Taken

Chapter Thirty Eight--DENNY

When Grady left, I couldn’t help but think it was because of me.  The way Sarah offered to go, the way her eyes felt like they were communicating telepathically, it all seemed a bit odd.  Especially how as soon as Jeremiah put his arm around me, Grady had to leave.

          I tried to push all that from my head though, happy I had my mother on my right with Haven in her lap, two girls who has had a major influence on my life.  Haven taught me to be a mother long before I needed to, and I practiced my teaching skills out on her.  I decided once things go back to normal, I’ll finish high school and get into a good college so I can make it official.

          I was also happy Jeremiah was on my left, although if it was Grady I’m sure in the long run I would be happy too.  Grady ended up being more like a brother to me, and I hoped in the future we could reconnect as friends.  Only I knew it would be much longer than I hoped.  Jeremiah and I fit together as a couple better than I thought Grady and I did, and I was finally content with how things played out.

          We made small talk for a while until Grady and Sarah came back in, and Ladd announced he wasn’t going to write anymore.  “Why not?” I gasped, genuinely surprised.  “You were so great!”

          “Thanks for that,” he said, a bit solemnly though. “It’s just since all my work was burned, I’ve decided to let it go for good.”

          “I hate to hear that.  That was an awful thing they did.”

          “Truly terrifying,” he nodded, staring off in remembrance.  My heart hurt a little for him, I knew how much he had poured into that new book.  He was almost finished too.

          I was brought back to the present as Jeremiah squeezed my hand.  I smiled at him, then told him I wanted to show him something.  I couldn’t stop thinking how breathtakingly beautiful the meadow was, and I felt compelled to show him.

          We excused ourselves and my mother winked at me.  I winked back, then we headed off into the forest.

          As we walked hand in hand, I took everything in.  The sights of spring moving back into what used to seem like dead forest except for the evergreens, flowers and leaves blooming in brilliant shades of green mixed with white blossoms.  Before long, the forest would thicken up and we’d have to work harder to keep up the path to Sarah’s.

          “Where are you taking me?” he asked curiously, snapping me out of my dreamlike state.

          “You’ll see,” I replied, smiling.

          When we came upon it, I knew he loved it as much as I did.  The blossoms were everywhere, spilling over the diverse species of grass and sending scents blowing up to my nose. Sickly sweet scents, that reminded me of the perfume I used to wear.

          I closed my eyes and breathed, inhaling in this moment and saving it to my eternal memory.  I felt the way Jeremiah’s hand perfectly enveloped mine, the way when I opened my eyes and saw him, really saw him, I knew he was no longer mad at me.  I had made the right decision to come back to him, he was truly the one for me.     

          I opened my eyes and scanned the meadow, documenting each tree that lined the clearing and every butterfly that flitted around the flowers.  I sunk to my knees, pulling Jeremiah with me and it seemed slow motion as we fell onto our backs together, looking at the clear blue sky. 

          It felt as if I was in a movie, everything happening perfectly, my true love beside me.  “It truly is beautiful,” he said to me.  He picked a blue blossom, plucked it right above my ear, a swift movement that was so much like Grady.  I didn’t care.  “You’re beautiful,” he said.