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If my heart could break again, it would for her.
“I understand,” I say, instead, wrapping her in a hug again.
“Where will you go? Will you come with me? Langston is watching the babies. You two deserve a happily ever after even if I don’t get one.”
She’s silent for a second. “I can’t come with you. I just need to go. To disappear. I’m not cut out for this life.”
I sigh, but nod. “Can I at least tell Langston you are alive in case he wants to try and find you?”
“No, I don’t want him to find me. It’s best he thinks I’m dead.”
I disagree. The man is heartbroken; I don’t care what she says. But that’s a fight for another day. Eventually, I’ll tell Langston the truth, but I’ll let Liesel have her space first.
“Promise me you won’t tell him?” she asks.
“I’ll keep your secret for as long as I can,” I say.
She nods. “Thank you.”
“Do you need money? A car? A bodyguard?”
She smiles. “I’ll take a car to the airport. But I have plenty of money.” She hugs me one final time. And then I watch as she walks away to the car she was a captive in just a few minutes ago.
I stand until she disappears down the road, and then I walk to the edge of the cliff where Enzo’s house once stood. I glance down over the edge and watch as the tide rolls higher and higher, hitting hard against the edge of the cliff. When we lived here, the water rarely came this high, but it does now.
I stare fo
r a long time, hoping somehow the ocean saved him. Hoping somehow this isn’t the end. But the ocean doesn’t give Enzo back to me. It claimed him, and now he’s gone.
“We found the child, Mrs. Black. Would you like to see him?” a man says.
“Yes, please.”
I turn around and do my best to leave the pain behind, even though it’s going to follow me forever.
I follow the man to another car. The door opens, and a young boy flings himself into my arms. I catch him, and my heart heals the tiniest of bits. This boy is safe because of Beckett and Enzo’s sacrifice. Because we won.
I hold him tightly in my arms. I don’t know how he senses that I’m here to save him. Maybe it’s because I’m the first woman he’s seen. Maybe it’s because he just needs to believe it. But he grips my neck tighter as I lift him out of the car.
“Are you here to save me?” he asks.
“Yes, I’m here to save you. You’re safe.” I kiss his chubby cheek. And stare into the brown eyes of a boy that looks so much like Enzo it hurts. Enzo will live on, I realize. In this child, in Finn, in Ellie, in me. He will live on, and that has to be worth living for.
“What’s your name?” I ask.
“Black,” he says back.
I grin. “That’s my name too.”
“It’s also my favorite color.”
“It’s a good color,” I agree. I don’t know if his first name is really Black. I don’t know if his adoptive parents decided to keep it as his last name or middle name. It doesn’t matter. He is family. And he’s safe.
Liesel may be afraid, but that’s normal for what she’s been through. She will come around. And one day she might meet the son she gave up once she realizes the world is safe. I will never let the world be dangerous again for our kids’ sakes.
“Can I drive you home, Mr. Black?” I ask.
He frowns, staring at the car he just jumped into my arms from.
