Page 60 of A Ghost of a Chance

Rafe didn’t want to hear it. He wanted to burrow deep inside his grief and loss and misery.

But Peter was right. About everything.

If he had known of a surety that Osanne would not return, would he have let her go? No, probably not.

The searing pain in his heart, the physical ache in every part of his body, would not soon heal. Perhaps never.

He tried to picture himself with another woman. With Osanne gone, could he ever recover from his grief enough to give his heart to another? Would there be enough of his heart left to give? Did he want to?

No. Never.

Osanne. His beloved. Lost to him forever.

Chapter Nineteen

Osanne moved forward. A long corridor lay before her made of some smooth material like marble but with shifting colors—pink, purple, gold. Colors! For the first time since her death, she could see color! She had almost forgotten its beauty and wonder. At the far end of the colorful corridor, two figures, a man and a woman, stood, motioning her forward. As she reached them, their faces came into focus. Younger than she’d ever known them, and gloriously beautiful, her parents greeted her.

“Welcome home, dear one,” Mama said.

“Mama? Papa?”

“Oh, Sweeting, we’ve been waiting for you,” Papa said.

They both enfolded her in their embrace.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Please forgive me.”

Papa said in his lovely, resonant bass voice without releasing her. “Nothing to forgive, Sweeting.”

“Nothing at all,” Mama murmured.

They held onto one another until years of darkness and loneliness and regret fell away. Light filled her and pure, unblemished joy.

Finally, Osanne stepped back. “Is this Heaven, then?”

“No, this is a waiting place,” Mama said.

She glanced around. “What are we waiting for?”

Papa answered, “You. You have a choice—one most are not given. A second chance. You may come with us to Heaven and have eternal rest and such happiness as the mortal mind cannot comprehend. You will be with us and your ancestors. No pain, nor sorrow nor illness nor disappointment. It’s like nothing you can imagine.”

“Or,” Mama said, “You may return to mortality with all of its joys but also all of its pains and sorrows.”

No more loneliness, disappointment, trouble, regret, grief. Rest and unimagined happiness. Why would she choose mortality over that?

She had no true reason for returning. She had completed all her desires. She had even known love.

Rafe would be disappointed, but soon he would realize he was free to move on. Perhaps they weren’t meant to be together after all; merely to meet, to help each other heal, and find courage to take risks.

He had said he was a better man since having met her. He had found true friendship and a place to call home. Now that his inner wounds had healed, he had a whole heart with which he could love Kitty, who clearly meant more to him than he admitted. It would be perfect really, marrying into his best friend’s family. Or if not her, someone else. Any woman would love Rafe.

Her parents waited patiently, expectantly.

Osanne asked, “Is there music in Heaven?”

Mama smiled. “The music is like nothing you’ve ever heard.”

Papa added, “Come with us and see for yourself.”