"Lisa." The corner of his mouth lifted in a half smile as he came closer. "She found me at the lab and told me. I left campus yesterday afternoon.”
My quivering jaw dropped. "You drove all the way here? Why?”
He gave me a slow nod and shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I? I love you. I won’t let you go through this alone.” He lifted an eyebrow as he closed the distance between us. We were almost chest to heaving chest.
"But . . .” My mouth parched as I forgot what I was about to say. I took in a sharp breath through my nostrils and did the best I could to stand straight.
He inched a fraction of a centimeter closer, still not touching me, but holding my watery gaze with a dark, burning glare. Time stopped along with my heartbeat. Drew shook his head, as if he was reading my thoughts, and opened his arms. I once again collapsed onto his chest in choking sobs.
"I love you. I’ll keep saying it until it sinks in,” he rasped into my hair. “The rest, we’ll talk about later.”
I burrowed my head deep in his chest, breathing him in and praying this wasn’t a dream. He always seemed too good to be true.
“I’m Denise.” My sister rushed to Drew with an extended hand, giving me a quick side-glance. I nodded, answering her silent question that this was the ex-boyfriend I didn’t want to talk about.
“Drew.” He took her hand and gave it a shake with his other arm still wrapped around my waist. We still had a lot to talk about, but having him here and so close to me felt too good to question for the moment. Maybe I didn’t have to question it at all. The past couple of days were a painful reminder of how my family gave me shelter, but not a home. My home was Drew.
A hint of a smile danced across his mouth before he took my hand and laced our fingers together. Tears flooded my eyes as I squeezed back. I rested my head on his shoulder, letting my eyes shut as an odd peace wafted over me through the sadness. Even after everything, Drew was my someone. My person. He gave me something I never had before—unconditional love through the worst of circumstances.
I let my hand drift down the lapel of Drew’s jacket. “You clean up really well, Kostas.” He caught my hand and brought it to his lips.
“Always so gorgeous,” he whispered. His hand slid to the nape of my neck as his eyes searched mine.
A sad chuckle fell from my lips. My eyes were heavy, and I was sure circled with dark puffy bags.
“You’re delirious, Drew.”
He drew me into his side and rested his chin on the top of my head.
“Maybe. But I’m not going anywhere.” He pressed a kiss to my temple. “Whether you like it or not.”
Sara
THE PRAYERS WEREshort and sweet as the priest didn’t know my parents personally. I wished them the peace in death they couldn’t find in life. They disowned me years ago, so my grief wasn’t about missing them. I mourned for whatshouldhave been. As I waited for my sister in the living room this morning, my eyes searched the room as I imagined all the moments weshouldhave had: Victoria crawling over the carpet as a baby; her grandparents reveling in each milestone; congratulating me with pride in their eyes when I found a way to go back to school; the moment with my mother when I told her about falling in love for the first time with Drew. When we left my parents at the cemetery, the finality of what I never had sunk in, and I was sadder for them and their wasted years than I was for me.
The car dropped us back off at the funeral home and Drew drove us to the lawyer’s office—the air in the car thick with uncomfortable silence. I wished the lawyer hadn’t insisted on reading the will an hour after the funeral, but it was probably best to get it all over with. I worried about my sister. Yes, she was an adult, but a young one. The thought of her living in that house all alone didn’t sit right with me at all.
“Sara, Denise, come in.” A stocky man in a tight suit motioned to us to come into his office when we arrived. For a reason I couldn’t explain, my stomach twisted. The cemetery was our final goodbye, but this would be the permanent confirmation of how they felt about me—or howlittlethey felt about me. I expected absolutely nothing and only came along to support my sister. My chest tightened again at all these big decisions about to fall into her lap before she was ready.
“I’ll wait out here,” Drew whispered.
“No, you’re coming in with me.” I rose from the chair and pulled him up by the hand. I didn’t want to experience the final “eff you” from my parents alone. We ambled into the office and sat down on the leather couch across from his desk.
“I’m sorry for your loss.” He looked between Denise and me as he unfolded the papers in his hand. “Your parents were very specific in their wishes, so this shouldn’t take very long.”
“I bet they were,” I huffed to Drew. He draped his arm around my shoulders and rubbed my back.
“The house and any savings are in a trust for Denise Marie Caldwell until her twenty-first birthday. She can sell the house at that time but not before. A trust of $50,000 was left to a Victoria Elizabeth Caldwell.”
“Wait.” I grabbed the edge of the desk, positive I heard that completely wrong. “They left a trust in my daughter’s name? Why?” I stammered as my body went rigid with shock.
He pushed the rim of his glasses up as he nodded. “Yes, and there is also an annuity in her name as well. Your parents knew how to invest, and your father had a great pension. Looks like you have a little help with college tuition.” He leaned over to hand me an envelope. “All the information is there.”
All these years, they never bothered with either of us or even opened up a Christmas card to see her picture. Is it possible they regretted cutting us out of their lives? I couldn’t describe how I was feeling. It was a cross between getting punched in the stomach and holding a winning lottery ticket.
“When did they set this up?” I whispered as I grabbed the envelope with a shaking hand. “This has to be a mistake.”
“They added this in January. I assure you these were their final wishes.”
