“So, have you made a decision?” Luke asked as we drove to The Palms to start our day of work.
“About moving in?” I asked, trying to act vague but already knowing what my answer would be, I’d been torturing him for an entire day; it was time to give him an answer.
He glanced at me and raised his eyebrows. “You’re killing me here, Dawn. My heart is on my sleeve.”
“The answer is yes, Luke, I’d love to share a home with you and Sam.” Sam had even asked me if I would live with them all the time too. For a second, I’d thought Luke had put him up to it, but he swore black and blue that Sam had come out with it all on his own. I believed him, Sam was forever blurting out exactly what was on his mind.
Pulling on the wheel, he swerved and pulled up on the side of the road. “You’re serious? You’re going to move in?”
I grinned and nodded. “I am.”
Then he leaned across the centre console and pressed a kiss to my lips. “I love you so much,” he said.
I kissed him back. “I love you too.”
The sound of a siren cut through the air, breaking into our moment as emergency services vehicles sped past.
“Do you think?” I asked Luke, turning my head and watching them fly past and when I caught sight of a van that said ‘Coroner’ on the side, I knew I didn’t need an answer. My stomach twisted. “Oh god. Shea.”
Epilogue
As if in defiance of the dire reality of the situation, the sun shone brightly the day Shea’s body finally washed up in Hargrave Cove. And for a town that seemed so happy to judge people from afar, they all turned up for the spectacle as the coroner arrived to collect her body.
For twenty-five days she’d been adrift at sea, and the sight of her was almost unrecognisable after that long in the water. When Luke drove me to the beach, I’d ran to where her body lay, only to be stopped by police doing crowd control.
“Please. I know her,” I pleaded, only to be told that everyone there knew her, and that I’d have to stand back with everyone else.
Luke’s hand covered mine and squeezed gently. “I’m so sorry, Dawn. I know how much you’d cared for her.”
And I had. It was true. Despite all the things she’d done, and the games she’d played, Shea had been a breath of fresh air in my otherwise stagnant life. It was because of her I opened my mind and was able to see where my heart’s desire truly lied. Before her, I’d been too scared, too stubborn, too closed off from the world to truly enjoy all the joy and wonder that was right in front of me, begging for me to reach out and grab it with both hands.
I called my mother, thinking she could tell Noa that they’d found her, but she said he’d already said his goodbyes – they were already in Switzerland and wouldn’t be coming back. Disheartened but not surprised by their reaction, I then put in a call to Zeke to tell him.
He’d been so distraught after she disappeared that the moment he got his university acceptance for UTS, he moved out of town. I thought he’d want to know. I thought he’d want to see her. “I’m not coming back, Dawn,” he told me over the phone. I could hear the sound of a female giggle in the background. “I’m sorry. I’m glad they found her though.”
Disappointed in a man I’d once thought was a friend, I realised how deluded I’d been all those years when I’d held onto him. I obviously needed him far more than he needed him, and in the end, I suppose we were both holding each other back. Now, we were apart, living our lives as completely different people. I wondered if we’d ever really known each other at all.
“Are you OK?” Luke asked, seeing the sadness overwhelm me as I slowly lowered my phone from my ear and squeezed my eyes shut tight. I’d cried so many tears over that fateful day that I’d thought I didn’t have any left. But seeing her, a lifeless husk tangled with seaweed and indistinguishable from the beautiful girl she’d been, filled me with such sadness that I couldn’t hold it in. No one wanted her. She’d died alone.
Luke caught me before I fell. And I heard whispers about lesbians, drugs and orgies, and of a girl who was out of control, coming from the townspeople around us. I shut out their voices, forcing myself to think of her kindly and remember all that was good about her, forcing myself to remember the dancing girl – the one who had this crazy idea that everyone could love each other, but who in the end, turned out to be in just as incapable of sharing her affection as the rest of us.
“It’s OK, babe. I’ve got you. I’ve got you. It’s OK,” Luke whispered, holding me tight against his chest, kissing my in my hair, and understanding my tears and knowing my heart, because he was in it.
Just like that, her story – a story that had mixed with mine in the most confusing and unusual way – had come to a completely inglorious end.
It seemed so sad when she’d had so much light inside her during her life, so much love to give to the world, that she’d be remembered for a party and a salacious lifestyle.
But not in my mind.
I would choose to remember her as the girl that came to our quiet cove riding on the wind of a storm, creating an energy and excitement that forced us all to see who we were and what we meant to each other. She left the way she promised she would – she left in the wind.
I swore that some days, her musical laugh could still be heard during each cool breeze, tinkling like wind chimes, reminding me of all the good in my life. Reminding me that while her story had ended, my story – my real story, the story she helped shape, was only just beginning. And it would keep on going. And going. And going. Because no matter what happened the day before, the world kept turning, and the sun kept rising. Over and over again.
THE END
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Books by Lilliana Anderson
The Confidante Trilogy
Confidante: The Brothel
Confidante: The Escort
Confidante: The Madame
Beautiful Series
Too Close
A Beautiful Struggle
Phoenix
A Beautiful Forever
Commitment
A Beautiful Melody
A Beautiful Rock
Devotion
A Beautiful Star
A Beautiful Taste
A Beautiful Danger
Entwined Series
Our Hearts Entwined
Our Lives Entwined
Drawn Series
Drawn
Drawn 2 – Obsession (Aaron)
Drawn 2 – Redemption (Damien)
Drawn to Fight
Zac & Evie
Hugo & Meg
Fire & Lies Trilogy
On Wattpad
Partners
Standalones
47 Things
In the Wind
Never Again
For information on upcoming releases visit
www.lillianaanderson.com
About the Author
Lilliana Anderson
Bestselling Author of the Beautiful Series, Drawn and 47 Things, Lilliana has always loved to read and write, considering it the best form of escapism that the world has to offer.
Australian born and bred, she writes New Adult Romance revolving around her authentically Aussie characters with all the quirks you’d expect from those born Down Under.
Lilliana feels that the world should see Australia for more than just it’s outback and tries to show characters in a city and suburban setting.
When she isn’t writing, she wears the hat of ‘wife and mother’ to her husband and four children.
Before Lilliana turned to writing, she worked in a variety of industries and studied humanities and communications before transferring to commerce/law at university.
Originally from Sydney’s Western suburbs, she currently lives a fairly quiet life in suburban Melbourne.
Visit her website at www.lillianaanderson.com
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In the Wind Page 24
