“When you put it that way, do what you need to do, my love. Your time is coming. Make sure you’re ready to be stretched across every inch of that lovely home.”
Silence.
“I miss you.”
Her admission was wavering.
“I miss you,” I replied.
Silence.
“You’re such a dream, Josiah.”
My cheeks swelled. So did my chest. Her words were going straight to my head. Both. inflating them.
“I keep pinching myself,” Range confessed.
“You’re not alone.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I keep wondering where the fuck you’ve been all this time. I keep wondering why we haven’t bumped into each other in passing or why we haven’t been introduced. Our circles meet at some point. Same spaces. Same strips. Same neighborhoods. Something.”
“Divine timing.”
I kissed the skin of my teeth.
“I’ll take it, but that doesn’t make it any easier to accept.”
“I would have loved to be saved from the frogs.”
Range was amusing.
“But, we’re here now. That has to count for something,” she added.
Silence.
It counted for a lot. For everything. The uncertainty of my future no longer plagued me. I knew where I was headed, and it was down the aisle if Range would have me as her husband. Somehow, I knew that wouldn’t be an issue.
“Goodnight, Range.”
Silence.
“Josiah.”
“Yes, love?”
“Think about me.”
“All the time.”
I ended the call, laying the phone on my chest. Right where the gaping hole was. Right where it hurt. Right where Range was.
All the time, baby.
THIRTEEN
Twenty-two thousand four hundred and eighty-six dollars.
