After Forever Ends (80 page)

He laughs harder, “I won’t do it again, I promise!”

“You better not!” I give him a playful shove, “Or next time I’ll tell your wife!”

“She won’t care!” He chuckles.

“Oh, shut up, Old Man!”

“Ah, Sil, I’ve missed you!” He draws me under his arm and squeezes me to his side. “I love you so much! I always have!”

“I’ve missed you, too.” I squeeze him back, “And I love you as well, Alexander. I always have, even against my better judgment!”

Together, still hand in hand, Alex and I walk back to the cabin. Lucy and Warren have a hot supper on the table. I watch Alexander pull his wife into a deep embrace. He whispers how much he loves her into her ear and she smiles the same smile she did the day they were married.

“Ah, Alex,” She puts her head against his chest. “I know you do and I love you, too.”

“I know, but it always nice to hear,” He smiles down at her. I watch him take her hand in his and leave his arm around her waist. He dances with her slowly around the kitchen. “Your sister just slapped me in my face.”

“I’m sure you asked for it,” Lucy replies as she holds him close. Both of them laugh.

I thank God that they’ve been able to spend all these years together. I thank God that I was a part of their lives and that I still have them both. My heart throbs and I thank God that I still have Oliver as well. Some things are simply meant to be. Some souls are simply destined for each other. I think that it’s the winds that decide what those things are and who those souls will be. The winds are always blowing here in the wood.

When supper is through Nigel, Kitty with him, and Warren with Gwenllian, leave us for their homes. Alex, Lucy and I settle into the front room on soft chairs where we can rest our old bones and spend however long we have left in our magical wood with the people we love most. Each other. Together we’ll laugh and cry and spend our time listening to the winds and the whispers and doing what people who have lived a long time and have had happy lives enjoy doing the most.

Remembering.