Page 87 of A Thousand Broken Pieces

“See you soon,” I whispered, then went to Rune, who had moved aside to give us privacy.

Rune began walking. He put his arm around me and hugged me to his side. “I’ve missed you, Sav.” He released me and really studied me. “You look better.” He took a long, relieved breath. “You seem stronger.”

“I am,” I said and meant every word. “I’m getting better. I’m stronger.” I lifted my hand and ran my fingers gently over a vibrant pink blossom bud, just about to bloom. “This trip …” I shook my head. “I don’t even know where to begin.”

We came to a patch of grass covered in low tables for picnics. Rune gestured for us to sit down. This section of the park was covered by a low canopy of cherry blossom branches—it had made a ceiling of petals. I smiled up at the thick layer of flowers, so many it blocked out most of the springtime sun.

“I’d say we start with the boy who just kissed you,” Rune said, humor lacing his voice.

My cheeks blazed with fire. But I was proud of Cael. I was proud he was mine. “You now know his name is Cael,” I said, hearing how much I’d fallen for him just by my voice. Rune nudged my arm. I laughed at his playfulness but then sobered up quickly. “He lost his older brother.” All humor left Rune too. “Cillian … his brother … he took his own life.”

“No,” Rune whispered, no doubt picturing Alton in his head.

“Cael saw it happen. Held him afterward.” I inhaled deeply to stave off the pain it brought picturing Cael like that. “It’s been … he’s finding everything really hard.”

“Of course he is,” Rune said, completely supportive. It was one of the reasons Poppy loved him, I was sure. “Has this trip helped him?” Rune asked.

“It has,” I said, but I had to admit the truth to myself. “But he’s still in pain. The therapies we’ve done have brought up things that he is still grappling with.”

Rune nodded, then looked up at the flowers. He closed his eyes, and the breeze danced through his hair. I liked to think it was Poppy running her hand through his long strands as she sat beside him. By the smile it pulled on Rune’s mouth, he maybe thought that too.

He opened his eyes and said, “When I lost your sister …” He shook his head. “Those early days after she had gone. I didn’t know how tobreathe, Savannah.” Rune’s voice broke. Tears sprang to my eyes too. Because I had been exactly the same way. “Then the more time passed, the worse it got. Because Ifelther absence. The gap between the last time I kissed her and that present moment felt like such a long time.Toolong for me to cope.”

Rune lifted his camera, and seeing something I didn’t, he snapped a picture. When he lowered it, he said, “Those final months with your sister … withPoppymin, were everything to me.” His voice was rasped and raw. I knew those months were special. I’d seen it. Seen my sister and the happiness Rune had brought back to her life for her final days. As much as she’d loved her family, only Rune could have made her passing as beautiful as it was. He had made it perfect for her. And he had come back into her life just when she’d needed him most.

Just like Cael had entered mine.

Rune put his hand on mine and squeezed. “Do you love him?”

There was no doubt in my heart when I said, “Yes. More than I ever thought possible.”

Rune smiled. Smiled so big I knew it was on behalf of Poppy too. “Then you’ve met him,” he said. “The boy you’ll spend the rest of your life with.”

I nudged him and said, “My Rune.”

Rune choked on his laugh, and a tear spilled over the crease in his eye. “Your Rune,” he echoed.

“He’s a hockey player from just outside of Boston,” I said.

“Boston, hey?” he said, clearly referring to my future at Harvard.

“He was meant to go to Harvard last fall. On a hockey scholarship. But he walked away from both that and the sport when his brother passed. His brother was a hockey player too, and it became too hard for Cael to keep playing … the memories … they were too difficult.”

“Give him time,” Rune said. “He’s walked a hard path. But he might find his way back there.” He turned to me. “Serendipitous, though,” he said. “That Cael should’ve been going to Harvard too …” That’s exactly what I had thought. Rune pointed up at the sky. “I’d say this has your sister’s mark written all over it.”

I laughed. “She did love love.”

“She did love love,” Rune repeated wistfully. “God, Sav. I miss her so much. Being in these places makes me feel like I miss her more but also that she’s right here, beside me, too.”

“I know what you mean,” I said. Then I asked him what I knew I should have asked him a long time ago. “Are you okay, Rune?Reallyokay?” I saw in his face that he knew I wasn’t asking about in general. I was asking about how he was without Poppy.

“I am,” he said, and some tight pull in my chest settled. “Because there’s no way I won’t see your sister again someday. IknowI’ll be with my girl once more. I’ll get to kiss her again and hold her close. I’ll get to hear her laugh and hear her play the cello. I’ll get to sleep beside her and just be with her. Like we always should have been. And all the years we have had to spend apart will fade to dust.”

I ducked my head so he wouldn’t see me break. It clearly didn’t work, because he said, “For now, I see her in my dreams, Sav. I talk to her every day, and I know she hears me. I see her perfect dimpled smile. And in my soul, she reassures me she’s happy and pain-free. I talk about her any chance I get. It keeps her alive to me.” His voice grew hoarse, thickened with emotion. “There’ll never be anyone else for me. Even from heaven, Poppy gives memore love than I could ever need.” He lifted his camera. “I travel the world and take pictures forher. In her honor. She gives me purpose, every day. And that helps me keep going. Helps me stay away from the darkness of grief.” His lip pulled up fondly at the side. “Poppy taught me that. How to cherish and love life. Even with her gone. I owe it to her to live for us both. I promised her. And would never break my promise to my girl.”

“Purpose … like studying medicine will be for me,” I said, thinking of Tala, of all the kids back in the Philippines, especially those who couldn’t be saved.

“Like you studying medicine,” he said in agreement. “We honor Poppy by keeping going, in her name. That will be enough for me until I see her again.”

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