“Despite the fact that I think you’re a poor excuse for a human being, thank you for saving Ari and fulfilling Ellie’s wish,” I say, the boldness of my honesty surprising even myself.
He pulls in a sharp sigh. “I’m aware that Ellie wanted her request to remain private. She was a strong woman who knew exactly what she wanted. Very convincing—blackmailing, actually. It was hard to deny a gesture such as hers, and Ari had been my patient for years—a patient I spent half of my career trying to help.” Help? Is that what he’s convinced himself of? Help is an action that doesn’t require inappropriate behavior as gratitude.
“Ellie had a way with people,” I say, unintentionally snarling at him.
With an increased look of discomfort Don’s eyes, he shifts his weight and sucks in a shallow breath. “Well, take care of yourself, Charlotte,” he says, closing the conversation. “Maybe we can discuss custody again at some point.” I can only imagine what is going through Charlotte’s mind right now. I’m not sure custody in any circumstance will be easy for her to agree to after Don made career choices that caused his own daughter to lose her home for months, never mind everything else flagged on his track-record.
“I need more time,” Charlotte says. The court will do whatever Charlotte wants, which makes this even harder on her.
“Understood. Tell Lana I miss her.” Don reaches out to shake my hand and I offer mine in return, only because I’m a decent human being. The non-decent part of me would like to knock his fake veneers out.Douche.“A pleasure to meet you and I’m sorry for your loss.”
As he walks away, I feel Charlotte’s chest exhale against my back as her cheek rests against my shoulder, obviously glad to have that conversation over. “I hate him,” she says. “Regardless of the fact that he saved Ari, I really hate him.”
“Considering the circumstances, I think that’s okay,” I tell her.
I reach into my suit-coat pocket and pull out the envelope Ari gave me a few months ago, telling me I could not open it until it was too late to thank her. I’ve kept it sitting on top of my bureau since that day, practically burning a hole through it with my eyes every time I glanced at it. I’ve held it up to the sun trying to read whatever is inside but she anticipated my move, covering the envelope’s contents with a blank piece of paper.
“Oh my gosh, I almost forgot about that,” Charlotte says.
My hands tremble as I separate the flap from the body of the envelope. I expect to see a typical typed note, similar to the ones Ari wrote to me for five years, but it isn’t like that. Puzzled by what I’m looking at, I unfold the papers, straightening them out to get a better look. With the sun so bright in the sky, though, there’s a glare over the center, but it’s instantly covered by a shadow. “Ari made this decision six years ago,” a voice says from over my shoulder. I turn, finding Ari’s dad standing behind me. “Go on, read what it says.”
I scan through the words over and over, trying my best to comprehend what I’m looking at. I guess I know what I’m looking at but how could this be? “I don’t understand,” I tell him.
“My wife and I owned the Hillview Gardens,” he says.
I shake my head, bewildered. “What? I—“
“It has been in the family for some time,” he continues.
“Did Ellie know?”
He laughs quietly. “Of course she knew. Ellie came to gardens daily, with and without you. I spoke to her many times over the years and she was the one who got Ari the student-teaching job. Ellie has been a blessing in our lives for as long as I can remember.”
“Why didn’t anyone tell me this?”
“A good person is doing no good if their reasons are anything more than soul-filling. I’m sure you know that Ellie did things out of the kindness of her heart, never wanting anything in return.” That is my Ellie. It always has been. This shouldn’t be a surprise to me. “When I told Ellie about Ari’s condition and her dreams, wishes, and hopes, it was as if Ellie knew what her purpose in life was. Beyond the love she had for you, she wanted to leave her mark in this world. And boy, did she. In fact, we say a prayer for her each night before bed.”
I look back down at the papers, reading them once more. “Are you saying...?”
“The Hillview gardens are now in your name.” With shock, and more appreciation than I have ever had for anything, I pull him in for a hug, locking my fists tightly around him. Telling him this means the world to me would not do justice to how I truly feel. I had no idea that Ari’s family owned the gardens but it’s like my life was planned to go down this path...this unexpected path. I don’t understand life’s plans and the twisted roads accompanying it. I still don’t understand Robert Frost and his thought-provoking words but I do understand that while our hearts may dictate the time we spend on this earth, they also direct us down the path we are meant to take, whether it is the one less traveled or not.
My heart led me to Ellie. Her heart led her to Ari. Ari’s heart led Charlotte to me. Life is not one straight highway; sometimes it’s an offbeat path with no direction, no signs, no warnings, and often with no apparent reason. It is rarely traveled on because there is no conclusive outcome and no defined ending until a person arrives there.
Here I am, at the beginning of a new bend on this endless path I started down at age five when I met Ellie. I never considered a different direction, nor did I wonder where it might have led.
The peace I have sought from the moment Ellie died has found me here, today, with understanding of Ellie’s path that veered away from mine. Some day our roads will intersect again but until that day, I will continue walking blindly around new corners and into unchartered territory, unknowing of what lies ahead. I will allow life to unfold around each bend of the road.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
- ONE YEAR LATER -
“If I haveto move these boxes one more time—” I jokingly threaten.
Charlotte’s hands sweep up the back of my shirt as she places soft kisses on my chin. “I said, thank you,” she whispers against my lips. “What more do you want from me?” she adds, suggestively.
I scoop her up in my arms and carry her up the steps and into my—our bedroom. “Have I told you how much I love you?” I ask her.
“Only twenty times in the past two hours,” she says with a wry grin. “But in case you plan to show me, we only have an hour before the girls get home from school.”
