Page 222 of Nobody's Girl

I release her hand and Alyssa reaches out to shake the woman’s hand. Grace looks at my mate and smiles. “Could I please have a hug, Alyssa?”

Alyssa nods, allowing the old woman to hug her. The woman whispers something to my mate and Alyssa giggles. Grace joins her, giggling too.

As odd as it may sound, they have very similar laughs. Grace lets Alyssa out of the hug, but keeps one arm around her shoulders.

She turns her to face her husband. “This is Rodney, my mate,” Grace says.

I extend my hand to him and he takes it in a firm handshake, much too strong for a man of his advanced age. “It’s so good to meet you,” I say.

He claps me on the back and grins. He too has a British accent as he says, “Good to meet you too, son.”

Our attention turns to Alyssa as she says, “Is it true?” to him.

The room which has been filled with hushed whispers as Toni, David, and Scotty have been greeted by my parents, falls silent.

Rodney nods his head at Alyssa and answers her question, “It is, Alyssa. We are about to show you your future.”

Grace takes Alyssa’s hand in hers, then tells her, “Place your hand in my mates as you hold mine. All your doubts will be gone in an instant and the truth will reside within you.”

I take a step back as Rodney reaches out to my mate. Alyssa takes his hand and her eyes close as Grace and Rodney look into each other’s eyes.

A few seconds later, Alyssa opens her eyes. They’re wide and twinkling. She pulls her hands away from the couple as she looks back and forth between them.

“Oh my! Oh my!” Alyssa says as she brings her hands to her mouth and shakes her head. “It’s unbelievable, yet I know it to be true. Thank you!”

She hugs Grace, then Rodney, “Thank you both so much,” she says, then turns to me.

Her eyes look even more blue somehow, without an ounce of sadness or doubt to them. She moves slowly to me, then takes both of my hands in hers.

“I am yours and you are mine,” she says with a determined tone. “We are something not of this world and we will be together for eternity. I could not be happier with who Our Creator has chosen for me.”

Finally, we’re on the same page and my heart races with excitement. “So now you know how I feel,” I say.

She nods and hugs me as she whispers to me, “I’m so sorry I ever doubted you. It will never happen again, Eden. I love you.”

As my body feels as if it’s on fire, I have to wonder if it’s possible to love someone so much it physically hurts. And just how long will this pain last?

CHAPTER 27

ALYSSA

Grace and Rodney hold my brother’s hands in theirs and show him the truth. I couldn’t have him left in the dark. He might be a pain in the rear, but he’s my pain in the rear and I love him.

The look of complete cluelessness he had when everyone in the room knew something he didn’t left me sad for him. I had to ask the current Phoenix couple to enlighten him.

Mom gave me her version of the news when we were on the plane. Can’t say I really believed her.

Here’s how that little conversation not every girl gets to have with her mother went:

“I would like for you to lie back, Alyssa. I think it’s best if I tell you all this, like I used to tell you bedtime stories. Remember how I did that when you were a little girl?” Mom asks me.

“Yes,” I say weakly, sniffling. I lay back on my pillows. Mom covers me up, tucking me in.

“Once upon a time, there was an ancient secret society which tended to a couple of extraordinary creatures. These creatures were sent to them from God. The creatures helped to warn humans of disasters before they happened, as to give those who heeded their warnings a chance to survive.

Almost every culture has stories about these creatures, from the ancient Egyptians to the American Indians.

These creatures are human, but they can also take on the form of large birds. There are only two of these birds at a time. Once one pair is done with their jobs and too old to go on anymore, a new pair is formed.