Page 94 of 15 Summers Later

He husband was there by choice, though. He wasn’t a lost and frightened girl, yanked away from everything comfortable and safe. He was in his comfort zone. He was living the dream he’d carried for a long time, of actually working on a research project that could provide significant advancements in the study of dinosaurs that lived in the West.

She used to love listening to him speak with passion and intensity about his work, his eyes sparkling and his words spilling over each other.

She missed that.

She missed a hundred things about him. Curling up against him on a cold, rainy Portland night. His laugh that could come out of nowhere and warm her from the inside out. Their conversations and debates and inside jokes.

And she missed this, she realized. Simply being together. The everyday, mundane things like grocery shopping and washing dishes together that were the mortar filling up the cracks of a marriage, keeping out the bitter cold winds of life.

How could they regain that closeness again? Was it even possible?

She had to protect and nurture that tiny seed of hope.

“Why don’t I take these things to the Jeep, then I’ll meet you back at your grandmother’s stand?”

“Okay.”

He held out Beau’s leash for her and Ava reached for it, her fingers brushing against his. She had to fight down a shiver at the feel of his skin, callused and rugged from the dig, and it was all she could do not to toss his bags of fruits and vegetables to the ground and sink into his arms.

Ava returned to her grandmother’s stall to find her already packing up the few remaining bundles of flowers.

“I sold the last two pints of strawberries a few minutes ago. Pretty good day, overall. I thought I would take these remaining bouquets to the assisted living center. I have a few friends over there who can use a spot of color to cheer them up.”

Leona was always doing things like that, trying to reach out to brighten someone else’s day. It was one of many things Ava admired about her grandmother.

“I’m sorry I was gone so long.”

“You were exactly where you needed to be. Cullen looks good, doesn’t he?”

Ava almost shivered again. He looked better than good. He looked rugged and wild and...amazing.

“I offered to help him with the rest of his shopping. Do you mind if I leave Gracie and Beau with you?”

“Not at all. Oscar and I can keep an eye on them this afternoon. As soon as I’m packed up here, I’ll drop these flowers off and then I’m going to put my feet up and watch one of my Masterpiece shows.”

Her grandmother was passionate about British mysteries and usually convinced Ava to watch them with her in the evenings.

“You take all the time you need,” Leona went on. “It will be good for you and Cullen to be together for a few hours.”

Ava wanted more than that, especially now with the baby coming. She wanted to figure out how to rebuild what they had before into something even better.

“Thank you.” On impulse, she reached up and kissed Leona on her weathered, lined cheek. “I love you, Grandma. I hope you know how much.”

“I love you right back, that much and more. And aren’t I lucky to have two wonderful granddaughters who still enjoy spending time with me?”

“We are the lucky ones,” Ava said. She meant every word. What would she and Madi have done fifteen years ago without Leona to remind them of goodness and light and love?

25

The scars remain, but they are now badges of resilience, a testament to the strength we discovered within ourselves and the unbreakable bond between two sisters who defied the darkness. Our journey continues, not as survivors defined by our trauma, but as architects of our destiny, reclaiming the stolen years and building a future untethered from the shadows.

—Ghost Lakeby Ava Howell Brooks

Ava

The afternoon she spent with Cullen was the best she’d known in weeks.

He suggested they grab something to eat first before heading to the grocery store, as he would have to leave directly from there to keep the perishables he purchased as cool as possible on the journey back to camp.

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