Page 119 of Scrooged for the Holidays
We both look inside at Greer. “I had to follow her.”
Remi brings my hand up to his lips, laying a kiss on my knuckles. “I understand.”
Greer’s laugh floats to us, and I smile again.
“Looks like things are going well,” Remi adds.
I lace my fingers with his as I show him all that I’ve seen while I’ve played “guardian angel,” as he put it. More like a stalker.
I replay Greer’s conversation with Holly, her walk with Avery on the sidewalk, her parents’ stunned faces when she stepped inside, and the quiet talk that followed, ending in tears and hugs. They didn’t talk long, but there was an understanding between the three of them, a choice to mend what was broken because love mattered more and they’re family.
Lastly, she took a moment to call Tim and apologize before assuring him he still had a job and a bonus coming that she’d make sure he’d get.
I’d love to say everything is solved from Greer’s actions over the last few hours, but that’s not how life works. She’ll have toremain dedicated to mending her relationships, and she has yet to speak with her boss about going to Holly’s before Christmas. But I have no doubts she will, that she’ll continue to grow and mend—not only with those she loves but also within herself.
“She looks happy,” Remi says wistfully.
“She is,” I say. “You know that better than I do, her aura…”
“…is beautiful,” he finishes for me. “No more gray.”
I may not be able to see it as brightly as Remi and Sam can, but I can’t deny it’s the brightest aura I’ve ever seen. There’s also the coloring of it, flawless layers of black around her body that bleeds into my blue with a hint of pink from love and joy that finishes with a radiating golden glow that matches Remi’s. She’s the poster woman for a Bible-worthy, full-body angel halo.
“Remi,” I murmur.
“Hmm?”
“Her aura, the fact that she was able to see hers and ours—it’s got to mean what we think, right? That she belongs with us somehow? Or am I foolish for thinking that?”
He shakes his head. “You know I don’t think that because then I’m foolish, too.”
I hold his hand tighter and exhale a shuddering breath. Greer accepts a drink from Josh, an action that makes me smile, before watching him give one to Avery then kiss her forehead.
“I’ve been trying to have hope, but I can’t deny I’m having doubts, Remi. A lot of this doesn’t make sense. If she belongs with us, how can she forget us? That’s a cruel and sick joke.”
“From what you’ve shown me, she hasn’t forgotten us yet.”
“You know better than any of us that it takes time to fade,” I remind him, and my heart squeezes at the thought.
When I heard Greer speak to Avery about meeting “friends” at an inn, I almost got my hopes up until I thought logically about it. After our jobs leave our borders, it’s not as if they cross the town line and can’t remember where they are or what happened to them. Their memories seamlessly blend and fadeuntil it’s like a whisper of something they can’t place—an old memory they can’t grasp.
Remi uses his palm on my cheek to turn my head, so I meet his gaze. “You’re the last being I ever expected to lose hope so quickly.”
I swallow hard. “I’ve been trying not to, but what if Sam was right all along, and we were idiots to get involved with her? I know we had to let her go so she could change her future, but what if she does forget and we never see her again?” I tilt my head toward Greer, who’s smiling widely inside. “If this is all we get?”
Remi cups both of my cheeks in his hands. His woodsy pine scent fills my nose as he rests his forehead to mine. “We may not know what the future holds, Malachi, but if you’ve given up hope, I’ll have hope for the both of us.”
I breathe him in and squeeze my eyes shut.
He continues. “I believe there’s a reason Greer came to us, why her aura carries pieces of all of ours now, why the town brought her to us and made us feel the way we do when we’re around her. Our little Scrooge even managed to break through Sam’s walls and capture his stubborn heart.”
I pull back slightly so I can see his green eyes again. “But our broody boy claims we’re not in her future, despite not being able to see ours. Wouldn’t he see something—a clue, at least, that she comes back to us?”
“I don’t claim to know everything where Greer is concerned, but you had hope before, Kai; you’ve had hope this entire time. Listen to that, and trust in it. Trust in me.”
“Is there something you’re not telling me?”
He shakes his head. “It’s just a feeling, a knowing. I believe that Greer has always been fated to find us. I can’t explain it, but it’s what my grace keeps going back to, why she fits so perfectly with the three of us unlike any other being ever has.”
