“Did it hurt you?”
“No. I-I jumped over the railing.”
“What!”
“Ben, it was him. I don’t know how, but it was him.” She cuddled into his side. “I’d rather die than suffer at his hands again. But I didn’t want to leave you. I didn’t want to give up on my life. So I scrambled down the roof and…well, I managed to grab the gutter and hang on for dear life.”
His heart nearly beat out of his chest. He’d almost lost her. Relief made him giddy. He fisted his hands in her hair and kissed her until they were breathless.
“You’re naked,” he said.
“You’re almost naked. Those are nice boxers.”
He chuckled. “My wife gave them to me. They light up in the dark.”
“I can see that.”
“We should go up. You wouldn’t believe the crazy shit that’s been going on around here.”
They crawled to the balcony and climbed over, reaching the French doors in time to see Annie and the other woman blow blue smoke at the demon and chant in an ancient language. The creature writhed and shrieked…then it burst into a shower of red and black sparks, and disappeared.
Ben hugged his wife close, watching the drama unfold as if they were viewing a show at Disney World. None of this could be real. And even if it was, he wasn’t yet ready to admit it.
* * * * *
“So mote it be,” intoned Annie.
Ti looked at her mother. “So mote it be.”
They were both sweaty, both trembling and aching from battling the darker, but it had been destroyed. No Limbo, no Light, and no Eternal Darkness for the evil thing—nonexistence was its punishment and for those it had hurt, their justice.
Annie held out her hands, and Ti’s heart clenched. She knew what came next. The Releasing ceremony. The loves of her life would go to the Light, and she would be alone in this life until she met them in the next. Her heart filled with sorrow.
Miranda and Dunley floated to her, looking tired for people who were already dead. She smiled. “I will miss you. I love you both so much.”
“We love you, babe,” said Dunley, his ghostly fingers passing through her cheek.
“My love,” murmured Miranda, brushing her lips against Ti’s. Ti felt nothing, but the goodbye gesture brought tears to her eyes.
“What evil rent asunder, let the Light redeem,” chanted Annie, waving a lit sage stick through the pentagram they had created with burning candles. “Let Love gather, heal, and mend, and what was meant to be, let be once again.”
“Mother? Those aren’t the—”
Light burst into the room, as if a huge spotlight had been aimed at Dunley and Miranda. It was so bright, Ti was forced to look away. The warmth and love she had felt at other Releasing ceremonies filtered through the room, wrapping all who were there in tenderness and understanding. At the same time this beautiful Love hugged her, grief struck raw blows. She fell to her knees and cried, her hands covering her face as she sobbed.
She felt arms around her and knew her mother tried to comfort her.
“Ti, open your eyes.”
She obeyed her mother’s voice and found herself staring into Miranda’s eyes. On the other side was Dunley, his arms around her shoulders. Neither was an apparition, but real. Human. Alive. Breathing!
“It’s impossible!”
She rose, and with her, Miranda and Dunley. They kissed and hugged and touched—arms, shoulders, hair. Ti laughed and cried and hiccupped.
“Mother! How did you do it?”
“I didn’t. I offered a prayer and the Light made the choice. Obviously, you, Miranda and Dunley have more work to do on this plane.”
Ti watched Annie cross the room and draw Ben and Sarah inside. Both looked stunned and awed. “I believe all of your paths crossed for a reason.”
“The darker served its purpose,” said Ti.
“Yes.” Annie smiled. “Everything has a purpose.”
“I know what to do,” said Sarah, her voice soft, her gaze shiny with tears. “I know exactly what to do.”
Epilogue
One Year Later
The Five Paths Healing Center
Formerly known as Dunley’s Beach Resort
Sarah watched a very pregnant Ti carry a stack of thick white towels into the hallway. “Wait a minute, little mommy,” she said, grabbing the stack. “No way are you going up those stairs.”
“I’m pregnant, not useless,” grumped the younger woman. “And you should talk, little mommy.”
“I’m nine weeks, not nine months. Where’s Miranda?”
“Talking to the woman who checked in last night.”
“And Dunley?”
“He’s in class showing the kids how to paint. I don’t know why he gets to do that. He can’t paint.”
“It’s finger painting, not recreating Van Gogh portraits.” Sarah checked her clipboard for the day’s tasks. All but one room were full and each room held a woman, some women with their children, and in one, a young man escaping from an abusive mother. The Five Paths Healing Center was a cost-free facility open to any and all suffering from emotional and physical trauma. People with wounded souls could recover on the island in peace and solitude. The Center offered free classes, exercise equipment, and therapy sessions. And when the person was ready to start into the world again, the Center gave him or her a stipend to help start a new life.
“Speaking of paint-splattered muscled men with wicked grins,” said Ti.
“We weren’t—” She felt Ben’s arms around her as he whirled her around and smacked her with a big kiss. “Are you done painting the shed?”
“Work, work, work,” he murmured. “I needed refreshment.”
“Did you talk to Henry about the construction of the new beach house? You know we have a waiting list and I hate turning away people. Maybe I should—”
“Kiss your husband and chill out. You’ve gotten so bossy.”
“Yeah, well, everyone agreed I would be a good manager.”
“Yes, dear.”
Ti giggled then waddled away. Sarah vaguely heard Rowena shooing the girl out of the check-out area, chiding her to go rest.
“You are beautiful.”
“Thanks.” She kissed him again and wrinkled her nose. “You smell like turpentine.”
“No, that’s my new cologne.”
Sarah laughed, her heart so filled with joy, and her life so filled with purpose, she found herself dancing down hallways, singing in the shower, and laughing out loud for no reason other than she felt like it.
The front door swung open and Ben and Sarah turned. In the doorway was a young woman wearing a torn dress, a fading bruise on her cheek, and in her gaze an expression Sarah knew all too well
“Go on, baby. I’ll meet you later for dinner.”
Sarah put down her clipboard and hurried to the girl, wrapping her arms around her thin shoulders and urging her toward the stairs. “C’mon, sweetheart. We’ve been waiting for you.”
The End
Two Men and a Lady Page 25
