Prologue
When I was nineteen, I thought I had it all figured out. I’d found my soulmate, the great love of my life, and I was on a clear, direct path to the career of my dreams. What could possibly go wrong? My life was golden—until I went for a hike in the winter sunshine and fell off a mountain.
I wish I could say I learned a lot from the ordeal—that when the ground collapsed under my feet and I tumbled down a vertical rock face, I came to understand that life isn’t always steady or predictable. I also wish that afterward, I could have recognized the long-term power and potency of trauma. How, for the rest of your life, lingering scars can steer you off course and make you doubt that anything good is truly lasting.
I absorbed no such wisdom that day, nor in the months and years to come. Even when death came calling a second time, I had not yet recognized my ignorance.
But there I go again, dwelling on the past when this is supposed to be a story about love, forgiveness, and soulmates, and not just the human kind.
It’s a story about lessons learned—that there can be joy after tragedy, and hope after forgiveness.
There is growth in the healing.
But maybe that’s something you learn from life, over decades. Not from a fleeting encounter with death, however intense it may be.
Part One
The Mountain
1998
Chapter One
Beautiful Dreams
Wolfville, Nova Scotia
“What are you doing here?” I ask as I descend the steps at the Manning School of Business, my heavy backpack slung over my left shoulder. It’s a dreary, damp day, and the chill in the air makes me shiver. “Aren’t you supposed to be in class?”
Jacob saunters toward me, and I can’t believe how relieved I am to see him, because for the past twenty-four hours, I’ve been staring into the abyss. But here he is—the one person in the world who can save the day. And saveme.
I pause at the bottom of the steps and watch him approach. He wears faded blue jeans with sneakers and the brown leather jacket I gave him for Christmas.
Though we’ve been together for almost two years, I still feel as if I could fall over backward at the sight of him. He’s so beautiful in every way—especially when he appears unexpectedly as I’m walking out of the computer lab, about to suffer a nervous breakdown.
“The prof canceled at the last minute,” he tells me. “So I figured I’d come and meet you.”
I reach him on the asphalt path and kiss him on the cheek. “I’m happy to see you.”
He looks down at me with a slight frown. “Everything okay?”
He knows me so well.
Two girls walk past on their way into the business school, and I nod silently because I can’t tell Jacob the truth right now. Not here.
“Do you want to go to the cafeteria?” I ask. “I have an hour before Finance.”
“I can’t. I have to go back to the apartment for something, but I came to tell you that I have a surprise for you.”
I raise an eyebrow and incline my head. “A surprise?”
“Yes. Can you come over after class? I’ve got supper planned, and afterward, we can go for a walk.” He looks at me expectantly, and his boyish grin is so adorable that all the tension releases from my body.
“Supper and a walk sounds perfect.”
He smiles and backs away. “Great. I’m making your favorite.”
“Alphagetti?”
