“Do that! I would love to read how it felt for you.”
With my shoulders weighed down by sadness, I looked away. “I don’t know any words that could describe how good it felt.”
Tyton reached for my hand and squeezed it. He didn’t say anything, but his eyes shone with gratitude and it made me feel like my words had mattered a great deal to him.
“Will you take me straight to the beach?”
“Only if you ask me to. I would prefer to keep you at my place for the night.”
“That’s probably not a good idea.”
“No one would know.”
“We would know and spending the night together would only make it more painful to part.”
He frowned. “I’m willing to suffer the pain for the pleasure if you are.”
Back in the meadow I’d been happy for the first time in months and it was tempting to say yes. “I crave the pleasure. No one has ever made me feel the way you did.”
He lit up. “So, we’re doing it?”
“We can’t! I want it as bad as you do, but I’m already broken up with grief for my family. I can’t take any more pain and loss.”
“But what if we allowed ourselves just one night?”
I shook my head. “You know one night wouldn’t be enough.”
With a deep sigh, his head fell forward. “Yeah, I know.”
We sat in silence for the rest of the flight, both processing our own grief of having found something precious only to have it ripped away from us.
CHAPTER 24
Letting Go
Tyton
When we reached the beach, I wished it had been another hour away so I could have spent more time with Devina.
“Thank you for flying me back here.”
“My pleasure.”
The twilight had descended into night and once again we were back on the beach with only the moon above us. As soon as we got out of the drone, she backed away and raised her hand to wave at me, but I wasn’t ready to let her go yet.
“How are you getting home when you get to the other side?”
“I have a bike.”
“Good.” Tucking my hands in my pockets, I looked out to the fence in the water that was only dimly lit by the moonlight. “I’ve seen the other side.”
She stopped. “You have?”
“Uh-huh. We were teenagers and Frederick dared me to cross over.”
“How far did you go?”
“I swam out far enough that I could see what was on the other side, but I never walked onto the beach or anything.”
