Nothing.
Not a single glance.
He turns and opens the door.
“Why were you looking at my phone?” It’s not a plea. I know I no longer have a case. I need to make sense of what just happened.Howit happened. I need closure.
Theo keeps his back to me, but pauses halfway out the door. “I was going to ask for your dad’s blessing before proposing to you.”
The door closes.
I hug my stomach, collapsing back in the chair as sobs wrack my whole body.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
My name is Scarlet Stone, and I am alive.
True to hisword, Oscar doesn’t blame me. Four months ago, Nellie pled guilty to manslaughter. Harold was arrested and charged with aiding and abetting in the conviction of Braxton Ames as well as attempted murder. After Nolan testified, he sold the mansion and all of his other property and moved to the West Coast.
Oscar walks around Savannah from sunrise to sunset, stopping at book stores and coffee shops. He says very little, but always gives me a warm smile and kiss on the cheek like I’m still the light of his life. I’m not sure if he’s avoiding me or just searching for a new direction.
I feel quite lost myself. Theo disappeared. I haven’t looked for him. What could I possibly say or do to change what has happened? He has the truth. I didn’t stand in the way of him turning in Nellie, and I won’t stand in the way of him grieving the news of his mum cheating on his dad. He is unequivocally the love of my life—of every life I will ever have. He’s branded into my scarred soul.
I wish him well.
Oscar encourages me every day to love myself enough to continue what I “originally came to Savannah to do.” I remind him that I came here to die on my own terms. His response is always the same: “Exactly.” I think I finally understand what he means. Death is inevitable for everyone, but we can make choices in life that increase our chance of taking lots and lots of breaths before our time expires.
I have juice. I have tea. Meditation starts my days, followed by physical therapy. My ankle is better, not perfect, but close. With my new and affordable car, I drive to Tybee several days a week to walk along the shore. It’s difficult with my ankle stillhealing, but I feel better when I can walk by the house where it all began. Sometimes I think I see Theo swimming in the distance but it’s never him, just wishful thinking. I guess if I have 70,000 thoughts a day, I might as well make as many of them as ‘wishful’ as possible.
“How was work?” Oscar asks as I come through the door. He’s sprawled out on the sofa that he’s been sleeping on for the past several months.
I told him he could get rid of the sofa and haul his bed back in, but Nellie picked out the sofa, and he doesn’t want to get rid of it.
“Just fabulous.” I smirk with an eye roll.
“You’re a genius, Ruby. What more could you possibly want to achieve in life?” He keeps his gaze on his book. It’s Tolle. I told him there’s a lot of comfort in Tolle and Dyer.
“I’m not sure tech support at the Apple store really qualifies as being a genius.”
“But they call it the ‘Genius Bar.’”
“True.” I ease into ‘my’ chair on a long sigh.
“It’s a waste of your potential, Ruby.”
“It’s temporary, until I literally get back on my feet. And I’m close.”
He flips another page. “Then what?”
“Well, according to the oncologist—anything.”
Oscar slaps the book shut, raising a single eyebrow. “You saw the oncologist today?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And?”
“They can’t find any cancer. Blood tests, scans… everything looked perfect.”
