Shadows Have Gone (39 page)

Sam let out a soft whine, and Carly looked up to see a ghost standing in the road.

Justin.

Her chest constricted with pain, and Carly wondered why her eyes would be playing such a cruel trick on her. Yes, she longed more than anything to see him one more time but this was—

“Carly.”

Sam whined again and then bolted toward the ghost. He jumped on Justin, and the force of the impact knocked Justin from his feet. Sam nearly climbed over him in his excitement, lapping at his face, yipping and dancing, his tail whipping so fast it was a blur.

Carly didn’t move. She couldn’t.

“Carly,” Justin’s ghost said again. He got to his feet, and he walked up to her. His hand reached to touch her cheek, and it was solid and warm, the fingers calloused. Just like Justin’s had been. She closed her eyes.

“Carly, it’s really me.”

“It can’t be. You—”

“It was a dud. The grenade didn’t go off. I woke up and—”

The grenade didn’t go off. She opened her eyes and stared at him.

It didn’t go off.

Carly hit him, slamming both fists onto his chest. “You stupid, stupid man! You could have died for
nothing
!”

“I know, I’m sorry. I thought I was—”

She kissed him, kissed him wildly, her hands stroking over his shoulders, his back, his chest and neck, making sure it was really him. She kissed every inch of his face, their tears mingling. His arms tightened around her back to the point where she couldn’t breathe, but she didn’t care.

“I love you. I love you.”

He drew back and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Carly, you were right. I believe you now. All that stuff about fate or some hand guiding us . . . you were right about all of it. It’s true. This is what was meant to be.”

Carly could barely see from the tears, but she was smiling so broadly that her cheeks hurt. She squeezed him tight, her words muffled against his chest. “I thought I lost you. Kaden, Dagny . . . we thought we lost you.”

“I know. I’m so sorry. I thought I was protecting you.”

She didn’t even know where to start, but it all melted away as she opened her mouth to speak. There would be time for that later. The shadows had gone, and all that mattered now was that she had him here, in her arms. He was here. He was alive.

She smiled, and her heart swelled with a joy she had never known. She smiled up at him. “And now I know we can face anything. We’re going to make it, because this is our destiny. We’re not only going to survive, we’re going to build a better world.”

“I’m going to need your help,” he said and used his fingertips to wipe the tears from her cheeks. “I don’t always make the best choices. But I know with your help, we’re going to make this into something amazing.”

Behind them, the gate had opened, and the people of Colby were pouring out. Joyous calls of greeting sounded when they saw Justin. Pearl was the first to reach them, and she seized him in a fierce hug.

In the end, the shadows were only a small thing that faded away in the shining light of hope and love, which were far more powerful than the shadows could ever be.

~Finis~

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Lissa Bryan is an astronaut, renowned Kabuki actress, Olympic pole vault gold medalist, Iron Chef champion, and scientist who recently discovered the cure for athlete’s foot . . . though only in her head. Real life isn’t so interesting, which is why she spends most of her time writing.

She is the author of three other novels,
Ghostwriter,
The End of All Things
, and
Under These Restless Skies
.

I would like to thank Louis Courville of the CAPE-2 picosatellite project at the University of Louisiana for kindly answering my questions about satellite repeaters for ham radio. Any errors are my own.

Thanks also to my editor, Christine, who works her magic in taking my disjointed thoughts and forming them into an actual book. I don’t know how you do it—nor how you keep your patience—but I’m grateful.

And, as always, to my lovely writer friends who are always there for advice or encouragement: Sydney Logan, Sherri Hayes, Sandi Layne, Lindsey Gray, K.B. Hoyle, T.M. Franklin, denise Leora madre, and Jess Molly Brown.
 

Last, but certainly not least, to my friend Tonya, for despite great personal trials of your own, you are always there for me when I need it most.

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