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Our breathing united around several half-gasps, our eyes closing together.
We were orgasming in perfect unison, in fantastical synchronicity. I loved this man. The words had been true before, but now, they felt seared into my heart. Beneath the burns and the bruises, there was this new love which nothing could hurt.
The thread that had snapped seem to rewind itself, this time thicker and sturdier. Even as we split apart, Carter pulling himself out of my entrance and hoisting himself down onto the ground, I felt the thread. Physical manifestation was superficial. These ties would always bind.
“How do you feel?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I replied truthfully.
“Neither do I.”
“Is that a good thing?”
I didn’t attempt to meet his eyes. I had no energy left, no ability to roll over and stare into his soul. We lay shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip, no space possible between us.
“It means,” he said slowly, “that this is something greater than I can understand. It terrifies and thrills me. I’m okay not understanding it any further than that. Are you?”
I nodded. “Yes. Yes, I am.”
And then, I found the last piece of strength I needed to turn onto my side and tuck into his armpit, resting my head on his shoulder.
“What now?”
The vibrations of his voice shivered in my cheek. “Now, we start our life together.”
EPILOGUE
Carter
A Year Later
HENRY LOOKED like a little vision in his tiny suit, checkered bowtie a bit askew but only in the cutest way possible.
“Is she coming?” Henry asked eagerly. “Will Phoebe like my suit?”
I laughed, “She’s gonna love it, champ.”
“Your suit looks good too, Daddy.”
“Why, thank you, Henry. I appreciate that.”
He wasn’t wrong — this suit was doing good things for me. I’d gone with a classic navy – simple, discreet and cut to perfection. Already a few other girls in the audience had eyeballed me hungrily. If only they knew, I thought with amusement, that they don’t stand a damn chance.
Phoebe’s mother, Jill, leaned across Henry to take another look at me.
“Phoebe should be on in a minute,” she said, beaming with pride.
“I can’t wait,” I replied honestly. “She’s been so excited.”
Her dad tilted forward from the other side of Jill so that he could get in on the conversation.
“Whatcha two talking about?” he inquired, his fluffy white hair battered about by the wind.
“Nothing,” Jill replied, giving him a loving kiss on the cheek. “Now you just go back to trying not to cry.”
He harrumphed good-naturedly and sat back in his seat. It was well-timed — the piano began to play, and all heads turned down the aisle.
And in filed the graduates, pristine and archaic in the folds of their black gowns, mortarboards only slightly soggy from the morning’s rain showers. The sound of their shoes clacking against cobblestones echoed across the courtyard, nearly drowning out the chords of “Pomp and Circumstance.”
Henry stood up on his seat to get a better view.
“Henry, sit down,” I whispered to him. “Other people want to see too.”
A woman behind us shook her head. “That’s okay, sir, don’t worry.”
I smiled back at her, and said to Henry, “Okay, just for a few seconds.”
He grinned, revealing the gaps where his baby teeth had begun to fall out. Kids grow up so fast. But then again, I guess adults do too. Phoebe had entered Rough and Ready a relative kid, and we’d left as partners.
Within a week of moving to Bridgeport, we were absolutely serious about one another, and if everybody knew, so be it.
A year had flown by in the blink of an eye. I hear that can occur when you’re absolutely happy and satisfied with life. Of course, I hadn’t experienced it before Phoebe, so I’m just going off word of mouth.
After getting Phoebe and Jo-Beth to San Diego, Henry and I returned to Rough and Ready to settle matters. I let my landlady know that I was leaving town, packed as much as I could into a trailer and the back of the truck, and what couldn’t fit, I gave to Miss Keller and Staten. I sold Cici to Big Bob, minus what I owed him, who was not surprised to see me go after what happened, and drove Henry and myself across the country to Bridgeport. It took a week and a half as we took Route 66 for part of the way and stopped in Texas so we could see my parents. My relationship with them had taken a nosedive after Meghan, but after what had happened in Rough and Ready, I was determined that Henry know that he came from good people. It was tense, but it was the first step on the road to reconnecting.
My former in-laws no longer lived in Texas, but my mother was in contact with them and let me know that Meghan was still in custody, but because she broke parole, reoffended within days of her release, et cetera, she was looking at a long sentence. Fortunately, Henry had little to no memory of his mother’s visit and I was keen to move on from the drama.
