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“Hey, it’s Just Indy!” a voice behind me joked, and I turned to see Levi’s friend, Gonzo.

Just Indy. What a great reminder—that’s all I’d ever be to him. Even after everything we’d been through the past two weeks.

Without a word, I fled. I drove blindly not knowing where I was going until an hour later I wound up on a familiar dirt road and followed it to the necropolis. I parked the car and leaned my forehead on the steering wheel, something between a sob and a scream escaping my chest. Francine let out a tortured honk while I cried like a baby—like I hadn’t allowed myself to do the first time he’d chosen her. I cried for Josh, for everything we’d lost, and the silly hope I’d had that we’d somehow put it all back together.

I pulled a flashlight out of the glove compartment. The sky was thick with gray clouds, and tiny drops of water tapped my face as I stepped out of the car. Behind the iron barrier of the necropolis were a handful of graves, mostly hidden by large trees. The one I wanted was at the end of the path. Determined, I marched toward the tomb, slipping as I descended the narrow stairs.

In the shadowy silence of the tomb, my uneven footsteps echoed off the walls. I flicked on my flashlight and aimed it at the faded and cracked images painted on the walls. I crossed the first chamber, damp fall leaves still clinging to my boots. I didn’t know if it was raindrops or tears that were running down my cheeks. It didn’t matter. I swiped at them angrily so that they wouldn’t obscure the fresco—the one that had sent me on this wild adventure in the first place.

The beam of light fell on the image. The scene was so eerily familiar, as if the artist had spied on me through the kaleidoscope of ages and etched my own memory on the walls of the tomb.

They were like familiar friends now. There were three of them and they were dancing and there was something behind them. A shooting star. It reminded me of that day. The one that was burned in my memory, the one I wanted to go back to, so I could tell him.

Why hadn’t I told him I loved him?

As I stood there, I relived it all again. In the memory, I plunged my shovel into the dirt with a satisfying grunt. Levi teased me from the tree, then spread sunscreen over my freckles. Josh arrived, and I held on to the image he made in my mind. My beautiful brother, my own lost star. Levi spun me around after we found the meteorite, and then she arrived, Ashleigh.

Normally, the scene stopped there. It had nowhere else to go, no other issue or outcome. But now I knew there was one. Scenes from the past two weeks with Levi played out before me: dancing in his arms, that awful kiss, him sobbing against my naked breasts after we’d made love, and his words “I’d die for you, Indy.” He’d been ready to sacrifice everything for me.

I didn’t tell him I loved him that summer, but I could tell him now.

Dammit, I was not giving up this time. I was going to tell him what he meant to me, even if he told me that he didn’t feel the same.

I raced back out into the downpour, arriving soaked and shivering at the car. With windshield wipers on as high as possible, I sped out onto the bumpy road. I could barely see in front of me and narrowly missed hitting a fox that raced across the road.

I swerved. Then the world went black.

***

“Signorina!” Someone was tapping at my window. “Ehi, mi sente? Si sente bene?”

Disoriented, I shook my head and groaned. My nose was bleeding, but it wasn’t broken. I was behind the wheel of Levi’s car, which was now in a ditch.

“Oh no!” I moaned when I climbed out the door and saw that the entire front right side of the car was hanging off.

The nice Italian man was still talking to me, and I did my best to reassure him that I was all right. I’d really done it now. I’d promised Levi I wouldn’t leave the house, and not only had I left the house, but I’d wrecked his car. And worse, I’d only confirm his belief in his curse.

My phone buzzed. I’d left it on silent when I’d taken my nap and I had dozens of missed calls from Levi. Shit. Shit.

I called him back and he picked up immediately. Hearing his voice released the flood of tears I’d been holding inside. How lucky was I that I was hearing it today. I wanted to hear it every day for the rest of my life. “Indy?”

“Levi, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” I sobbed.

“What happened?” The panic in his voice wrecked me.

“I was in an accident. I’m sorry.” My voice caught. “I’m okay though. And it’s not because of the curse.”

“Where are you?”

It was early evening and what with the rain pouring down around us, I could barely make out where I was. How long had I been driving before I swerved off the road? Rubbing the heel of my hand, to my forehead, I started wailing. “I don’t know!”

The nice Italian man approached again and made me sit in his car. Levi must have sensed that I was overwhelmed because he asked to speak to my Good Samaritan who described our location and then handed the phone back to me.

“Stay put, Indy. I’ll be right there,” Levi assured me.

My Good Samaritan, whose name was Giacomo, handed me a bottle of water and sat in the car with me, telling me stories about accidents he’d been in. I nodded along politely, but I was in a tunnel of shock. I know it was impossible for Levi to get to me in such a short time, but it seemed like only a few seconds after we’d hung up that a black pickup pulled up next to us. Levi, his face harried, jumped from the car. Before I could even open my mouth to apologize, he’d engulfed me in his arms. He was trembling, but he was warm and solid and he was here. I closed my eyes and wept into his chest.

Gently, he pushed me back and studied my forehead, my nose, putting the rough pads of his fingers on my face.