Six Months Later
Atticus
Trying to exist in a world that left me behind and learn over a hundred years of things I’ve missed is overwhelming. Defeating.
Some days, I feel like I’m making progress, only to be completely thrown off afterward.
Touch-screen household machines, robots that sweep the floor, toothbrushes that vibrate and spin… It’s like I went to sleep and woke up on another planet far more advanced than my own.
For every one thing I learn, there are ten more I don’t understand, and I feel more helpless than helpful. Still, through it all, there’s a single constant that makes every struggle worth it.
Cassie.
I glance down at her naked, sleeping form, nestled against my chest, and the corner of my mouth lifts into a smile. Without her, I would have given up by now.
She should be sleeping in her bedroom down the hall, as per her aunt’s rules, but she’s here in my bed, the way she’s been every night for the past six months.
She’ll wake up before anyone else in the house, despite hating early mornings, and sneak back down the hall until her cousin comes to wake her up.
This woman is far more than I deserve.
For every question I ask and everything I don’t understand, she’s been impossibly patient and kind. If I were her, I would have surely suffocated me by now, but she hasn’t even threatened it.
She’s far better than me.
I should be asleep. We have a long day tomorrow as we head to California, but I’m too anxious to rest. Not only because Cassie is driving us there, but because I’ve never been anywhere outside of Cold Springs.
It was always my dream to travel, to see the world outside this sleepy little town, but I know I’ll be even more lost and confused when we get to a big city.
I sigh and press my lips to the top of her head, pulling the cover up over her shoulder. With a soft moan, almost like acknowledgement, she snuggles closer to me.
She looks like an angel, her red hair a halo of fire around her. Stunning, the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
I force my eyes closed, knowing that she’ll be crawling out of bed in an hour or two to tiptoe out of my room. Then it’ll only be a few more hours until we’re hitting the road and leaving this farmhouse behind.
California.
When she told me she’d always dreamed of going there, I knew we’d head there first. We didn’t have a departure date in mind until she got a call back about a job offer just outside of San Francisco; California was all she talked about after that.
“You’ll love it,” she assured me when I agreed, and I believed her. Not because I care about seeing the west coast, but because I love the way her eyes light up at the thought of it.
I’ll be content as long as she’s happy.
I brush my fingers gently over her shoulder, loving the way her skin feels against mine. My thoughts continue to wander as I watch her sleep, a million different scenarios of what our future might look like flashing through my mind.
Not long ago, I was tied to a stake in the middle of a cornfield. My only future was the cornfield; I never imagined that I could have a life outside of it.
Now, I’m leaving that cornfield—and Cold Springs—behind.
All because the woman sleeping next to me.
She set me free. She broke my curse. She gave me my life back.
I owe her everything.
“Why aren’t you asleep?” she mumbles against my chest without opening her eyes.
“I’m sorry. Did I wake you?” My eyes pop open, and I trail my fingers slowly up and down her arm.
She shakes her head slightly against my chest. “Had a bad dream.”
“What about?”
Prying one eye open, she glances up at me. “I dreamed that I woke up and you were gone; I was running through a cornfield trying to find you, but you weren’t there.”
“Oh, darling.” I roll toward her and pull her against me, resting my lips against her forehead. “You don’t have to worry about that. I’m not going anywhere. Not now, not ever.”
A sleepy smile curves her mouth, and her eye drifts closed again. “You better not.”
I stifle a laugh, and seconds later, she’s snoring again.
I clutch her tightly as my eyes drift closed, thoughts of our future still consuming me and making it impossible to sleep. Exhausted or not, I’m ready for what tomorrow holds; I’m ready to give Cassie the life she deserves.
Everything I am belongs to her, and I’ll follow her anywhere she wants to go.