“Hey, I’ve been looking for you all day. Have you been here the whole time?” Misty asked, taking her seat right next to me.
“Huh? Sorry, what’d you say?”
Shrugging, she said, “Nothing, it’s not important. How are you holding up?”
I shrugged and wiped a tear that had fallen onto my cheek.
She offered me a sad smile and said, “It’s going to be hard. The road ahead of you will be long. But you’ll get through it and one day, when you’re ready, you’ll love again.”
Her statement made me giggle for the first time in days. How could this girl sitting right beside me be just seventeen-years-old, yet, have so much wisdom beyond her years? I knew her words rang true. I had heard them a million times before in romance movies and read those same lines in my romance novels. And still, I didn’t want to believe them.
“How do you know that? I can’t picture myself ever falling in love again… just to possibly lose something so beautiful all over again and have it so easily taken away from me?”
She smiled at me.
“Because, Brae. People have been down this road before. It’s all over the novels you read, and all over the movies you watch. But I don’t have to tell you this. You know this. You know it’s true. It happens. You don’t think scriptwriters make all that stuff up, do you?”
“I don’t know,” I said, shrugging.
But I knew the truth and she was right. Hadn’t I just thought about that same exact things she was mentioning just mere seconds ago?
“Chin up, girlie. You gave him the best days of his life. That alone should be enough to make you smile.”
And for the first time since Zach’s death, I knew Misty had been absolutely right about that. He had told me pretty much the same thing the night before he passed, but I hadn’t listened, and it hadn’t dawned on me. Now, I saw things in a new light. She was completely right.
I gave her a small, grateful smile, “Thank you, Misty. I think, with time, I’m going to be alright. Things will be okay.”
“You got it, Brae.”
The following day, Mom, Dad, Molly and I loaded back into our SUV and headed out of Waverly and back toward New Jersey. I would be starting college the following Thursday.
As we pulled out of our driveway, we passed by Mrs. Neverly’s house where she sat with Sampson on her front porch. I waved to her and she waved back with a sad smile.
“Sapon!” Molly shouted, recognizing Mrs. Neverly’s Golden Retriever.
“That’s right, little sis,” I said, smiling at her. The wonder in her eyes never ceased to amaze me.
I kissed the top of her head, closed my eyes, and leaned my head onto the side of her car seat, quickly falling into the deepest slumber I’d had in the past couple of days.
Epilogue
I can’t say my life without Zach was easy.
I had to learn how to let go of someone who had meant the world to me. He had quickly become someone who I felt as though I couldn’t be without. I didn’t know how I would go on without him, but somehow, I managed.
And now, six years later, at the end of an excruciatingly humid summer, I find myself back on Waverly beach. I’m looking out towards the ocean while my little girl and her father build sand castles and fly kites.
A loud, barking, one hundred and fifty pound dog starts running toward me. His fur has almost turned completely white, but there is no denying who he is.
“Sampson!” I shout, as the hound runs up to me, licking me on the cheek. He is off his leash, which isn’t the norm for him, but a few feet back, Mrs. Neverly makes her way up to me as well.
“Mrs. Neverly!” I shout, running up to her, and wrap my arms around her. “How have you been?”
“Oh, I’m fine, fine. Just getting older here alongside Sampson.”
“Yeah, but you both still look good! It’s been so long. I’ve missed you both,” I admit.
“We’ve missed you, too, dear. How are your little sister and parents doing? Everyone alright?”
I nod. “Yeah, everyone’s good. Molly is now eight, and my parents are still doing fine.”
“You never came back with them after… that year,” she says, her face full of sorrow. I know exactly what year she is referring to, but I also know that it is probably still difficult for her to realize.
Nodding my head and placing my hand on my hips, I answer, “Yeah, once I started college, I tried to stay busy, working, and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.”
“Your parents told me you got married three years ago and you have a daughter?”
“Yeah, there they are,” I say, pointing to my two-year-old daughter, Violet, and my husband, Evan. I wave at him as I call out to Violet to come over.
“V! Come here, pretty girl!”
The nickname my love had given me so long ago would never die. I had found a way to keep it alive. Violet is my pretty girl and I can’t help but wonder if Zach had still been alive, would she have been our daughter? As much as I love and am thankful for my husband, I can’t stop these thoughts.
My toddler runs as fast as her little legs can carry her, and once she reaches us, she throws herself right at Mrs. Neverly. She bends down to pick up my daughter.
“Oh my! Isn’t she just the most precious little doll you could ever lay your eyes on! Hello there, sweet Violet.”
Obviously, Mrs. Neverly has been wondering the same thing about Violet. She doesn’t have to say as much; it is just obvious.
“Hello!” Violet exclaims, full of glee.
“Thank you, Mrs. Neverly,” I reply.
Evan walks back up to us as he and Mrs. Neverly exchange introductions. After a few minutes, she hands Violet back to him, and he makes his way towards our car. We have to head back home to Jersey tonight.
Once we are alone again, she says, “I’m so glad to see you happy and doing well.”
It is bittersweet, but I know Mrs. Neverly always means well.
I look at her and confess. She alone understands my loss and pain. “I still think about him… I’m not going to lie. I love my little family, and my husband is amazing. He takes care of me and our little girl, and goes above and beyond, but I don’t know. Sometimes I think about how differently my life would have turned out had Zach still been here.”
She nods her head. “What you and Zachery shared was special. You both truly loved one another. You can always love Zach as well as your husband and that’s okay. What you and Zach shared is something that will remain with you for always. Some loves stay within our hearts way past their time and I’m afraid you can never replace that love.”
As I am about to turn around and make my way towards my family, I say, “Hey, Mrs. Neverly. I saw the ice cream shop when we entered town, Z & R’s.” Without even asking her what those initials stand for, I already know; it’s what Zach would have wanted.
She smiles lovingly. “It was a dream of his to reopen his grandfather’s shop one day. Unfortunately, life had other plans for him. I had to do it.”
Her eyes are full of tears and I’m suddenly standing there on the brink of my own waterworks.