Page 17 of All the Promises We Break

“Well, I thought this was the right time to bring it up. Now, I know you likely are still in the early stages of wedding planning. However, I’d like to help you with one tradition right now.” David reaches inside the pocket of his button-down shirt and pulls out a delicate, sparkling sapphire pendant.

“I was hoping I’d see you today, son. The intent was to pass along my gift, but I think I’ll snatch that opportunity back. When Eli and I ran into each other for the first time, I knew immediately there was something special about him under all that darkness.

“He took a while to come back to the light. I know all about that. I lost Claire just a few months before. She always wanted me to see the silver lining in everything. If I hadn’t been in the park that day, Eli wouldn’t have nearly broken my neck running.”

“I wouldn’t have found a friend. Let’s leave the me almost running you over thing out of this.”

David smiles. “Facts are facts, son. I gave this pendant to my wife on her first opening night in Ailey’s company. She wore it with such pride and rarely took it off. I think it’s sacrilegious for it to be hidden away in a jewelry box, never to be worn again. Let me give you this old, or as Claire would say, vintage blue necklace, which is new to you.

“Wear it with pride. From everything Eli has told me about you and from what I can see between you today, you’re his light. Claire was mine. Now this pendant is a way to entwine all of our spirits. You sparkle like that stone, darlin’. Never let that go.”

Dylan spins her legs free from under the bench and joins David on his side. I never realized how small in stature she really is until she’s sitting next to him. She’s always larger than life with me. “Are you sure? Really sure you want me to have the necklace?”

“It would be like it’s going home.”

I watch as he fastens the jewel around her neck. The stone falls just below the pale notch at the base of her throat. It’s perfect. It’s perfect for her. “You look beautiful.”

“I’ll accept on two conditions,” Dylan adds. “First, you’ll play me in chess.”

“And what’s the second?” he asks.

“I ummmm, I never knew my grandparents. If you consider Eli like a grandson, when we get married that would make me your granddaughter, right?”

“I’d be honored to do both things, darlin.”

David wraps his arms around her. Dylan looks nearly lost in his size. I analyzed every thought or feeling I ever had about love. I figured I must have missed something so that Tori would have been happy and stayed. Thinking back on today, and all the days since I met Dylan in that nightclub, I finally have it.

Tori had to leave because Dylan was on her way. When something’s right, it’s just right. When something’s destiny, it always finds a way. Dylan is my destiny. I’m glad I was blinded by her light.

Chapter Seven

Dylan

It’s the first Sunday in weeks that’s felt normal. After leaving David, we decide to take a catnap in the sun shining through the curtains in our room. The right mix of warmth from the sun and the breeze is perfect for snuggling. So we do.

I wake up before Eli does to start dinner. Tomorrow is a big day. I want to send him off right tonight. His messenger bag was collecting dust on the floor of his closet. While the oven is heating, I clean it up for him and set it on the coffee table. He sometimes forgets the small things still, so I decided to help him by buying a small calendar and notebook.

I’ve circled a couple of dates in red as possible wedding dates. I’ve written in our birthdays in green, his medical follow-ups in blue, and my schedule in purple. I want him to know I’m there beside him, even when I won’t be.

Tomorrow is the first day back on my new schedule too. I think about all the things I have to do and it’s nearly paralyzing. I don’t know how I’m going to make it all work. Eli seems to think I can.I need to see everything in action before I feel any confidence about it.

The chicken and rice will take about an hour to bake, so I feel the shower calling me. The warm water rains over my body. The sounds of it hitting the tile are the best active calming machine I can think of. I stand at the vanity waiting for the water to be hot enough. I want it to nearly burn my skin.

The steam is fogging up the glass walls of the shower along with the mirror before me. My fingers begin controlling my hair into a messy bun on top of my head when I feel a strong set of hands quietly restrict my movement. “Let me,” he says.

Elijah takes the hair tie from my hand. I glance over my shoulder to watch and find him snapping it around his wrist. His tender hands then stroke my hair over and over again. He’s smoothing it out methodically in a way that’s pleasing to him. “I want to braid this later.”

“How did I not know you knew how to do this?” I ask.

“I have a little sister. You learn these things. Who knew I’d use it again on someone other than a daughter?”

With each pull of his hands, like a brush, he lets the tips of his fingers graze across my neck. Each touch sends a pulse down my spine. So does a low growl from his core. Eli’s lips imprint a patch of skin along the top of my shoulder.

“This is one of my favorite outfits for you.”

“You looked at it from the bottom up that day. Today you’re a top down kind of guy.” I’m wearing the same track pants and sweater I wore the day Eli taught Professor Stone’s class for the first time. That was one day I didn’t mind being called to the teacher’s office.

“That sounded dirty,” he teases.

---