May grew silent then, and the flames dancing atop the candlewicks became a bit brighter, signaling that her story had drawn to a close.
“What do I need to do now?” she asked. “To let him go?”
Everyone’s gaze settled on Anne then, waiting expectantly for her to guide them toward what needed to happen next.
But instead of stepping forward, Anne did something that she knew would surprise them all. She moved to the side so that May and Vincent were standing in full view of each other.
“Oh,” May murmured as she let her attention shift to Vincent for the first time since she stepped over the threshold. “You look so much like him.”
Vincent nodded, understanding that she was talking about his uncle.
“I think . . . ,” May began as she glanced from the ring to Vincent. “This belongs to you.”
She stretched out her hand then, the band resting in the center of her palm.
Vincent stared down at the gift that was being offered to him, but instead of taking it from May, he reached forward with both hands and wrapped her fingers around the ring.
“Let me help you first,” Vincent said. “So that they can both move on together.”
“Can you do that?” May asked, her voice wavering again. “So that I don’t have to let him go all on my own?”
“Yes,” Vincent replied softly. “I can help you.”
May released a shaky sigh and then put her free hand atop Vincent’s.
“I’m ready,” she said. “What do I need to do?”
“Tell him goodbye,” Vincent replied in a tone that suggested there was a wealth of meaning beneath that simple answer.
And as the scent of cypress and myrrh started to fill the room, wrapping May in a comforting hold that drew out the best memories of her brother, the Quigleys started to feel recollections coming to life that weren’t their own.
Laughter that echoed against the walls of a staircase. The soft rumble of a young man’s voice as he read from a book. Someone’s arms pulling them into an embrace that felt like home. And though these echoes of the past didn’t belong to the Quigleys, they made the sisters feel just as they had when they’d held hands a year ago and tucked away all the memories that would tether them to one another when they were apart.
“Goodbye,” May finally whispered, and though tears were streaming down her cheeks, she was smiling.
As she spoke, May slipped the ring onto Vincent’s finger, and the scent of rosemary and chrysanthemums grew so strong thatthe neighbors sat up in their settees and wondered if spring had somehow made an early arrival.
But the fragrance soon began to slip from the kitchen and out of the house entirely, wrapping May in one last embrace before fading from the present.
“He’s gone now,” May said as she opened her eyes and gazed about the room, her expression finally settled into one of peace and acceptance.
“They both are,” Vincent added in answer to the Quigleys’ silent question. “They’ve moved on together.”
“Does that mean Mr. Crowley’s Task is finished?” Anne asked cautiously.
Vincent held up the ring then, and she noticed that for once, the grains of sand etched along the surface were sitting perfectly still, as if the hourglass had finally come to rest too.
The sight of it was all the answer the Quigleys needed.
“Are you all right?” Beatrix asked as she looped a hand through the crook of May’s elbow.
“I think so,” May replied with a nod as she pulled Beatrix a bit closer. “I don’t feel as alone as I thought I would.”
Anne watched as the shadows that May and Beatrix’s bodies cast against the wall shifted ever so slightly in the candlelight. Their silhouettes resembled two daffodils swaying in the wind, and they instantly made her think of longawaited dreams finally coming to fruition.
“You won’t feel alone again,” Anne said, her tone as firm as when she was reading a sign at the bottom of a cup.
May gazed up at her, skeptical at first, but the longer she stared into Anne’s eyes, the more her hesitation gave way to hope.
