Seeing him struggle shocked me into action. I couldn’t let him lift both of us up. Even though my legs still felt weak and my knees hurt, I stood upright.
Together, we came to our feet, his head eventually rising above mine. I buried my face into his chest and his chin came to its familiar spot atop my head. For a moment, we held each other.
Then suddenly, his knees buckled. My arms shot out to steady him. I pulled him to me until we were leaning against each other.
He swayed slightly and I could tell by his breathing that he was struggling hard to stay up. When he shifted more of his weight onto me, I stiffened my legs in response and leaned more into him.
He was heavy, but together we were able to keep him upright.
We held each other. I sobbed into his wet jacket, my heart swelling with hope. Hunter was standing.
I frantically pulled his mouth to mine. Our lips crashed together, the heated wetness of our tongues burning away the cold around us. This close to him, I could still smell his scent. It reminded me of the sweatshirt I stole from him on the wet, cold morning that we had met so long ago. When we broke away, Hunter was still looking straight at me.
“You have me,” he said between heavy breaths. “As long as you have me, you’ll have somewhere to go.”
Hunter had been right. We could save each other. We already had.
“And you have me,” I said, showering his face with kisses. “I love you, Hunter. I love you. I love you. I love you.” When I was done, I rested my cheek against his face, as his warm hand rubbed my back.
We leaned on each other as the rain storm roared around us.
Chapter Twenty-nine
CLOSURE
I stood on dirt road running through the middle of the cemetery with flowers in my hand. The sun was poking through the clouds after a brief summer rainstorm. The ground smelled like freshly turned earth. Birds had come out to begin singing again after the brief interruption. The world was full of life.
It took a while for me to find the spot, but in the end I remembered where it was. I stood before it solemnly and bowed my head.
“Hi guys,” I said quietly. “It’s been a while.”
My eyes shot back and forth between the headstones of my parents. They had bought these plots next to each other before they divorced, and with the sudden nature of their deaths that never got changed. I thought it was fitting. Even though they couldn’t be next to each other in life, at least they lay beside each other in death. I wished yet again they had never gotten divorced.
Shuddering, I took a deep breath. “I’m okay,” I told them. “I want you guys to know that. Life has been really hard without you, but I’m okay.”
A hand rested on my shoulder. I turned to Hunter, who was standing by my side, even if he needed crutches. It had been three months since his last MS attack, and he had exceeded all expectations in physical therapy. The doctors were confident he would be walking without crutches again. Maybe even in the next few weeks.
I turned to him and he smiled, giving my shoulder a tight squeeze. I smiled back at him before turning back to my parents’ graves.
“For the longest time I was trying to recover. Trying to get back to normal. But that’s never going to happen for me, really. What happened to you guys is just part of my life now. It took me a long time, but I realized I can still be happy.”
Tears began to fall from my face, but I wasn’t ashamed of them. Some things were worth crying about. I paused to dab at my eyes with my sleeve.
“I miss both of you guys so much. If you were alive, I know we could find happiness in our own way. Even after the divorce. We would have made it work. I know it.”
I pressed my lips together and wiped my eyes again.
“But you’re not here. So I’m finally finding another way to be happy, like I know you would have wanted. Even when you got divorced, I never doubted you both loved me and wanted me to have the best. And I found him.”
I put my hand over the hand Hunter had on my shoulder and smiled at him.
“I know both of you would like him,” I said.
When I thought of my father’s expression if he were to ever meet Hunter, a laugh bubbled up in my chest. He had always been so hyper-focused and business-like. I knew he would come around on Hunter, but his first impression probably wouldn’t have been the best. “Even you, Daddy.”
I chanced a glance over at Hunter. He cleared his throat. “I’ll take care of her,” he said solemnly. He readjusted his crutches and put an arm around me.
Leaning into him, I turned back to the headstones. “I love you both. I hope wherever you are, you’re at peace.”
I put my head down for a moment of silence. Hunter followed suit, and we stood there together, paying our respects to my parents. So much had happened since my father took his life. Since I’d met Hunter. Since I’d left Arrowhart. My life had turned on its head more times than I could count, but I’d pulled through. It was mostly because I’d had Hunter by my side.
After a moment of silence, I kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks for coming here with me. Let’s get back to the car.”
We walked, or swung on crutches, or whatever, back to the car. Side by side.
Epilogue
Hunter’s head popped up from under the water. He was just a small dot out on the blue waves of the Pacific Ocean. His long muscular arms started to beat against the water as he swam back towards the shore.
Hunter had started walking without his crutches over a year earlier. Even though he was done with PT, he still worked on his legs regularly at the gym, and they were already almost back to normal strength. We were both incredibly grateful that his disability had only been temporary. His legs had healed remarkably quickly, the doctors said that it was a combination of his overall health and positive outlook.
I leaned back my towel, the heat of the hot sand seeping through it, and let the sounds of the beach wash over me. Seagulls screeching in the distance. Children chasing each other around sand castles. The soft lapping of the waves against the shore.
When I looked back at the shore again, Hunter was already out of the water and walking up the beach in his red trunks.
His ripped body glistened with droplets of water, from his huge shoulders to his chiseled chest. It made his sexy tattoos stand out even more. Even though I couldn’t help but notice other women staring at him, he only had eyes for me. He gave me a little wink and I grinned back.
I had my art history book closed next to me. When we were getting ready to come down to the beach, I had made plans to study, but I hadn’t even cracked it open since we’d gotten here. It would be okay, I only had half a semester left before graduation anyway. I was closing out the end of my final semester at the UCLA Arts and Design Program. I had to take a lot of extra classes since I hadn’t taken many art classes at Arrowhart, but some of my credits transferred so I didn’t need to stay for the full four years.
A shadow blocked out the sun and I looked up to see Hunter’s grinning face, his wet hair draped across his face.
“Hey Snorrie, don’t tell me you’re going to just keep sitting in the sand. You haven’t swam at all today!”
“Yeah?” I asked, feeling playful. “Are you going to make it worth my while if we get in the water?”
Hunter raised an eyebrow and lowered himself over me, leaving a soft, tender kiss on my lips. I could smell his scent even underneath the salty water. “Maybe, you’ll just have to come and find out,” he breathed into my ear.