face again. Never kiss him again. Never have him hold her again. Yet every time those thoughts came to her, it was as if some hand of grace pushed through them and let her hear those final words he had shared with her over the phone. That’s when some strange peace would fill her.
This week had been none of what she had anticipated. Her life would be different in so many ways because of what had transpired over the last seven days. And it was all so bittersweet. She may be a writer, but there was no way she could even begin to write the story of all that was going on inside of her. She could only hope that one day she’d find the ability to treasure all of it. She walked back
