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  As she strolled, she glanced upward at the stately colonial homes situated on the bluff with water views. They were magnificent, towering over the beaches of white dusty sand and teal waters.

  This is the life I should want, she thought. This is the life Ryan wants. He wants nothing more than a grand home, two healthy children and a deep and plentiful bank account. He wants sunrises and sunsets, sipping sweet tea, and watching the children play in the sand.

  Her stomach ached at the life she’d almost leapt into.

  She made her way down the wooden steps to the water’s edge and collapsed into the sand. The waves rushed her feet with water that was surprisingly cool with little bursts of foam. She was heartbroken, not because she was letting a life with Ryan slip through her fingers, but because of his expression when she said goodbye. It was as though she literally ripped his heart from his chest, watching him dissolve from poised and polished to destroyed and devastated.

  “How can you just walk away?” he begged, his eyes sodden. “Did you even think about what you’re doing?”

  “I’m sorry, Ryan,” she pleaded, not able to find the words to heal his visible pain. There would never be a word to utter that could possibly make this any better. He loved her, through and through. She had given everything to love him in the same way, but it wasn’t possible. He deserved someone who saw him the way he saw her. She couldn’t give him that. Sorry was the weakest word in the world, but it was all she had to offer.

  “Sorry? Sorry for what? Destroying my life? Sorry for breaking my heart? Or sorry, because for once you weren’t getting your bratty way and had to go and fuck up somebody’s life to make you happy. You aren’t sorry, Anna. All you ever think about is yourself.”

  She wiped a solitary tear from her cheek, remembering his words. Was she selfish? Was she only thinking about herself? But, how would she ever make him happy if she were miserable?

  She closed her eyes and let her fingers intertwine with the white sugar sand beside her. She had to believe she made the right choice. No matter what happened, she knew that deep inside.

  * * * *

  “Be careful, it’s a little muddy from the rain this morning,” Grant called out over the roof of the car. Ruby carefully stepped around a sunken puddle and skipped up the small hill to join him. The ground was saturated to the brim with a heavy downpour, although it was much needed in this sweltering summer heat. Ruby took Grant’s arm to steady herself and smiled at the transparent rainbow forming behind him.

  “Thanks for coming with me,” she said. “I know you are going through a lot with the whole divorce thing.”

  “It is what it is. Guess I’m just glad it’s over. Things are getting a little easier.”

  “And you have your family to get you through, right?” She poked him in the side with a smile.

  He nodded. “Right.”

  Her heels sunk into the ground with each passing step, but her eyes were focused on the hill before them. One hand resided in her pocket, clutching the golden pocket watch for strength.

  Situated under a low hanging willow tree, fit for a game of Hide and Seek, were two matching headstones glimmering in the morning sun. Together, they climbed, feeling the ever presence of their absence. She would always miss them.

  “What do you think they would say about the way our lives have turned out?” Grant asked absently.

  “Nothing but pride.” She smiled through her tears. “Especially of our Anna, chasing love all the way to New York.”

  “I take it she found him?”

  “At long last,” Ruby sighed.

  She shifted the large bouquet of creamy white roses in her arms and knelt down before her Mom and Daddy. No matter how often she visited them, it would never be easier. She pressed her hand against the cool dirt, praying for some sort of life to be instilled into her. Carefully, she placed a bouquet of flowers on one grave and then the other, noting the previous roses had long since wilted in the heat.

  “I miss them so much,” she whispered, letting the tears roll from under her glasses.

  Together they stood, praying and talking over their parents. Remembering, it was their greatest gift to have finally shared their story. And how blessed they were to have loved them.

  A tempered summer wind fluttered the tall willow tree around them and Ruby was reminded they were with them always and forever.

  * * * *

  The two headstones, perfectly symmetrical, situated side by side will remain in the peaceful sloping hills of Mackinac Island for years to come, watching over their loved ones, keeping them safe—one with the engraved word “UNTIL” and the other with “THEN…”

  THE END

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  “My soul belongs tucked inside the pages of an extraordinary novel.”

  Whether reading or writing, Joshlyn Racherbaumer has found the key ingredient to a beautiful life. While enjoying the riches of God’s abundant glory, she lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with her very own Prince Charming and her two kitties.

  By day, she works in marketing and by night she is enveloped in the written word. A family-focused person, she spends a great deal of her free time with her loved ones and is an avid animal rescuer. Her personal hero is her niece, Audrey.

  Other Books by Joshlyn Racherbaumer:

  The Purpose

  Going to the Chapel

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  WHISKEY CREEK PRESS

  www.whiskeycreekpress.com