Page 148 of Prodigal Son

“I could compel you.”

“I don’t want to forget her. I know what it is to love her. I’ve felt it and I want to feel it forever. The memories of being with her feed my soul. They fill me with hope and drive me to be a better person. No matter how much loving her has cost me, it has also changed me for the better. After just a short time of knowing her, she’s had an extreme impact on my life. Our time together humbled me in ways I never expected. My love for her has made me a better brother and son. Destiny motivates me to be a more honorable male, a selfless male, and I’m proud of who I’ve become.”

“Then I suppose I have no choice but to let you go—under one condition of course.”

“What’s that?”

“You must keep us updated. It’s best if you not return until your time with the mortal is…concluded. But until then, I will expect annual updates. I’ll want to know where you are and how you are faring so that I can inform your family. But I will not share details from the farm in return. Secrecy and protecting The Order from exposure remains one of our highest priorities.”

CHAPTER 42

“What’s going on with the kids?” Destiny asked, shouting over the bass pounding from the speaker behind their table. They were getting too old for the Friday night bar scene.

Carmella lowered her willowy body into the booth and slipped her cell phone back into her purse. “Nothing, Jason just wanted to make sure we were okay to drive. I think he’s trying to get out of the house and leave the kids with my mom.”

“Isn’t it amazing how quickly they get burnt out?” Rochelle swirled the straw in her Malibu Bay Breeze and adjusted her cardigan. “I mean, Matt goes to a hockey practice three nights a week and I don’t bat an eye. I leave the house to get the mail and goes into a full blown panic, asking how long I’ll be gone and what he should do with the girls. They’re babies not bombs!”

Brenda hadn’t said much so Destiny tossed a crumpled napkin at her. “How’s work?”

Brenda shrugged. “It’s a job. What happened on your date the other night?”

Ugh, Destiny didn’t even want to think about that disaster. Another one for the record books. “My date referred to himself all night in the third person, and when I got home my heel broke on my favorite shoes.”

“The black ruffle ones?”

“Yup.”

All three of her friends cocked their heads in sympathy.

“That stinks.”

“What’s with your bad luck lately?”

“It’s fine. I’m over the whole husband hunt.” She wasn’t, but convincing herself to give up might be healthier than dating every loser on the east coast.

“Let’s talk about something else.”

The topic turned to which children’s store was going to have a sale that week. She and her girlfriends didn’t get together as often as they used to, but whenever they found the time, the vibe was always the same. They laughed, they joked, and their three wedding bands silently taunted Destiny with loads of self-destructive feelings of inadequacy.

More than her wish to find someone was her desire for this endless longing to go away. She used to be fine with being single until a little over a year ago. All of a sudden, she woke up one morning with this inconsolable yearning for something she couldn’t name. The Germans had a word for such inexplicable yearning. They called it sehnsucht.

It consumed her in such a way, she questioned if people could actually exist on a time continuum, existing in two dimensions at once. The sense that something had been taken from her and was now missing was so inescapable, she believed another version of herself might exist on another plain.

“Destiny, are you okay? You got so quiet?”

She forced a smile. “I’m fine.” As close as she and her friends were, she couldn’t explain her thinking to them without them looking at her like she’d lost her mind. Then Brenda would feel the need to set her up on another blind date.

“How about I get the next round?” Destiny moved to scoot out of the booth and came up short when a tall body stood in her way.

“Pardon me,” a deep voice rumbled.

Destiny’s gaze lifted and her jaw dropped, excitement morphing into disappointment. “You.”

The man frowned and her friends collectively gaped at her. Yes, the guy was incredibly gorgeous, but he was also creepy. And why wouldn’t he be? Her loser magnet was so powerful, NASA should study it.

“Well, hello,” Rochelle greeted.

Brenda kicked Destiny in the shin and she flinched and scowled, rubbing her leg. “What the hell was that for?”

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