Page 12 of Until We Weren't

Destiny finished with the tire, stood up, and looked at Faith. “Are you kidding me? Of course I did,” she said, picking up the air compressor. She looked back at Faith and tilted her head. “You would’ve stopped for me, right?”

Faith scoffed. “Yes,” she said impatiently.

Destiny couldn’t stop a hint of a smile crossing her face. “I’ll follow you.”

Faith nodded and went back to her truck.

Destiny put the air compressor away and got back in her truck. She put her blinker on, signaling that she was pulling back on the road. Once there were no cars coming, Faith eased out on the road with Destiny behind her.

The air held in the tire as they made their way down the road. Faith turned onto a street with less traffic that took them towards her building. A few minutes later they turned into the parking lot of Lush Fields Landscaping.

Destiny followed Faith’s truck around the side of the building into the fenced area at the rear. She slowed to give Faith plenty of room to park the truck and trailer so they could easily get to it to change the tire.

Once Faith stopped and got out of her truck, Destiny pulled up next to her and parked. She walked over to the trailer and checked the tire.

“You could probably fill it up in the morning and take it somewhere to get it fixed,” Destiny said.

“I’ll take care of it,” Faith said.

Destiny looked up at her and her face softened. “Faith, turn around,” she said.

Faith slowly turned around and saw the sun was about to disappear in the field across from her business.

“Look at that,” Destiny said. “Isn’t it beautiful.”

Faith watched as the bright red sky began to turn dark orange.

“What happened to us?” Destiny asked softly.

Faith stared at the sky but didn’t say anything.

“I’m sorry,” Destiny said.

Faith turned around and looked at Destiny. “What did you say?”

“I’m sorry, Faith,” Destiny said again. “I apologize for everything I ever did to you. But I will never apologize for loving you.” She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. “We were happy.”

“We were,” Faith said with anguish in her voice. “Until?—”

Just then another pickup pulled into the yard and parked next to Destiny’s truck.

“Hey,” Mark said, getting out of the pickup. “I thought I’d better make sure you made it back okay.”

Destiny stared at Faith and could see the pain in her eyes. It broke Destiny’s heart to think she dimmed those vibrant blue eyes.

When Faith looked away Destiny knew the moment had passed. For a second, she thought Faith was finally going to tell her what she did.

“I’d better go,” Destiny said, walking by Mark and trying to smile.

“Thanks for following her back here,” Mark said.

When Destiny opened her truck door Faith called to her. “Thanks.”

Destiny turned to look at her one more time. “I miss you,” she said, just loud enough for Faith to hear. “I miss us.”

Once Destiny was back on the road, she let out a deep breath. There were times when Destiny truly thought she could get past Faith. She’d try to convince herself to give up then a memory would float through her head or she’d catch a glimpse of her. But the last few times she’d seen Faith she could feel her heart open like a flower. It was reaching for Faith. It wanted to pull her back inside where she belonged.

She smiled as a memory forced its way in front of her.

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