Page 89 of She’ll Steal Your Heart
“It will, but I’m years away from supporting myself on the income from my books no matter what, and who knows? Maybe by then, I’ll be able to afford enough staff at the café to give me more time off to write.”
“I like the way you think.” Mia grinned at her. “I loveit. And I love you, and while I totally respect that you need your own place right now, please know how much I miss you every moment you’re not here and that I desperately hope you’ll move back in once your lease is up.”
Lauren gave her a goofy smile. “Pretty sure there’s a U-Haul joke in there somewhere.”
“I’m a total lesbian cliché,” Mia agreed.
“Better rent that U-Haul then, because in this case, I love being a cliché,” Lauren whispered as she leaned in for another kiss.
Mia smiled against her lips. “Look at that, you just wrote another happy ending.”
Lauren was beaming, happiness and joy seeming to radiate from her. “The most important one I’ll ever write.”
EPILOGUE
FIVE MONTHS LATER
Lauren clutched the backpack containing Craig’s urn in her lap as the train whisked her toward her destination. The floor vibrated beneath her feet, but unlike that day last August when she’d ridden into the city with all her worldly possessions crammed into the seat with her, today she wasn’t alone.
“You don’t have to do this today if you’re not ready, you know.” Mia reached over to give Lauren’s hand a squeeze. Her hair had gotten longer over the winter, curling against the collar of her shirt. It softened her look a bit, not that she needed any softening. Lauren loved all of Mia’s sharp edges…as well as the soft ones.
“I’m ready,” Lauren said. “Although we’ll have to stop at home so I can redo my makeup before the event later, because I’m definitely going to cry.”
“You’ll probably cry again later too,” Mia said with a gentle smile. “Happy tears.”
“Very likely.” Lauren tightened her grip on the backpack. She’d dreaded this day for so long, and now that it was here, she felt…okay. This wasn’t a farewell. She’d said goodbye to her brother last year. She could still talk to Craig when she missed him. She didn’t need his urn to do that, and Prospect Park was only a short subway ride away if she needed to feel closer to him.
The train pulled to a stop at their station, and they exited and climbed the steps to the street. Mia slipped her hand into Lauren’s. Before them, Prospect Park beckoned, and Lauren was so glad she’d waited until spring to do this. The trees were lush and green, and flowers bloomed along the paths, filling the air with their fresh scent.
“Lead the way,” Mia said. “You mentioned a special tree?”
“There’s an oak near the lake.” Lauren’s voice was hoarse from the lump that had formed in her throat. “We would meet there on holidays and birthdays when we were living in different homes. We even carved our initials into the trunk to mark it as our spot.”
“That’s beautiful,” Mia said quietly.
Hand in hand, they entered the park. They circled partway around the lake before Lauren led Mia off the path to where her oak tree awaited. Its branches sprawled overhead, providing a green canopy of leaves. The trunk was thick and gnarled, and roots jutted from it where it met the ground, smooth in places where people had used them as seats.
Lauren and Mia walked to one of those spots and sat. For a few minutes, neither of them said anything. Lauren watched people stroll by on the sidewalk, grateful no one else was sitting near the oak tree today. Birds called overhead, and the air was rich with the scent of earth and vegetation.
She unzipped her backpack and lifted the urn out before setting the empty bag on the ground. Tears spilled over her cheeks as she hugged it to her chest one last time. “I’m celebrating my book launch later today, Craig, and I’m going to miss having you there so much.”
Mia’s arm wrapped around her shoulders and squeezed.
Lauren rested her head on Mia’s shoulder. “Craig was my first reader, technically. I used to write these silly stories for him since we didn’t have many books at home. I wrote about a brave knight named Craig who fought fire-breathing dragons and evil sorcerers. His sister Lauren fought alongside him, because she’d gotten bored being the princess in the castle, waiting for the white knight to save her.”
“A feminist to your core.” Mia kissed the top of her head. “I wish someone had written stories like that for me when I was a little girl. I can only imagine how much it meant to Craig to have those stories—and you—in his life.”
“He was my whole world,” Lauren whispered as more tears splashed over her cheeks. “I don’t think this ache in my chest will ever go away.”
“It might not,” Mia murmured, “but I do think it will get easier with time. He’ll always be with you, and when you talk to him, you’re keeping him alive in your heart.”
“That’s what I started to realize these last few months too. I don’t need this urn full of ashes to feel close to him. It’s time to set him free.” Lauren stood and opened the urn, carefully lifting the bag of ashes out of it.
Mia picked up a leaf from the ground before standing beside Lauren. She held it up. “To see which way the wind is blowing,” she said before allowing the leaf to flutter from her fingers.
They watched it drift to the ground, blowing toward the woods away from the lake. Lauren followed it and stood behind the tree, sheltered from the path and the other people exploring the park on this beautiful April day. Mia slid an arm around her waist, and Lauren leaned into her as she opened the bag and tipped it, allowing ashes to drift into the air.
“Bye, Craig,” she whispered. “Be free. Be beautiful. Shine your light down on me from wherever you are up there, okay? I love you, and I’ll always keep your memory alive with me.”
