Holly stopped shaking her head.“I just wish we could go back in time and do that day over.”
Malcolm joined them. “Even if you could, that wouldn’t stop him from doing something else that was risky. If you could relive that day and change the outcome, there’s a good chance you’d still lose him too soon.”
“We don’t know that.” She looked away, desperately searching for an argument. “You said Brody stopped taking risks. Whynot Cameron?”
Joy’s heart squeezed. To see such a steadfast love and know her job was to break it apart was hard. “Because Brody’s behavior only changedafterCameron’s death. It took something that drastic.”
Malcolm put his hand on Holly’s shoulder. “The probability of Cameron dying within that year is well over ninety percent.”
Holly’s mouth dropped open and her eyes rounded.
Joy searchedher knowledge but she couldn’t see probabilities. She could only see a number of devastating events. Malcolm knew the probabilities because he was from the future. She wished she could see with that kind of clarity.
A sudden thought occurred to her. Would he know the probability of her niece having lived or died? That unknown kept niggling at her like sand in her shoe, interrupting her focusat inopportune times. She watched him study Holly. He might be her only chance to find out.
“You have to tell him.” Holly grabbed Malcolm’s arm. “You have to. He’s riddled with guilt over that day. You have to tell him he was fated to die that year. Don’t let him beat himself up anymore. It’s not fair. Let him blame it on fate. Release him from his guilt, please!”
That’s what this was all about?Cameron’s guilt? Joy felt a mixture of relief and anger. So, she and Malcolm were pawns sent to accomplish what? To free Cameron of his guilt? Free Holly of her anger? That wasn’t enough. Holly deserved her own happily ever after.
As for Cameron, Joy wasn’t sure she cared at the moment.
“I’ll tell him.” Malcolm nodded, and Holly let go of him.
“Thank you. If he knows that, will he still visitme?” The hope in her watery eyes was frustrating.
“I don’t know.” Malcolm shrugged. “It’s not up to him.”
“Oh, that’s right.” Holly nodded, wiping the tears from her face. “He did say that he reported to someone else and this past year it was all about what I did. So maybe if I find that twenty percent probability path, I could see him again.”
Joy’s anger at Cameron got the better of her. Hollyshould be living her life for her, not for the chance to see her dead husband. “I’m not sure seeing him again is a good idea.”
“Why not?” Holly turned to her in shock.
Making her decision, Joy spread her arms to encompass the quiet shop. “Because that’s what causes this.”
“But you said it was due to my—”
“Your choices. Yes, but you make those solely based on seeing Cameron again. I didn’twant to say it, but I guess you need to know.” Her blood was pumping hard. Releasing her calm and allowing her anger to dictate her actions as a spirit guide was new. “The decisions you make to see your dead husband, to live for him instead of yourself will all lead to your life being something like this.”
Holly’s mouth opened, but nothing came out. The mixture of pain and confusion in her eyesdidn’t bode well.
Malcolm took Joy’s hand and gave it a squeeze.
She sincerely hoped that meant what she’d said was a good thing because it didn’t look good at the moment.
“You have a lot to think about now.” Malcolm addressed Holly. “Are you ready to go back to your time?”
“That’s it?” Holly looked lost. “But there must be more you can show me.”
Malcolm shrugged. “Like what? You don’t havemuch of a life to show. Can you think of anything we might have missed? I can’t.”
Joy held her breath. Come on Holly. Think.
Holly frowned. “I have more of a life than this.” She pointed to the shop then drifted to the window that looked out on Main Street.
They waited. Malcolm looked down at her, his face showing his disappointment. But they couldn’t give up. If they did, it meant Hollywould continue to waste her life.
Joy tried to think of something that would bring Ethan to mind. The fact that he was so far from Holly’s was not a good sign.
