Page 94 of Somewhere Without You
A breeze stirred, carrying with it the faint sound of someone singing. Ifroze, fearing it was Madeline, back to finish what she’d started. Moving cautiously, I crept around to the back of the house.
But what I saw stopped me—not from fear, but from disbelief.
Bent over a bush of blooming violet hydrangeas, was Gran. Her back was facing me as she pruned, her white hair braided neatly beneath a wide brimmed hat.
“Gran?”
She turned, and I staggered back. Her face was younger, her eyes clear, and radiant. She looked like the Gran I remembered from when she first brought Katherine and me here, not the old, weary woman she had become when we left.
“Well don’t just stand there, Emily,”she said with a warm smile.“Grab a shovel and dig in.”
I couldn’t believe it. Tears stung my eyes as I rushed to her, arms flinging wide as I wrapped myself around her.
“Oh my God, Gran. . . you’re alive.”
I breathed her in—basking in the comforting and familiar scent of patchouli and sage.
But she gently pulled me back, her gaze soft.“No, my darling girl. I’m not.”
I searched her face.“Does that mean. . .”I looked down at myself, my hands gliding over my body, but I was whole, and unbroken. No blood. No pain.
Gran smiled.“You’re alive. You’re just. . . wandering.”
“Wandering?”I echoed, confused.
She eased herself down onto a bare patch of earth and patted the ground beside her. I followed, still unsettled.
“Your body’s still in the world,”she said,“but your soul is lingering. You’re not quite here. Not quite there. But somehow. . . here we are.”
I blinked.“How is that possible?”
Gran tilted her head, her gold eyes twinkling like they always did when she was about to say something that sounded like nonsense. “There are places in between. Cracks in the world where time and reason don’t exist. And sometimes, your soul manages to slip through.”
I thought of the storm. The way Logan’s body jolted, then crumpled to the floor. The crack of the gun.
Then nothing.
“Where’s Logan?”I asked, bracing myself.
Gran leaned over and plucked a blossom from the hydrangea bush, tucking it behind my ear. “I can’t tell you that, even if I wanted to,”she said softly.“It’s not for me to say.”
“But I need to know,”I insisted, my voice rising.
She looked at me with quiet patience.“Some truths don’t come all at once. They arrive when you’re ready—when your heart can bear the weight of them.”
I hesitated, torn by a longing I couldn’t explain.“I miss you Gran. I miss you so much.”Heartbreak lodged itself in my throat, too big to swallow.“I’m sorry I left. I shouldn’t have abandoned you. But I’m here now.”
She cupped my face in her hands.“Oh, my sweet girl. Life is too short to carry the weight of regret on your shoulders. You had to live your life. You were never meant to spend it tethered to mine.”
Tears slid freely down my cheeks.“I want to stay here with you—in this garden, in this peace.”I glanced at the open field beyond us, the tall grass swaying like a sea beneath the breeze.“I won’t leave you again. I promise.”
Gran gently took my hand in hers.“If you stay too long. . .”she whispered,“you might forget the way back.”
I wavered. I didn’t want to leave her again—but deep down, I knew what it meant if I stayed.
“What would you do?”I asked.
She rose slowly to her feet, her silhouette glowing in the gilded light.“I’ve already made my choice,”she said, reaching out her hand to me.“And one day, you’ll make yours. But not today.”
