Chapter 5 - The Stray and the Savior
The sun was setting over the Phoenix horizon,
painting the sky in shades of purple and gold.
I sat on my back patio,
watching the shadows lengthen across the pool.
Baron was sitting on the stone wall,
his tail twitching as he watched a bird in the distance.
The house was quiet,
but for the first time,
it didn't feel lonely.
The door behind me opened.
Lucy stepped out,
wearing a clean white blouse and a pair of jeans.
She looked tired,
but her eyes were clear and bright.
"The police finished their statement,"
she said,
sitting on the bench beside me.
"My mother is back home."
"She’s safe."
I looked at her,
the woman I had missed for three years without even knowing it.
"I’m sorry,
Lucy."
"For everything."
"For being so blind."
"For letting her take those years from us."
She reached out and took my hand,
her fingers warm against mine.
"You weren't blind,
Alex."
"You were just looking for the person who bought you that water."
"You just didn't realize she was standing right in front of you,"
"and someone else was wearing her face."
Baron jumped down from the wall and walked over to Lucy.
He sniffed her hand,
his ears forward.
Then,
he let out a loud,
satisfied purr and rubbed his head against her knee.
I laughed,
the sound feeling light in my chest.
"I guess he approves."
"He always did have better taste than me,"
Lucy joked,
her smile finally reaching her eyes.
"What happens now?"
"Now,"
I said,
standing up and pulling her with me.
"We go to that dinner."
"The one I missed three years ago."
"And this time,"
"I’m picking the place."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Is it going to charge twenty dollars for sparkling water?"
"Probably."
"But I’ll pay for yours."
We walked into the house together,
the past finally laid to rest.
The six men before me were a warning.
The woman beside me was a destiny.
And as we left for the night,
I realized that sometimes,
you have to lose everything to find the one thing that actually matters.
The house was just bricks and mortar.
The company was just code and servers.
But the truth?
The truth was a girl,
a kitten,
and a bottle of water in a desert.
And I was never going to let that go again.
The end of the wedding was the beginning of the rest of my life.
And for the first time in thirty years,
I knew exactly where I was going.
Straight home.
With Lucy.
And Cinnamon.
And Baron.
The number seven was lucky after all.
Just not for the reasons Rebecca Alcott thought.
The stray had finally found his home.
May you like
And so had I.
The end.
