by Zoey Kinsman
My hands touched his arms firmly to say this was real.
“Now, my love, it is your turn to purge your hurt.”
I leaned back and thought where to begin, and it came to me. I held the note up. “First, I want to purge the hurt from past physical pain inflicted upon me, to release the shock and betrayal.” I threw that paper to the fire. “Then I want to ask forgiveness for any and all I have wronged unintentionally.” I looked at him straight on, then threw that paper to the fire. “And finally, I want to release all the months of longing, missing, and hurt of not being with my great love.” I stood for that one and bent slowly to put that one directly on the fire. I watched it catch free and evaporate before my eyes.
“You’re right, there is a certain sense of peace in letting go. I feel a sense of tranquility within myself now. Thank you for this brilliant idea, Paul.”
Sitting next to him again, we were both lost for a few moments in the enormity of the moment, free at last of painful hurts that existed between us.
“No regrets.”
“No regrets.”
“Hey, I wrote you a poem. It came to me in the car on the way home to you, knowing what we were going to embark on.”
“I’d love to read it.”
Filling our glasses full again and both seeming more than slightly drunk, I passed him the note. Reading it quietly to himself, I watched as his eyes filled with tears and one solitary tear dropped down his face, leaving a stain along its path. I leaned to kiss the mark away. The poem read:
When the night’s darkness comes to challenge us
I will reach for you
Let troubles disappear standing strong in the shadow of the other
I will reach for you
No doubts or past repentances will keep me from your door
I will reach for you
Let love always shield the precious that makes us whole.
“Ah, my beauty, you are one remarkable lady, and I’m one lucky guy.”
“You’re right. Now dance with me under the moonlight, and take me, because my love for you is great.”
We kissed wide mouthed, raw, and sloppy as that lust charged through our bodies. He led expertly, and I followed him, unreserved, down a road that proved never-ending.
Epilogue
Our forever love story didn’t just end with the happily-ever-after. It never ends with just that.
His love helped me find an inner peace that was so elusive before, and to calm the inner struggle for perfectionism, for forgiveness, and deeper understanding. Paul Wickham taught me the most important things in life. He taught me the meaning of how to love unconditionally. He held up a mirror and asked me to just love myself for who I was, never asking me to be more or less.
Age and beauty were timeless, and he proved that statement correct for the following thirty years of marriage. We had one wonderful child, and she was daddy’s little princess, full of confidence, encouraged right from the start and nurtured by two parents who believed in her full potential. He taught her, too, that all people were equal on all levels, and that no man should ever raise a hand to another. Together we carved out a little world for the three of us as a family that was unequivocally the most fulfilling aspect of my life.
Trish eventually took over the agency, and I was happy to let go at that point. Paul’s accident had limited his physical ability to take on roles that required more action. He learned to adapt, and with age was sought out for work that required introspection. Being naturally great at that, he received a Golden Globe in the later stage of his career.
Slowly, as we grew wiser with age, we removed ourselves from the Hollywood scene and ended up in a quieter area of California, where the sun was good and the arts vibrant.
Our connection, both mentally and physically, never faltered. Paul came to find me for the very last time in his seventy-fourth year. This was our happily-ever-after.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Zoey Kinsman
Zoey Kinsman has written extensively, both professionally and personally, for years and has now successfully transitioned into publishing with her novels A Certain Connection and Beckoned by the Mist. Only Good With You is her third novel. Her joy of writing fiction lies in the genre of romance, woman’s contemporary issues, living and learning.
As a passionate spiritualist, Zoey believes in ‘pay it forward’ and lives by the motto ‘you too can make a difference!’ “It’s important to me that my readers feel connected to the work and always take some away from it.”
She is married, with a daughter, and her interests are in theatre, dance, music and of course, books!
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