Page 17 of The Fate of Us

The fireplace gives off enough light for us to see but the rest of the house is completely dark with the shutters closed.

Anna passes me the bottle of wine. “Go sit down. I know there are candles here somewhere.”

I sit down on the couch and find it as uncomfortable as hell. I move around and fluff the cushions but no matter what I do, I sink into the bottom.

“I wouldn’t sit on that couch.” Anna laughs.

“I realize that now. But I don’t think I can get out. I think it’s eaten me alive.”

Anna sets down a basket of candles on the floor and helps pull me out of the human eating couch.

“I swear that couch has been here since this place was built in the fifties.” She opens a chest by the front door and pulls out blankets and giant floor pillows. “I much prefer to sit in front of the fireplace on these.”

I laugh as she hands me a leopard print blanket. “Are we gonna sit on this or fuck in front of the fireplace? I mean it’s not quite a bear skin rug but it’s close.”

She punches me in the arm before setting everything up in front of the coffee table. “My aunt had eclectic taste. What can I say?”

I watch her as she sets candles up around the tiny living room. I can’t help but stare at her ass the whole time. Even in those five sizes too big pajama pants, I know what’s underneath. I might not have been joking about the blanket.

She shakes her ass as she lights the last candle, knowing full well I was taking in the view.

I pull her to the floor in front of me, caging her in with my legs. I wrap my arms around her middle as I suck on her earlobe. “I like this.”

“Hmm?”

“You and me here. Alone. Like we have our own little world.”

She turns toward me and smiles a sad smile. “I’m happy you’re here to make the memories fade.”

“What happened?”

She reaches behind us and grabs the wine I poured for us. She must see the letter on the table because the light in her eyes fades a bit as she grabs it.

She swallows down half her glass of wine, her fingers fumbling with the letter. Mine rubbing up and down her legs. “I haven’t been here in seven years.” She takes a deep breath, her fingers tracing the words on the page. “I brought Kyle here when we graduated college. He was so thrilled to finally see the place I talked about. He knew about it when we were kids and knew I came here to write songs. But I never let him see it.

“I was so in love with him. I thought we should celebrate graduating by making love and listening to the waves break on the shore. We spent a lot of time here that summer. He proposed here. He suggested we move in here after we got married. Of course in those fifteen months between his proposal and the week before the wedding, things changed drastically. We rented a house in our hometown. He started working for his dad. Stopped playing music. Told me to stop my dream. I never understood why until I found out he cheated. Honestly, it wasn’t really until this damn letter.”

She folds it up and crumples it into a ball. “I should have known when he started having an affair. It was when everything changed about him. After he died, I tried to escape sometimes and come here but I couldn’t write music here any longer. It was as if the magic of this place was gone. I never really understood. I thought it was because he proposed here and it all turned out to be a lie.

“But as I sat here for two days, my mind played conversations over and over in my head. Conversations with him. Conversations with Becca. And then I remembered a comment Becca made once about this place. The fact there wasn’t a coffee pot. Back then I assumed I told her about that. But I don’t think I ever did. There were times Kyle had to go away for business trips. Becca sometimes would say she was headed to the beach. I never put two and two together. Not until I read this.

“I searched the house for anything that might give me proof she used to come here with him. I found nothing. But I just know, I know that was why I could never write here after he died. His ghost haunted this place as much as it haunted my heart.”

My hands clench around her as I hear her say more words that prove Kyle was nowhere near deserving of her. And honestly, I almost want to kill Becca too.

Anna turns in my lap and kneels in front of me. “Having you here cleanses this place of those ghosts, Noah. Being with you, making new memories. I can hear the music again. Feel the melody in my fingertips. You gave it all back to me, Noah.”

I watch as a tear slides down her cheek and brush it away. “I just want to give you what you deserve.”

She smiles at me before turning back to the fireplace. She opens the letter one last time before throwing it into the flames.

She stands in front of me, her hands clasping the rings around her neck. “I have one last thing to do. Will you come with me?”

I nod as I move my wine glass from the floor to the coffee table and stand. She grabs my hand as she walks to the door.

“Babe, it’s still pouring rain out there.”

She looks me in the eyes, a desperation there I haven’t seen before. “It’s time I finally do this.”

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