“I haven’t had a breath of fresh air in days.” Ella craned her neck to see the stars through the trees. “March first, and it feels as if spring is finally on its way. And the camellias are in bloom. Would you cut me a flower, and then I’ll go back to bed? I promise. Katherine left the kitchen scissors by the door.”
Felix grabbed the scissors and walked toward the biggest camellia, smothered in red blooms, its glossy dark-green leaves lit by the moon.
“That day on the Tube”—Ella’s voice drifted through the night behind him—“I knew you’d be a good dad. And you are, my love. You’re the best.”
“Just one bloom?” He turned with a smile, but Ella’s expression had changed. She looked bewildered. Confused.
“Felix . . . ?” she said, and crumpled.
This time, he couldn’t catch her.
Ella was floating. Below her, Felix was standing over someone stretched out on their sofa. Katherine placed her hand on his shoulder. Harry flew into his father’s arms.
A baby cried.
An organ played the wedding march.
A beautiful man with an English accent asked how he could help, and she thought, Be mine.
Her mother sang a lullaby.
Ahead, a column of white light emerged, as pure as the sunlight that broke through the trees and fell across her bed mid-morning.
A shadow stepped forward. Are you ready?
I’ll never be ready, Mom.
The white light disappeared; the world went black.
FIVE YEARS LATER
Unseasonable May heat shimmered above the sidewalk and carried the scent of wild honeysuckle through the pines. Two cardinals whistled a duet; a mockingbird joined in. Ella watched, seeing but unseen: a whisper of light, a memory glimpsed from the corner of the eye.
It’s almost time.
Gown flying behind him, Harry rushed from Kenan Stadium towing a petite blonde, a southern belle with a beautiful smile.
“Grad school, here I come!” he called to Max.
Harry stopped and rubbed his arm. He had sensed her echo as he had done many times in the last five years. Today was especially hard for him. Mother’s Day always was.
Max understood. “Missing her, dude?”
“Yeah,” Harry said. “But I’m good. Wow!” He looked up into the Carolina-blue sky. “A stunning day to start the rest of my life!”
It’s almost time.
A girl tapped Max on the arm. “Can I get your autograph?” She giggled.
Even with the dark glasses, Max couldn’t disguise his fame—the full sleeves of song lyric tattoos were such giveaways. The girl blushed and ran off, clutching a signed scrap of paper.
Sammie, Max’s guest at the commencement ceremony, stepped forward to shake hands with Harry’s girlfriend. Max watched, protective as ever.
Tell her, Max; tell Harry. Tell both of them how you’ve felt since the first day you saw Sammie Owen, the prettiest girl in tenth grade—moments after your best friend noticed her.
Max had given up so much for Harry, and no one knew.
Eudora appeared, wearing a huge hat covered in fake flowers. She pushed Ella’s dad in a wheelchair. It hadn’t been easy for him to make the journey from Florida, but he had been determined. Harry, a Morehead-Cain Scholar, had graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill summa cum laude. Harry’s granddad told anyone who would listen it was the happiest day of his life.
Finally, Felix and Katherine joined the group. They ambled, hands entwined, the Carolina sun sparkling off the new diamond on her fourth finger. Of all of them, Katherine’s journey through grief had been the hardest. In the end, it had been Felix who’d kept her safe. Felix and his savior complex. There had been a small rift between them when Katherine started writing the memoir of her friendship with Ella, but after it catapulted to the bestseller lists, the celebration dinner had led to something else.
Everything was as it should be; a new story was about to begin.
Ella blew a breath of air at Harry’s cheek; he reached up and touched his face. Smiled.
It’s time.
The column of white light opened ahead.
I’m ready to let go.
Ella walked into her mother’s embrace.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS