Page 39 of Always on My Mind

And take Eternity—

And then Jamie finished her string of messages with credit to the poet, Emily Dickinson. Tessa stiffened. In their last life before the present day, she had gifted Jamie a book of Emily Dickinson works. If Jamie was seeking the poet out, that had to mean she did feel what Tessa felt, whether she knew what it was or not. It was there, it was real.

“She feels it, Billie,” Tessa said. “She must.”

She handed over her phone for Billie to read. “The old me might have said it was only a coincidence, but now. . . I think you’re right.”

“I mean, Jamie’s never read poetry before. She hardly read anything that wasn’t about football or tactics or whatever shite. She’s. . . she’s changing.”

Billie took her hand. “Don’t jump into anything yet, Tess. Being open doesn’t mean you can’t take it slow to figure out if it’s what you truly want.”

Tessa swallowed and nodded. “What do I say?”

Billie smirked. “How about a poem?”

Jamie laid in bed, staring at her phone, willing Tessa to reply. She had hoped the poem would be an olive branch. A way to further prove that she was changing. And the poem spoke to her. Something about the words evoked Tessa’s image in her mind. It brought forth a wave of emotion that threatened to overwhelm her.

The previous owner must have felt the same. In the margins, they had written a name, Rosie, in neat script. Jamie wondered if part of the connection came from the handwriting. They wrote their s’s in that same funny, half-cursive way that Jamie did. The curve on the R was similar, too.

Finally, three little dots appeared in a text bubble. Jamie sat up. Tess was writing back. She watched the three dots appear and disappear a few times until a message appeared at last.

Tessa

It cannot be my spirit,

For that was thine before;

I ceded all of dust I knew, –

What opulence the more

Jamie’s heart was ready to burst. She wanted to respond, but three more dots appeared, followed by the next stanza.

Had I, a humble maiden,

Whose farthest of degree

Was that she might,

Some distant heaven,

Dwell timidly with thee!

She finished the message with a snarky

As if you could out-woo me.

Jamie snorted and fell back against her pillows with a grin on her lips. Lips that had been warm and tingly from the moment she had kissed Tessa again. Three years of yearning had ended. And now, perhaps, there was hope for more.

Jamie texted back.

Is that a challenge, Gallagher?

Tessa

You bet, Hupp.

I’ve got a whole book of these poems and I’m not afraid to use them.

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