Page 62 of Until We Weren't

Destiny continued to stare and couldn’t believe the emotions flying through her mind and body.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Faith asked. “Des, are you all right?”

Destiny took a breath and found her voice. “Just imagine how we can change the plants for the different seasons, giving a whole new vibe,” she said.

“We should do that for the presentation,” Faith said.

“Yeah,” Destiny agreed. “You’re right.”

“We did this, babe,” Faith whispered.

“Yeah, we did,” Destiny said, amazed. She looked over into Faith’s eyes and for a moment she saw a glimpse of what could’ve been. They could have been creating expanses like this for the last three years. Instead they’d been struggling to start their own separate businesses.

A flash of anger shot through her. Destiny dropped Faith’s hand. She stood up and began to pace around the office. She ran her hand through her hair as hot tears burned her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Faith asked with concern in her voice.

20

Destiny wheeled around to face Faith. “Look at what we’ve done,” she said, raising her voice. “We could’ve been doing this all along.”

Faith saw tears trickle down Destiny’s cheeks. She jumped up and grabbed both of Destiny’s hands and held them tightly. “I’m so sorry,” Faith said as a lump formed in her throat. Things had been going so well. Faith could feel Destiny’s heart opening and they were getting closer every day. The anger in Destiny’s voice and the hurt in her eyes broke Faith’s heart because she knew she’d put it there. Could they ever get past this?

“I know you’re sorry,” Destiny said. “I am, too.” She looked down at their hands and back up into Faith’s eyes. “I’m not mad at you, Faith. I’m mad that this happened to us! Why couldn’t Gloria leave us alone? Why weren’t we strong enough to get through it? Why couldn’t we be honest?”

“Come here,” Faith said, wrapping her arms around Destiny. She pulled her close and felt Destiny’s arms curl around her shoulders. They stayed like this for several moments. Faith could feel tears in her own eyes. To see Destiny hurting like this was brutal.

Faith pulled away and led them back to their chairs. “Listen to me for a second, Des,” she said, holding Destiny’s hands once again. “We didn’t do anything wrong.” She stared into Destiny’s eyes. “We were as honest as we could be with each other at that time. We were still learning things about each other.”

Destiny sniffed and inhaled a breath. She nodded and looked sadly into Faith’s eyes.

“We’re different now,” Faith said. “It feels like we’ve wasted three years of our lives being apart. Yes, we are badass landscape artists and we’ve proved that right here. But I’ve told you things in the last couple of weeks that I’m not sure I would have ever had the courage to tell you had we stayed together. I know that being without you is worse than anything that has ever happened to me. All the fears from before are gone because they have to be. Those are the things that kept me from you. I won’t let anything keep me from you ever again.”

Destiny leaned over and rested her forehead against Faith’s. “I’m sorry I got so mad,” Destiny said. She leaned back and sighed. “It feels a lot easier to tell you things than it did before. How do you know I’m being honest? How do I know…”

Faith smiled. “It’s that nasty little trust thing again, isn’t it?”

Destiny nodded.

“You trust me now more than you ever did in the past,” Faith said. “I can feel it, right here.” She put her hand over Destiny’s heart. “You may not realize it yet and that’s okay.”

“Do you trust me?” Destiny asked.

Faith nodded. “I do. I hurt you deeply and that’s hard to get past, if you can.”

“I can and have,” Destiny said. “I understand why you did what you did. That helps to heal the pain.”

“Now, we have to go forward.”

Destiny nodded. “The story of Destiny and Faith. How they ended the evil landscaper’s reign and brought harmony back to the untamed lands.”

Faith raised one eyebrow. “Are you planning to bury Gloria?”

Destiny smiled. “That’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

Faith tilted her head. “Please enlighten your partner in planting?”

Destiny laughed. “Partner in planting?”

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