Sometime Yesterday (28 page)

“Our blood,” Beth and Sarah said together.

Natalie watched Richard shrink, his power stripped from him. He faded away while his cries echoed until finally, they grew fainter then stopped.

The room was hushed. Beth’s face filled with love and she smiled gently. “Thank you.”

Natalie’s eyes were blurry with tears. She blinked to clear them.

Beth and Sarah were gone.

Van dropped a white rose then crouched next to the fresh hole. “Now you’re home,” she said. “Where you belong.”

She stood straight, her chest filled with pride and love as each member of her family passed, covering the casket in the Easton family plot. Her father was last in line and pushed her grandfather’s wheelchair closer.

Tears ran down her face when her father helped her grandfather stand and together, they placed the last roses on the coffin. Her grandfather said good-bye to the daughter of the fairy king and the princess who once lived in a tower.

Natalie cried softly beside her and Van tightened her arm around her shoulder.

“This was such a beautiful thing to do,” Natalie said. “Burying them together.”

Van dropped a kiss on her forehead. “She’s family.”

“Are you coming?” Van’s father called over his shoulder.

“We’ll meet you at the house,” Van answered then turned to Natalie. “Could I have a few minutes?”

Natalie smiled. “Take your time.”

Van held the last bouquet of flowers in her hand and walked a short distance down the path. She stopped in front of a marble headstone that already had fresh flowers at the base. Her throat tightened. Her father must have left them earlier in the day. She placed them anyway then sat, folding her legs under her.

The beauty of the day was all around her and she breathed in the warm summer air, savoring the scent. She thought of all the visits she’d made here over the years to visit her mother, then Cara.

Van no longer held any heavy grief in her heart. She knew they weren’t really buried here in the ground. She smiled because she knew their spirits lived in a place so beautiful. Van knew it beyond description. They were happy and free. She’d seen it for herself.

If she closed her eyes, she could almost put herself there again. Almost. Oh, she still missed them, but she knew now that physical loss was only temporary. The people she loved never really went away.

They simply waited.

Van stood and brushed the grass off of her slacks. It was time to go home.

*

Natalie opened the front door and smiled. The entire Easton family was inside, along with her parents. Food covered the table, laughing children were running up and down the hall, and everyone was talking at once, filling the home that had been empty of love for so long.

She was exhausted but strangely energized at the same time. Her mother laughed at something Van’s uncle said and her father joined in. She was struck with that sense of homecoming she’d felt the first time she’d entered the house.

The afternoon sun streamed in the open windows. A single shaft of light lit the space above the fireplace where a new painting was hung just that morning. Natalie had painted the yard she’d seen in Beth’s dreams.

Bold flowers bloomed and bright, beautiful colors seemed to leap from the canvas in a riot of hues. Larkspur feathered in beds behind bright pansies and rosebushes in full bloom. The original fountain sprayed with water depicted so realistically, the drops shimmered in the light. A picnic basket sat open, a bottle of wine and a loaf of French bread visible over the rim. A white-brimmed hat lay propped against the side. Beth sat in the grass in a lacy white dress, her legs tucked to one side. Her features, so like Natalie’s own, depicted a look of pure adoration as she looked down at her hands hidden in the clouds of Sarah’s dark hair spread about her lap. Sarah lay with her legs stretched out and feet crossed at the ankles. The painting appeared to have caught them in an intimate moment of love.

Natalie stood in front of the lovely scene and jumped when arms enclosed her from behind. She murmured in pleasure when she felt Van’s hard body press against her back. She held the hands that crossed over her stomach, and they stood for a moment, rocking from side to side.

Van kissed the side of her neck and whispered in her ear. “You did a beautiful job. They look happy and crazy in love.”

“They do. Finally.”

“Come outside with me?”

They slipped out the back door and sat on the bench by the fountain. The sun felt so good, Natalie closed her eyes and tilted her face toward it, soaking in the warmth.

She was filled with a peaceful joy. This was her happy ending.

Natalie rested her head on Van’s shoulder and looked at the pink scar across her hand. The permanent reminder of that afternoon.

She could recall staring into the empty space that held Beth and Sarah just a second before, hardly wanting to even dare to hope it was all finally over. Then she was in Van’s strong arms, laughing and crying again while people stomped the stairs to surround them.

Van refused to let go of her while the paramedics checked them over. Natalie’s father didn’t have a scratch on him, but she and Van both had several that required stitches. They rode together to the hospital.

When Van began to explain what happened with Candy, Natalie stopped her. She didn’t believe the lie anymore. Van had bled for her, for love.

There wasn’t any magic stronger than that.

Natalie turned her hand so their scars were pressed together. “When I saw you on the floor, my heart stopped. All I could think of was that I would do anything, absolutely anything to get you back.”

“It was your tears,” Van said.

“My what?”

“I was talking to my mother’s spirit and I felt your tears on my face. She told me I had a choice. I chose you.”

Natalie kissed her softly. “I love you.”

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