The Beginning
THE BEGINNING
I hold Grayson’s hand while we take off.
He isn’t afraid, exactly, he says. Not like Michael was. But his inner pilot knows that takeoff and landing are riskiest, and Lily’s fate has left him with a shadow of doubt, if not a bona fide phobia.
He leans his head against the seat and closes his eyes while I draw loving circles on the back of his hand and watch the mist-shrouded earth fall away.
The past—all the heartache and frustration, my grief and my pain—retreat along with the foggy world below. They’re not gone, of course. They’ll always remain, part of a vague silver distance that once formed the solid ground beneath my feet. But now I’m free of those yesterdays. I’ve cut myself loose, launched into the sky. Turned my face toward today.
When the seat belt sign dings off, Grayson opens his eyes and cradles my face. We break free from the clouds. Spears of sunlight lance through the window, kindling golden flecks in the turquoise of his eyes.
I study each one. How funny. I don’t think Michael had those. If so, I never noticed.
“What do you want to do tomorrow?” he says.
His smooth, aged-bourbon words conjure daydreams of dusty plazas infused with gnarled, olive-scented trees. I think of the winding, white-bright sun-soaked alleys of Athens and how I want to wander until we end up in a hole-in-the-wall restaurant somewhere, eating moussaka and drinking ouzo until Grayson decides to whisk me back to our hotel room and take all my clothes off.
But in the end, there’s only one right answer. “Tomorrow? Haven’t you heard? There’s no such thing.”
It catches him off guard, but then a brilliant smile lights up his face. He drops a kiss on the tip of my nose. “That’s my girl. God, I’ve missed you.” His voice hitches.
I grin, then turn to watch the world fade to a wash of emerald and silver, all crowned by the setting sun.
I don’t let go of his hand for the entire flight. But not because I’m worried about what’s coming. Or about what we’ve endured to get here.
It’s just that right now, this is all I need.