On the Way to Heaven (BWWM Romance) (12 page)

CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO

    
Neil tore into the
girls’ bedroom the next morning with his shirt hanging off. “Girls, wake up.”
One by one, they tossed and turned until they each sat up.

    
“Good morning, Daddy,” Violet yawned.

    
“Where’s Trina?” He stood at Paige’s bed.
“She’s not in her room and I…I don’t see her things.” Winter groaned.

    
“What is it?” He walked to her bed.
“Winter, please. Tell me what’s going on, if you know.”

    
“She’s gone.”

    
Neil went limp as if every ounce of life
had slipped out of him. “What are you talking about?”

    
“She left in the middle of the night.”
Winter put her glasses on. “She didn’t want me to tell anyone until she was
gone.” Paige looked down at her sheet.

    
“She’s gone?” Violet sniffled. “Is she
coming back?”

    
“I don’t think so.” Winter straightened her
glasses.

    
“Wait a minute.” Neil paced. “Now, just
hold on a second. What did she say?”

    
“She said she had to leave, but she loved
us.” Winter glared at him. “It’s your fault.”

    
“My fault?” He stopped pacing.

    
“You two had that fight.” Winter got out of
bed. “She was fine until then.”

    
“Now, wait a minute—”

    
“No.” She stood in front of him. “You
wouldn’t even talk to her all last night. She was sad because of you, Daddy.
That’s why she left.”

    
“Honey—”

    
“It’s because of you!” Winter hit him.
“It’s because of you.”

    
“Winter.” He tried to grab her. “Sweetie,
listen.”

    
“You made her leave!” She pounded her
little fists on his stomach. “I hate you, Daddy! I hate you!” She cried against
him.

    
“Baby.” He held her.

    
“Daddy.” She sobbed. “She’s gone.”

    
Neil closed his eyes. “It’s okay.” He
sighed. “It’s gonna be okay.”

* * * *

A Month Later

    
“Hey, Lorraine.” Roxy twisted up the cloudy
hallway with his broom. “Girl, they got me cleaning like crazy today. Is God
coming or something?”

    
“How’s she doing?” Lorraine glanced at the
enormous balcony overlooking the sea of clouds.

    
Trina stood against the railing in her
flowing white dress, with her hair in an angelic ball.

    
“Ooh, child.” Roxy swept. “The same. In
fact, I think she’s getting worse.”

    
“This can’t go on.” Lorraine shook her
head. “It’s been a month and she’s not coming out of this. I know it can take
time, but I’m really worried.”

    
“I am, too.” Roxy looked toward the
balcony. “Poor thing. She doesn’t eat and hardly talks to anyone. She just
mopes around.”

    
“Neil and the girls are just as bad.”
Lorraine put her hands on her hips. “I’ve been checking up on them. He thinks
of Trina constantly. He can’t even work without thinking about her. Violet
cries herself to sleep every night, and poor Winter’s grades are slipping.”

    
“That’s terrible.”

    
“Paige is miserable, but pretends she’s
not. It’s just like they lost Charlotte all over again.” Lorraine crossed her
arms. “I tried to get Trina to look in on them, but it’s too hard for her.
She’d rather not see them again.”

    
“Life is so unfair. Neil is Trina’s Prince
Charming. How come she couldn’t meet him when she was living?” Trina walked off
the balcony.

    
“Hey, Trina.” Lorraine waved.

    
“Hey, girl.” Roxy smiled.

    
Trina presented that same pitiful attempt
of a smile she always did, and then continued down the hall.

    
“Uh-uh, Lorraine, something has to be
done.”

    
“Her scores for her chart should be coming
in soon.” Lorraine looked at her gold watch. “I’m sure she’s gonna pass. Maybe
knowing she’ll make it into Heaven will cheer her up.”

    
“I don’t know.” Roxy smacked his lips. “I
think as long as she’s not with Neil, she won’t care about anything.”

* * * *

    
“What you need to discuss must be serious.”
Daniela opened the glass doors and walked
 
to the patio of her two story home, which was encased in sweet smelling
clouds. “You hardly ever come to my home.”

    
“I don’t mean to disturb you.” Lorraine
stood by the patio table with her arms clasped behind her back. “But this
couldn’t wait.”

    
“I know what this is about.” Daniela sat at
the solid gold, oval shaped table. “Trina.”

    
“Yes, ma’am.” Lorraine sat down. “She’s
still very depressed about Neil.”

    
“I’m sorry for that.” Daniela crossed her
legs. “Her scores should be coming in soon, and I’m sure that’ll make her
happy.”

    
A female angel with long, black hair,
floated along the corridor with a tray of fruit.

    
“Thank you.” Daniela took the tray.

    
The angel smiled and flew away.

    
“I know it’s hard to see her like this.”
Daniela held out a bowl of orange slices to Lorraine.

    
Lorraine waved it away.

    
Daniela bit into one of the juicy slices.
“Once she gets to Heaven, she’ll be fine.”

    
“I don’t think so.”

    
“She’s not going through anything you and I
or anyone else hasn’t gone through when they died. If she wants to get here, to
Heaven…” Daniela pointed to the golden ground. “She has to accept the pain and
move on.”

    
“But, that’s my point. Trina’s situation is
different from many people who’ve died. You and I had husbands and families
that loved us our entire lives. Trina never had that.” Daniela slowly chewed on
a grape. “You know her life was full of pain. She didn’t have family, and
hardly had any real friends. All she had were her degrees and money, but before
now, she didn’t realize that wasn’t enough.”

    
“I understand, but—”

    
“She’s just now experiencing true love.
Neil is the only person who ever really cared for her. It breaks my heart that
she had to die to find that, and now she thinks it’s too late.”

    
“Thinks?” Daniela got another grape. “It
is
too late, Lorraine. Look, I like Trina. I rooted for her from the
beginning because of the life she’d always had. She doesn’t understand that her
task was just as much for her as it was for Neil.”

    
“I think she realizes that very much.”
Lorraine laid her hand on the table. “What she can’t understand, is why when
she finally found true love, she has to live without it.”

    
“She’s dead.” Daniela shrugged. “There’s
nothing we can do about it.” Lorraine stared at her. “What?” Daniela squinted.
“You expect me to make her alive again?” She laughed. “I don’t have that power.
If I did, then
I
wouldn’t be dead.”

          
“I’m not talking about sending Trina
back to Neil. I was thinking maybe you could bring Neil and the girls to
Trina.”

    
 
“Come again?” Lorraine nodded. “I can’t do that.” Daniela stood. “The
only one who has the power to control life or death is God.”

    
“I know.” Lorraine stood. “That’s why I
want you to talk to Him. See if—”

    
“Lorraine, this is insane. Are you
seriously asking me to go to God and ask him to
kill
Neil?”

    
“I wish it didn’t have to come to that,
but…yes.”

    
“No way.” Daniela moved from the table.
“He’d never go for this.”

    
“Neil and Trina belong together. If not on
earth, then in Heaven.”

    
“Lorraine.” Daniela rubbed her forehead.
“God is a busy man. I can’t bother him to play matchmaker.”

    
“I’m asking you to try.” Lorraine took her
hand. “Give Trina a chance to have the happiness you and I did.”

    
“He’s never gonna do this.”

    
“You know what they say.” Lorraine walked
to the glass doors. “He works in mysterious ways.”

CHAPTER
TWENTY-THREE

    
“I’m glad you came by, man.” Skip walked
onto his porch with a six-pack of beer. “Guess you don’t want one because
you’re driving.”

    
Neil reared back in the chair. “Nah.”

    
Skip squeezed into the wooden chair beside
Neil, barefoot and shirtless. “Hey, girls!” He held up the six-pack. “Want
one?” He cackled.

    
“Stop.” Neil pushed Skip’s arm.

    
The girls looked at each other, shrugged,
and continued walking around Skip’s yard.

    
“I’m just teasing.” Skip opened the beer
and sipped. “Winter’s lost some weight, hasn’t she?”

    
“She barely eats.” Neil propped his foot up
on the porch railing. “None of them do anything but think about Trina.”

    
 
“The
same as you?” Neil opened his mouth to speak but opted to stay quiet.

    
Skip scratched his jiggling belly. “She’s
gone, and you gotta accept that.”

    
“Do I?” Neil stopped rocking. “What if I
can’t accept it?”

    
“What can you do about it?” Skip guzzled
beer.

    
“I miss her.” Neil scooted to the edge of
his chair. “She gave me so much hope and made me wanna live again. Now I feel
just as empty as before I met her.”

    
“You gotta learn to let go. Why be
miserable about something you can’t control?”

    
Neil leaned back. “I smell her perfume like
she’s still here.” He pointed toward the street. “I drove up and down Allocco
for days after she left, just hoping I’d see her again. It’s not as
easy for me to forget people as it is for you.”

    
Skip sighed. “I’m just trying to help.”

    
“You think it’s so easy to forget someone
you love? After Charlotte, I didn’t think I’d ever meet someone I’d want to be
with again, but Trina showed up, and it was like magic.” Neil rocked. “When we
first met, I felt a spark, like it was fate. The girls love her just as much as
I do. She belongs with us.”

    
“You can’t even find her.” Skip spit to the
side. “You keep going on about how much you love her, but did she feel the
same? If so, why did she cut out without saying goodbye?”

    
“Because I’d been an asshole to her when
she said she couldn’t marry me. I’m to blame for that.” Neil felt his hair. “I
pushed her, and she couldn’t take it. If only I could see her one last time.”

    
“Doesn’t this seem weird to you?” Skip’s
mouth rose in the corner. “How she just disappeared without a trace? You said
her cell number doesn’t even work. Maybe she was running from something.”

    
“I gotta find her.” Neil hit Skip’s chair.
“Did I ever tell you I saw Charlotte one night? I actually saw her.”

    
Skip squinted. “What the hell are you
talking about?”

    
“I saw Charlotte and she told me I was
supposed to be with Trina. Don’t you see, man? Even Charlotte knows what Trina
and I have is real.”

    
 
“I
think you’ve lost it, man.”

    
“No, I haven’t lost it.” He stood. “I love
Trina and we’re gonna be together.” He hopped off the porch. “You hear me?” he
shouted. “We’re gonna be together!” He waved to the girls. “Come on, let’s go,
girls.”

    
 
They
followed Neil to his truck.

    
 
He
turned and pointed to Skip. “Trina and I are gonna be together.” He laid his
hand on his chest. “I can feel it.”

* * * *

    
“Wait one minute, here.” Neil looked
through the clouds at the massive line behind him. “You wanna run that by me
again?”

    
Paige, Winter, and Violet stood beside him
in awe.

    
The sparkling blonde woman looked up from
her clipboard. “You’re at the Gates of Eternity.”

    
“The Gates of Eternity?” Neil’s bottom lip
dropped. “What the hell does that mean?”

    
“Daddy, I can’t see through all these
clouds.” Violet waved her arms across her face.

    
Neil brushed a cloud away. “I know what’s
going on.” He laughed. “I’m drugged, aren’t I?” The blonde woman gaped.

    
“That’s it.” He snapped his fingers. “I’m
in the hospital. I know it.” He rubbed his chin. “I lost control of my truck on
the way from Skip’s and I rammed into that tree.”

    
“Uh-huh.” The woman nodded. “But—”

    
“The doctor gave me a sedative or something
because I was in so much pain.” He looked around, giggling. “I’m still out of
it, and I’m dreaming, aren’t I?”

    
“No, you’re dead.” She scribbled on the
clipboard.

    
Neil blinked. “Excuse me?”

    
“You and your adorable little girls,
unfortunately, didn’t make it. I’m sorry.”

    
“Did she say we’re dead?” Winter asked.

    
“Cool.” Paige lit up. “No school.”

    
Violet pulled on Neil’s jeans. “Daddy, are
we ghosts?”

    
“Hold on a second, lady.” Neil waved his
finger at the woman. “We are
not
dead. It’s just not
possible.”

    
“You see this?” She turned her clipboard
around and pointed to his name and social security number. “Is that you?”

    
“Yeah.”

    
“Then you’re dead.”

    
“Dead?” He patted his chest and thighs. “I
don’t feel dead. I feel fine.”

    
“Believe me, you’re dead. Now—”

    
“Are you an angel?” He pointed to her. “Is
this Heaven?”

    
“Jeez.” She lowered the clipboard. “What is
it with people thinking they can just waltz into Heaven? No this isn’t Heaven.
Now, according to your Heavenly Spirits Chart—”

    
“My what?”

    
“Hmm, I’m impressed.” She sucked the end of
the pencil, while reading the chart. “Your score is pretty good, but you got
points knocked off when you started drinking and neglecting the girls.” She
flipped the page.

    
Neil batted his eyes. “Huh?”

    
“But you got back on track, and your score
is above average. Looks like you’re going to Heaven pretty soon, Mr. Styles.”

    
“
Heaven
?” the girls screamed
and jumped up and down around Neil.

    
“We’re going to Heaven?” Neil asked.

    
“With your score, absolutely. You still
have to go in front of the Spiritual Court first.” She nudged him.
“Congratulations. You know, it’s rare someone goes to Heaven so quickly after
death.”

    
“Heaven?” Neil whispered. “Damn, so we’re
really dead?”

    
“As a doorknob.” The woman smiled. “Follow me.”

    
“Hey.” Neil and the girls followed. “Can I
meet Michael Jackson?”

    
The woman shook her head. “Boy, if I had a
nickel for every time someone asked me
that
.”

* * * *

    
“Trina?”

    
Trina awoke from her nap on the love seat
when Roxy ran to the cloudy terrace.

    
“Girl, get up.” He pulled her to sitting
position. “I got the results for your Heavenly Spirits Chart.” He laid it on
Trina’s lap.

    
Trina handed it back to him. “I’ll read it
later.”

    
“Read it later? Girl, you worked your butt
off for this. You might be getting into Heaven.”

    
Trina brushed her hair down in the back.
“Would it sound horrible if I said I didn’t really care?”

    
“Wait a minute, now.” Roxy grimaced. “You
don’t mean that.”

    
“Whether I’m in Heaven or not, I will still
feel like I’m in Hell.” She dropped her head. “I’m miserable, Roxy. All I think
about is Neil, and I’d rather spend the rest of eternity in Hell if I could be
with him again.”

    
“I know it’s hard.”

    
“Do you?” Trina stood and strolled across
the golden floor. “What’s the point of going to Heaven if I won’t be happy?”

    
“You can be. It’s gonna take some time, but
you’ll get over this.”

    
“No I won’t.” Trina faced him. “Each day, I
want him more and more.”

    
“Trina.” Roxy stood. “You have to believe
that what’s meant to be, will happen.” He held up the letter. “You might be
going to Heaven. There, anything is a possibility.” He walked over to her. “You
worked hard, and you showed Neil how to love again. That counts for
something,
 
right?” He handed her the
letter. Trina took it and peeled the envelope open.

    
“Trina!” Lorraine ran toward her. “I’ve got
something to show you.”

    
“Hold up.” Roxy threw his hand in
Lorraine’s face. “She’s about to open her results.”

    
“That can wait.” Lorraine snatched the
letter. “Trina, I—”

    
“It can’t wait.” Roxy took the letter and
handed it back to Trina. “After all the trouble she went through, she needs to
see if it finally paid off.”

    
“I got something better than that, right
now.” Lorraine yanked the letter. “Now, Trina—”

    
“There’s nothing better.” Roxy took the
letter again. “Let the girl read her letter.”

    
“Not now.” Lorraine grabbed it.

    
“Yes, now!” Roxy grabbed it.

    
Trina reached for it. “Guys…”

    
Lorraine took the letter. “I’ve got
something important to show her first.”

    
Roxy jerked the letter back. “Not as
important as her results.”

    
“
This
is!” Lorraine got the
letter.

    
“Whatever it is…” Roxy tore the letter from
Lorraine’s hand. “It’s not as important as this.”

    
Lorraine lunged at Roxy. “Yes, it—”

    
“Stop it!” Trina seized the letter. “What
is it, Lorraine?”

    
“Fine.” Roxy twisted back to the love seat.
“If you don’t wanna see the results, it’s fine with me, honey.” He crossed his
legs and pouted.

    
“I can show you better than I can tell
you.” Lorraine held her hands out, and an image of Neil and the kids appeared.
“You see this?” She smiled. “You see where they are?”

    
Trina got closer to the image. “Oh my God.”

    
“Wait a minute.” Roxy walked up. “That’s
here!” He pointed to the floor.

    
“That’s right.” Lorraine dropped her hands
and the image vanished. “They’re here, Trina.”

    
“
Oh
.” She dropped the
letter and covered her mouth. “This can’t be true.” She fidgeted. “Please don’t
play with me. I can’t take it.”

    
“I’m not playing.” Lorraine smiled. “Neil
and the girls are here.”

    
“But how can this be?” Trina paced,
ecstatic yet deeply confused. “The only way they can be here is if they’re…”
Her mouth hung open. “They’re dead?” she whispered.

    
Lorraine nodded.

    
“Oh, no.” Trina breathed into her hand.
“No, no, no.” She sobbed. “What happened?”

    
“Neil lost control of his truck and they
crashed,” Lorraine said.

    
“No.” Trina shook her head. “The girls too?
Were they in pain?”

    
“No.”

    
“Oh, they must’ve been so scared.” She
closed her eyes. “I never wanted them to die. They had lives to live on earth.”

    
“It was fate,” Lorraine said.