Chapter Twenty-four

Harry walked toward a spot that was as familiar to her as her apartment. Sitting down on the bench she’d had put in three years earlier, she sighed. “Six years, Abby. You left me alone six years ago and I still don’t know if I can let you go.” Harry dropped her head and contemplated her clasped hands. When she looked up again, she stared hard at the headstone. “My Uncle called recently Abby and I’m not sure how to tell you this. He told me some shocking news my love. A source he would not name told him there was the possibility that you, our baby, and Sam’s death weren’t accidental. I suppose meant well. How ludicrous can those allegations be after all this time, Abby? He wants me to meet the woman who abandoned me as if I didn’t matter. He called her my mother. How can I forgive that? I’m not going to do what he wants and contact her or anyone one else related to her. As far as I’m concerned, she doesn’t exist. Period!” The fact that the woman who gave her birth was lying gravely ill made no difference to her for she felt nothing for her but contempt. Her uncle’s insistent suggestion that it was time to see her birth mother caused her to retch at the thought. “My mother could go to hell. The quicker the better I say”

Her thoughts veered back to the reason she was there.

“Usually James is here with me and you don’t have to listen to me bore you with all the business nonsense. Today it’s different. You would be proud…not of me this time, but of your parents. They’ve come up with a fantastic find and it’s going to save lives, lots of lives.”

She glanced around the cemetery. No one was nearby. She knew that anyone seeing her would have thought she was having a conversation with herself. She had never thought so. Abby had always been close to her spiritually.

“I’ve met your sister, Abby. She’s nothing like you, quite the opposite. I like her, though.”

As she said the words Abby’s image, which had been fading as the year passed, disappeared altogether, and was replaced with Nicky’s smiling face. She tried to summon Abby’s face in her mind, but couldn’t. Sitting silently, she wondered what life would have in store for her now. The company was on solid footing; the new medicine was close to production and testing, and Nicky… What of Nicky?

“Do you mind if I join you?”

The hairs on Harry’s neck prickled as she immediately recognized the voice…Nicky. Sparks once again were charging the air around them. She looked up at the face that wasn’t a fantasy this time and a small smile curved her lips. “Please, I’d like that. Abby would have been happy you came by, too. When did you get back?” The silver-flecked green eyes that she dreamt about gazed at her with an expression of compassion and warmth.

“Just a little while ago. I thought I might find you here. Harry, I have something to tell you and it wouldn’t be fair if you didn’t hear it from me.”

Harry’s heart, which had been beating hard when Nicky arrived, plummeted like a stone in water at those words. For just a moment, she couldn’t speak, and then all she could muster was, “I see.”

“I don’t think you do, Harry. I’ve come for you. I told you I would come back to you.” Nicky took the larger hands in hers, pulled them toward her lips, and kissed them reverently.

Harry was perplexed, surprised, and unsure what Nicky meant. The smaller woman had become confident and assured in the months they had been apart, so different but wonderfully so. “I don’t…”

“You will, I promise. I need you in my life, Harriet Aristides, and I will make it work. I’ll help you start again…if that’s what you want.” Nicky was playing every card she had and that wasn’t many. All she knew was that she was in love with Harry, and if she had to wait for her to be ready to love again, she would. She was going to make sure that Harry knew she was waiting, and would for the rest of her life.

Harry looked at Nicky and felt the immensity of what the woman was offering. Her eyes tracked to the headstone and she mentally went over what she had lost and how she felt about it all. Closing her eyes against the welling up of emotion she felt, Harry knew that it was time for her to let go, to allow Abby to rest, and in doing so open her life to love again. Abby, I don’t know if I can do it though.

Softly the wind spoke: You’re not lost and alone any longer, my love. It’s time to love again, Harry, time to let go. Then the gentle breeze ceased.

Holding out her hand, Nicky smiled in reassurance as Harry clasped it. She drew the taller woman closer to her as they embraced softly and tenderly at first. Soon they were lost in each other, the air charged with their feelings. They kissed feverishly, each trying to consume as much as possible, until the weather doused them with a short, sunny shower.

Laughing, they held each other close as the rain soaked them. “Are these the right conditions in which to learn how to love rain?” Harry asked drolly.

Nicky grinned, nodding. “Absolutely. I’ll teach you all about rain and so much more. What would you say to us having a large yard full of flowers and plants?”

The short-lived rain stopped and the odd dark cloud turned to clear blue skies, and the sun beat down warm upon their faces.

Harry smiled as she ducked her head for another kiss, her emotions raging out of control with Nicky so close. Looking down into the green eyes, Harry smiled and wrapped Nicky more tightly in her arms. She looked up at the bright blue sky above them and knew the time was right to leave the past in the past and start living again. Sometime in the future, she would share with Nicky the conversation she had regarding her mother. Perhaps Nicky’s insight might dissolve some of her own bitterness concerning the situation, and she might have some idea of what to do next. Whatever that might be, it would have to wait, because right now that particular moment was for them, allowing only brightness to pervade their thoughts and actions. “Let’s go home.”

Hand in hand, they walked toward the parking lot. Harry abruptly stopped and looked back at Abby’s headstone. She was leaving Abby behind, but would never stop loving her or forget their life together. She felt a deep sense of sadness and loss, but knew Abby would approve of her relationship with Nicky.

“You okay?” Nicky asked softly, her own eyes filling with tears of gratitude that Harry was finally letting go of the past. And, if she needed help, she was going to be right there beside her with that helping hand, regardless of what it was or who might be involved; it was as simple as that.

Harry turned to the small, wonderful woman. “Yes,” she said with a wistful smile. As a single tear rolled down her cheek, she heard Abby speak:

Be happy, my love…