“No, no…just a request. Once I put this on your finger, I’d like for you not to take it off until I replace it.”

My pessimism all but forgotten, I didn’t hesitate. “I promise.”

“You don’t have to promise, it’s just a request,” he said, heartened by my reaction.

“I promise,” I insisted.

Jared beamed as he slipped the silver band on my left ring finger. It fit perfectly.

“You had it sized?” I asked.

His smile widened. “I wanted it to be perfect.”

He laughed at me each time he caught me lifting up my fingers to stare at my left hand. I was still sad to say goodbye to our island, but knowing I had brought a piece of it with me made the trip home a bit easier.

Once we landed, I stepped onto the wet tarmac and pulled my coat tightly around me. The bitter cold wind swirled around me, and I was glad when Jared offered his warm arms as insulation.

“Why don’t you go ahead with Cynthia? You don’t have to stand in the cold with me,” Jared said.

I began to argue, but I saw the clouds in his eyes. “What is it?”

Jared’s brow fell inward, and I could see he didn’t want to tell me. Beyond Jared’s shoulder, a tall dark figure caught my eye.

“Samuel?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said through his teeth. “It must be pressing, or he wouldn’t have come.”

“I’ll meet you in the car.” I choked back the tears. We had barely touched the ground and already the harsh reality of our lives in Providence insisted we pay it attention like a spoiled child.

“If you love him, you’ll have to accept that this is the way it will be,” Cynthia said apathetically.

I watched Jared from inside the car. His expression was grave; it was not good news. He nodded once and walked towards the door Robert dutifully held open. Samuel was no longer there. He didn’t disappear, he didn’t fizzle out or his form blink from the space it occupied; he was there one moment, and then he wasn’t.

Jared slid into the seat beside me. “You can go, now, Robert.”

“Yes, sir,” Robert said, nodding in the mirror and then looking ahead.

I watched Jared work to keep the tension from his face. I didn’t need supernatural perception to know what he was feeling. He had the same look on his face when he pulled the book from the safe. He was afraid.

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

The Last Supper

Jared instructed Robert to drive us to the loft, and then take my things to Brown. I noticed that he didn’t speak much on the way, but there was no point in trying to talk to him. Not with Cynthia sitting on the other side of me.