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I lean into her and kiss her again. I’m finally happy after days of misery. Together we’re both happier, and together we can conquer the world. I lift her in my arms and carry her away. I’m hungry for something a lot sweeter than anything that can possibly be on this table. I have all night to show her how much I’ve missed her and to prove I’ll never walk away. She’s mine and I’m hers, just how it will be for the rest of our lives.
Epilogue
Callan
I’m home alone cleaning, which amuses me as I’ve always had a service come into my place in Seattle. I have to change a lot of things in my life because of my relationship with Sasha. I don’t mind at all. It’s making me a better person. I will, however, insist on getting a new place soon. I love her charming home, but if this is going to be my home too, I need an office space and to move more than five feet when I’m pacing the living room. We can keep this place and come back for romantic evenings. After all, it’s one of the places the two of us fell in love.
When there’s a knock at the door, I smile. I never know who might be stopping by, but one of the charming things about this town is how friendly the people are. It was difficult at first to get used to, but now I embrace it. I open the door to Aunt Eileen standing on my doorstep.
“What a pleasant surprise. Sasha’s not home, but please come in,” I tell her as I open the door wide.
“I was waiting for you to be alone,” Eileen says. She’s wearing a soft smile that tells me this isn’t a casual visit.
“Is Sasha okay?” I immediately ask. She chuckles.
“She’s just fine and working hard,” Eileen says. She follows me inside. I watch her move to a chair and take a seat, my curiosity piqued. She holds an envelope in her hand. She looks at it for long moments before handing it to me. I take it, wondering what this is about.
The edges of the envelope are frayed a bit as if she’s had this for a long time. My fingers brush against the soft paper. She doesn’t say anything and I can’t stand the mystery.
“What is this?” I ask. I’m not sure I want to know because I’m suddenly filled with apprehension. Eileen’s gaze softens as she meets my eyes, her own reflecting a whole mixture of emotion. She gives me a sweet smile.
“It's a letter from your gramps,” she says. My breath catches in my throat at these words. They aren’t what I was expecting.
“When did you get it? Is it for me?” My words come out as barely a whisper.
“He sent it a few years ago. He didn’t tell me at the time he was ill. I don’t think he wanted people to know. But he told me you’d be showing up, and you’d be on a journey. He said if you succeeded with your journey I was to hand this letter to you. I wasn’t to tell you about it before you completed your mission, and I was to act surprised when you showed up in town.”
“I don’t understand,” I say. Is this a part of the game?
“Do you know about the boxes?” I ask. How many people are in on this?
She looks confused, telling me she knows nothing about the boxes. “I haven’t heard of boxes,” she finally says. “What’s that about?”
At first I don’t want to tell her, but I let out a sigh. “When my brothers and I were in college, we rescued a drowning woman from the lake, and she left three boxes on our porch. We put them away, forgot about them, then found them on Gramps’s desk after he passed. That’s why I’m here. I opened my box and the letter inside told me to come here and go to the Mermaid Café.”
Eileen looks at me for several moments, then bursts out in laughter. I sit back and wait for her to stop. I shift the envelope in my hands, both wanting to open it and wanting to tuck it away. These might be the last words I’ll ever read from a man I love so much and miss more and more with each passing day.
“That sounds just like your gramps. I miss him,” she says.
My heart lodges in my throat at these words. I can’t remember a time Gramps hadn’t been in my life guiding me, sharing wisdom with me, and holding my hand in times of uncertainty. He’d always been a beacon of wisdom. I could use him now. Maybe with this letter I’ll still have a piece of him. I need to cherish this letter.
“So you think I’ve accomplished whatever it was he wanted me to accomplish?” I ask.
She nods. “I think you’re a fine young man, Callan. I was a little unsure after that Lily debacle, but then I felt very guilty for not trusting you. That woman was a snake and almost destroyed both you and my niece. Luckily, your love survived it, and you’ll both only grow stronger over time.”
Her words fill me with warmth. “I’m glad I landed here, Eileen, glad I got to know you, and more than grateful I found the love of my life. I don’t like that this all started as a game, but I can’t complain about the results.”
“I’ll give you privacy so you can read your gramps’s words,” she says as she rises. I get up and go to her, giving her a hug as emotion floods me.
She turns at the door and smiles again. “You know, Callan, your gramps and I always thought you and Sasha would end up together. That’s most likely why he sent you here. You had a bond years ago, and fate has a way of bringing what’s right, together,” she tells me. It sends a shudder through me. I think she just might just be right. I think fate has been a part of my life for a very long time.
I watch as Eileen exits and walks down the street, her words lingering in the air like an echo of the past, present, and future. I finally close the door, still holding the envelope. I move to the couch and take a seat. My fingers tremble as I look at the paper Gramps touched in some of his last days.
I take a deep breath, stealing myself for Gramps’s final words to me, then finally reach under the flap, open the envelope, and pull out the letter. I stare at the paper, his familiar scrawl staring back at me, sending a pang through me as I long to be in the same room with the man who shaped my life. He always knew what was best for us even if we didn’t.
My Dearest Callan,
You’ve always been so strong. I can’t tell you enough how proud of you I am. Now, I can share the secret of the boxes with you. When I found them and learned of the lake rescue, I was filled with curiosity. I’m not sure who the woman in the lake was, but I like to think it was my beloved sister or your beautiful grandmother. I believe in fate, and I believe in magic, and when I found out I was going to die, I knew I needed to do something to bring my family back together. You know your Gramps, I can’t stop meddling, even in death. I’m sitting in my office right now, and already I miss you. Life has pulled us away from each other too often, and it absolutely breaks my heart. I know life goes on, though, and I’ll be watching you from above as I hold your grandmother in my arms. I will see my great-grandchildren, see you grow old, and one day we’ll be together again.
