Remember Love (25 page)

CHAPTER
TWENTY-SIX

Roses.

The cemetery did
not seem the place for fragrance. For life. But Christmas lured the heartbroken,
and they brought flowers as if the scent of the living might chase away the
stench of the dead.

Alec lifted his
own bouquet to his nose. Sweet and full, freshly cut this morning. He stepped
around gravestones, coming finally to the one he sought.

Small and white, little
marked by time. Bending down, he set the flowers on the grassy mound.

He had no tears,
but studied the gravestone with solemnity. He let his finger briefly touch the
name engraved before straightening.

"I wish I
could have known him."

"Someday."
Katrina slipped her arm through his and gently squeezed.

He smiled down at
her and carefully returned the gesture. She still wore bandages on her shoulder
and he didn’t want to aggravate the wound.

"You can
quit frowning," she said, pushing up on her toes and kissing his chin. "Dr.
Brown says it’s healing nicely. I feel much better now."

Her eyes shone in
the sun, clear as silver moonbeams, and pain spiked through Alec’s chest. She’d
jumped in front of him, risking her life for his.

"Don’t ever
do that again." His voice roughened and his throat felt suddenly parched. "If
anything happened to you. . . I love you so much."

"I know."
She grinned, despite the wetness on her cheeks and the fierce glower he was
giving her. "You had no business charging in ahead of Grant. That was
foolish."

"He thought
Steve went out through your backyard. I wasn’t thinking clearly."

She smiled, then
glanced down at Joey’s grave. "This is right. That we came here together."

Alec pulled her
closer to him, breathing in the sun-warmed jasmine in her hair. It was right.

Right and good
and fitting.

"Joey
would’ve loved Roasted." Katrina rested her head against his shoulder.

"Coffee?
That’s quite the kid."

"I’m sure
mom snuck him coffee in the mornings, though I could never prove it."

"You don’t
mind, do you?" Alec pulled away and studied her face. "Opening the coffee
shop?"

She raised her
hand to shield her eyes from the rising sun. "I’m ready to travel. To be
with you. We’ll have a manager for the store to take care of things. It’s good
business for the town. People are already talking about it."

"I want you
to be happy, Katrina." Her hair lifted with the breeze. Alec reached over
and smoothed the curls down. They were silkier than a butterfly’s wing.

"Being with
you makes me happy. God’s given us a second chance. When we’re done traveling,
we can come back here permanently. Start another Kat’s Korner."

"And maybe a
family?" The question tumbled out and fear scraped his chest with razor
claws. It had only been three weeks since the shooting, since Steve had died in
her living room.  

And then there
was Joey. Would she want more children? He took in the nuances of her expression,
the way her head angled down to study Joey’s grave, her motionless feet.

When she looked
up, her eyes were rose petal soft. "I would love to make a family with you."

Alec heaved a
deep sigh. He would never hold Joey, never feel the warmth of Joey’s hand in
his but her answer eased some deep, elemental part of his soul.

Hope for another
child filled him. Never to take the place of Joey, but to add love to their
family. His fingers sought Katrina’s and together they left the cemetery.

At the gates, he
paused. Above him, a bird twittered, rustling in the branches before taking
flight with a flurry of wings. God had lifted his and Katrina’s love from the
ashes, giving it the wings to soar far above their expectations. God’s goodness
was to be treasured, His faithfulness to be trusted.

Alec tightened
his grasp on Katrina’s hands, clasped her warmth, cherished her. As he would,
forever.