Page 50 of Echoes of Us
As she slid back behind the wheel, her chest felt lighter.The highway stretched before her like a clean page waiting to be written.She didn't know what would happen at the graduation, didn't know if she could save Dale or help Cole or even help herself.
But for the first time since waking up in this timeline, she was ready to find out.
CHAPTER18
Yale's Old Campus shimmered under late spring sunshine, a sea of black graduation robes rippling in the morning breeze.Ashley hung back from the crowd, watching families cluster around their graduating seniors.Her heart caught at the sight of them - Margaret Westwood's elegant cream suit, Dale's gentle smile as he adjusted his brother's collar, Cole standing stiffly between them in his graduation robes.Their father stood slightly apart, his attention caught between his phone and his sons, occasionally glancing up to nod at whatever Margaret was saying.
They looked like a photo from another time - before the tragedy, before the loss.The kind of moment she'd only heard stories about, the kind Cole never wanted to discuss.
Margaret's attention was fixed on Dale as he helped Cole with his hood, her proud smile directed at the wrong son.Cole's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly.His father typed something on his phone, probably another work email - some patterns, it seemed, hadn't changed with time.
Ashley's fingers twisted in her sundress - pale blue because Sarah had insisted she not wear black like she was attending a funeral.She shouldn't be here.Shouldn't be witnessing this private family moment, shouldn't be noticing how Cole's shoulders tensed when his mother praised Dale's help with the graduation preparations, how his eyes flickered to his father's distracted form.
Then Cole's eyes found her through the crowd.
For a heartbeat, everything else fell away.No anger, no cruelty, no poems twisted into cruel games between them.Just Cole, looking at her like he was drowning and she was air.
Something raw and honest flickered across Cole's face.Then Margaret's voice cut through the air - "Cole, darling, stand with your brother for a photo" - and the mask slammed back into place.He turned away, shoulders rigid as he positioned himself beside Dale.
Margaret fussed with Cole's robe, though Dale had already fixed it perfectly."Thomas put that phone down and take a picture of your sons."
Their father looked up, blinking as if just remembering where he was."Of course, of course."He pocketed his phone with the air of someone surrendering a lifeline.Through the crowd's chatter, Ashley caught his awkward attempt at conversation."Big day, son."
"Which one?"Cole's voice was sharp enough to cut glass.
Dale's hand found his brother's shoulder, steadying, grounding.A gesture so subtle Ashley might have missed it if she hadn't been watching so carefully.Cole didn't shrug it off, but his jaw clenched tighter.
"Both of you, of course," Thomas answered, but his eyes lingered on Dale's pristine suit, his perfectly knotted tie.Always the easier son to understand and to be proud of.
Ashley watched Cole's face - saw the moment he closed off completely.
"The ceremony's starting soon," he said, stepping away from his family."I should line up."
"But we haven't gotten a proper photo," Margaret protested.
"Plenty of time after, Mother."He was already backing away, his eyes finding Ashley's again across the space between them.This time, there was a question in them.Or maybe a challenge.
She accepted that challenge with her gaze.
Cole moved through the crowd with that fluid grace she knew so well, leaving his family behind.His eyes never left hers as he approached, graduation robe billowing slightly in the breeze.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Dale watching them, his expression unreadable.Margaret was saying something to Thomas, who had already returned to his phone.
"You came."Cole's voice was rough when he reached her like he'd been expecting something else.Like he'd been preparing himself for another disappointment.
"I did."She fought the urge to fix his collar where it had gone askew, escaping his mother's fussing.
"Why?"
It's such a simple question.Such an impossible answer.Because I love you.Because I want to love this new version of you.
"Because this is who you are," she said finally."Not who you might become or who anyone wants you to be.Just...you.Right now.And I wanted to see that."
Something shifted in his expression - surprise, maybe, or recognition.Before she could stop herself, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him.
This wasn't the familiar embrace she knew from her timeline.This Cole was all sharp angles and tension, and his body coiled tight as if he might bolt at any second.
Then, slowly, his arms came around her.Hesitant at first, then tighter, like he was afraid she'd disappear.He smelled different - no cologne, traces of alcohol he probably had last night - but underneath was something uniquely Cole that made her heart ache.
