My family was spread out around the large sectional we’d bought a few months ago. Brady and Mac were sharing a box of Milk Duds. My parents sat opposite them with their own snacks in hand. Mercer was in the rocking chair, two-week-old Charlie asleep on his chest. Candace slouched next to me on the couch, but I knew she’d be unconscious as soon as we dimmed the lights.
Ian placed the final bowl of popcorn on my lap, and I hit play on the remote.
Della Stewart had sent over an early cut of the film. It was missing the score and a few digital effects that would be added later, but she’d wanted our family to see it first, to see the land and what she’d created. And she’d wanted us to be able to experience it with Ian.
He was leaving in two days for Ireland, and I was mostly okay about it. The orchard was busy. It was apple season, but we were also experiencingthe Dorian Masters effect. Both Judd’s and Grandpappy’s had seen a huge uptick in visitors. The Kirby Falls Business Owners’ Association had reported an increase in tourism since Ian’s interview had aired all those months ago.
So, I had plenty to keep me busy while Ian filmed his next project. Plus, it was only three months. We could manage.
Sophia would be around to help with George. We’d call and video chat. And Ian would be back in time for Christmas. We could do this.
But we’d gathered tonight as a little send-off and to watch the film that had brought Ian and George into our lives.
The film opened with a man and a woman hiking in the woods. The brother-and-sister duo bantered a bit, their accents subtle and not overly done. Eventually, the pair stumbled upon a body near a creek bed. It was just shy of gruesome, but in a way that felt realistic.
At one point, Ian’s character shoved his sleeves back to remove something he’d found beneath the body. When he did so, I noticed a dark circle around his wrist. It looked kind of like a bracelet, but familiar and worn. Sort of like a ...
Ten minutes later, Ian got slapped in handcuffs on the screen, and I could no longer focus on the story or the beautiful way Della had framed the landscape. The metal cuffs circled his arm and, again, the black band came into view. I narrowed my eyes and leaned forward to see better. The item encircling Ian’s wrist showed up three more times in the next half hour, and by the fourth sighting, I was already reaching for the remote.
I thought I’d seen?—
“What’s wrong?” Ian asked as I rewound the film.
“There,” I said, pausing the image. But I’d gone a bit too far.
“Joanie, what are you doing?” Brady called.
“Trying to see something,” I replied absently.
I alternately tapped play and then pause until I got the correct frame on thescreen. As the image froze, I could just barely make out what I thought I’d noticed, and confusion washed over me.
“Joan, come on,” Brady complained. “We want to watch.”
Ignoring my brother, I hit play and reached for Ian’s wrist.
I unbuttoned the cuffs of his flannel on one arm and then the other. And there, around his left wrist, was what I’d seen on the screen. A black band. A hair tie stretched to within an inch of its life, as a bit of white elastic peeked through.
Myhair band.
I’d dropped it during one of our earliest runs, after I’d discovered Ian was actually Dorian Masters. I’d been angry and irritated, and when he’d retrieved the elastic and held it out to me, I’d ignored him.
That had been ten months ago.
“Ian,” I wheezed, gripping his wrist. “Is this mine?”
He grinned at me like I was being weird.
I felt weird. I felt like my heart was turning inside out.
“Do you finally want it back?” he offered, removing the hair tie and holding it out to me.
“Have you—have you been wearing it this whole time?”
Only then did a wash of color flood his cheeks. I could see the blush on his skin even in the dim glow from the television. “I, uh, guess I have.”
“Why haven’t I noticed it before?” I asked, incredulous.
Ian’s fingers nervously twisted the elastic as he spoke, “Sometimes I keep it in my pocket. But I always have it with me. I liked having something of yours, even if it was small and insignificant. Is that—I mean, are you upset?”
