Unbreakable Love (11 page)

Her sudden outburst caught him off guard again, and he moved quickly back to the safety of the couch.

“Answer me!” she demanded loudly. Nate was floundering. He knew no matter how he responded, she would yell some more.

“I’m sorry,” he responded weakly. “You do ask a lot of rhetorical questions. I wasn’t sure you wanted a response.”

Celeste tapped her foot impatiently. Nate had never seen Celeste this angry and he’d seen her break all the dishes in the house.

“To be honest,” he said, “I thought I was the only one.”

Celeste scoffed at his naivety. “You stupid child,” she began. She walked the short distance to the couch and planted herself next to Nate.

“It happened to me.”

Nate couldn’t have been more shocked if she’d admitted she was a serial killer. Before Nate could settle with her first shocking admission, she continued, her eyes taking on a faraway look as she spoke.

“His name was Alberto,” she began. “My job was to keep his sister alive, but in the process I fell in love with him. And don’t think you invented breaking rules in the name of love,” she continued. “I broke them all, including sneaking into his room when I was supposed to be with his sister Maria.”

Celeste shifted uncomfortably on the couch as she thought about those dark times before speaking again.

“That night we were awakened by a bloodcurdling scream coming from Maria’s room. Someone had broken into the house and Maria’s bedroom was on the bottom floor. Obviously, the intruder found her first. Alberto ran to her room to protect his sister but was shot before he even knew what happened. By the time I made my way downstairs, it was too late. Alberto was dead and the stranger, who’d already raped Maria, had escaped through her window.”

Celeste paused to wipe a tear from the corner of her eye before it could fall.

“You see, Nate,” she began once more, “They were a good Catholic family, and the devastation of Alberto’s death and Maria’s defilement was more than she could take. Thinking her soul was damned, Maria took her own life less than a week later.” Another tear escaped, but Celeste let this one slide down her cheek and land in her lap, leaving a small wet spot on her jeans. As if moved by the memories themselves, Celeste suddenly stood up and began to pace the floor.

Nate didn’t know what to say, so he didn’t speak. Instead, he watched her with wide eyes, absorbing every word and every pain-filled expression on her face.

“So you see, this entire tragedy was my fault. It was my lack of self-control, my disregard for the rules, that destroyed this family. It was my selfishness and stupidity that took the life of the only man I ever loved.” She was ranting now, not just sad but somehow heartbroken and livid at the same time…angry at herself and angry at the past that had carved her into the woman she was today. Finally, her ranting slowed and her voice took on a sagging quality, as if Nate could actually hear the defeat surging up and taking over.

“It took dozens of comforting angels to bring even a small measure of peace to this family’s heart, and it was all my fault.”

Nate could see that she was winding down now. Celeste forced herself to stop pacing and sit on the couch facing Nate.

He finally felt like it was time to speak. “I’m so sorry you went through all this—that Maria’s family suffered so much,” he said.

Without warning, Celeste snapped back fiercely, acting more like the woman he knew so well. “Don’t be sorry! Learn from my mistakes and do better than I did! Exercise more self-control! Be more selfless! Their time as humans is very short. Don’t destroy her life like I did Maria.”

Without even waiting for a response, Celeste rose from the couch and headed for the door once again. Nate could see that she was spent, that she had nothing more to give today, so he didn’t try to stop her. Before she ever reached the door, she was gone and he was left alone with his thoughts.

Celeste’s words rattled around in his head. For the first time he really thought about what could happen to Jennie and Kate if he failed. Did he have untapped self-control that he hadn’t accessed yet? Could he really be selfless enough to follow orders without a thought for his own needs? If he really got down to it, wanting to save her parents was about him and not wanting to see Jennie hurt. And about not controlling his feelings towards her—needing her, wanting her, when his sole focus was supposed to be on keeping her alive so that she could live on after he was gone. The ugly truth was sobering, and suddenly Nate felt shamefully selfish. Celeste’s cautionary tale was enough to muster up additional strength from within him. For the first time, Nate was facing a challenge that would ultimately show what he was really made of. Now that he truly understood the demons before him, he felt ready to fight them. For the first time in a long time, his thoughts were clear and his determination renewed.

Nate spent the next two weeks trying to figure out what to give Jennie as a Christmas present. All around him, shoppers were snapping up everything from perfume to tennis racquets, but none of those gifts seemed right for her. He wanted to give Jennie something tangible, something she could see and touch long after he was gone, something special and unique. After combing every mall in the valley, he finally stumbled across her gift in the most unlikely of places. He was driving on his way to a body shop in Indio, in the farthest part of the valley, to pick up a part for his Mustang when he noticed a small boutique on the corner of a virtually vacant strip mall. It was obvious why there were no other shops in the shopping center. The buildings were nowhere near neighborhoods, or even other retail. The buildings themselves looked like they were uninhabitable, crumbling right before Nate’s eyes. Yet somehow, despite the shop’s dilapidated appearance, Nate felt compelled to go inside. Since the paint defining the parking spaces had long since worn off, he parked his car at an odd angle and went in.

The soft jingle of dozens of tiny bells looped together announced his arrival to the empty room. After his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of the store, he began to look around. The tiny one-room store was packed from the floor to the ceiling with everything from handcrafted baby booties to an eight-foot-tall hand-carved wooden giraffe. The workmanship on everything was exquisite, but the disorder of the store made it hard to sort through its contents. Nate was just about to turn around and leave when he spotted the small glass jewelry case near the cash register.

Of course,
he thought to himself,
a unique piece of jewelry is a perfect gift for Jennie.

Nate found his way to the jewelry counter and studied its contents. They were surprisingly impressive. Nate looked around; he was still alone in the shop, but he wanted to take a closer look at a pair of pearl earrings that were locked in the case.

He called out, “Hello, anyone here?”

From behind a door that he hadn’t noticed before he heard a clattering of activity as if someone were fighting his or her way out. Then all at once the door flew open and out stepped the most flamboyant woman Nate had ever seen.

She was large, with wide shoulders and a thick frame, but somehow surprisingly still feminine. Her thick black hair was pulled out of her eyes with a colorful scarf. She wore at least ten mismatched necklaces around her neck, and real alligator skin boots beneath her long tasseled skirt. Nate found himself unabashedly staring at her. Luckily, she didn’t seem to notice.

“Can I help you?” she asked, looking at him under her overstated fake eyelashes.

Nate pulled his focus back to shopping for Jennie’s Christmas present.

“Um, yes,” he said, “I want to look at the pearl earrings for a friend.”

The woman took a long look at Nate, sizing him up, and then she drew close enough to reach out and gently touch his cheek. When she was done, she stepped back creating what would be considered appropriate spacing between two strangers once again.

With one wave of her hand, she dismissed his request. “You’re not shopping for a friend,” she boldly declared. “Look at you, all anxious about getting the right gift. No, you’re shopping for the one you love.”

Nate remained silent, not knowing what else to do. She wasn’t wrong, there was no reason to deny it. Somehow, Nate knew if he waited, she would continue. The woman glanced towards the jewelry case and then back to Nate.

“No, the pearl earrings will not do. You need a special gift, something that will show her how important she is to you.”

Her words hung in the air for Nate to digest as she turned and, without any explanation, went back through the door she’d used to come into the room. Nate could hear shuffling and banging behind the door as the storeowner rifled through her stock. Before long, the eccentric woman returned carrying a long thin black box. She held the box out to Nate and caught his gaze. Genuinely curious, Nate took the box without a word passing between them. Gently, with great care, Nate pulled the lid off to reveal a delicate gold necklace. The chain was woven and bound together by a gold toggle clasp and hanging from the chain was a charm crafted into the shape of an angel. Nate couldn’t disguise his surprise. It was not what he’d expected; it was far more beautiful.

“It’s magnificent,” he whispered.

The woman beamed with pride, knowing she’d found the perfect gift for Nate.

Almost mesmerized by the necklace, Nate reached out to touch it gingerly with the tips of his fingers. The metal felt cool to the touch and as he drew it closer to his face, he could see that the body of the angel was encrusted with tiny diamonds that caught the light, sending it all different directions. The effect was subtle but brilliant. Nate looked up the woman. Suddenly, her eyes bore into him knowingly.

“A perfect gift from an angel to the one he loves, don’t you think?” She said.

Nate was stunned once again. Somehow, the woman knew what he was. Nate couldn’t confirm the truth to her. That was the very first rule, the rule that couldn’t be broken…never tell them what you really are. Yet somehow, inexplicably, she knew.

She reached out and tenderly touched the angel charm. “You’re not the first angel to give this as a gift,” she confessed openly.

Suddenly, her eyes took on a faraway look. “Now it’s your turn, and she will wear it close to her heart just as I have done for thirty years.”

Nate met her dark eyes again and an understanding passed between them as they stood there in the cluttered room. She wanted him to have it, to give it to Jennie just as her angel had done with her. Nate longed to talk to her about her angel. Questions burned in his mind. Why did she still remember him? Did she resent him when he left, or did she forgive him in time? He hungered to know that he was not alone in this bittersweet adventure, that there were others who had survived and gone on to live happy lives. He knew if he could just talk to her openly and honestly, she could assuage some of his fears. Still, he held back, not just to follow the rules but also to respect her privacy. Instead, he responded softly, his voice barely audible even in the silence of the vacant store, “Thank you. I’m sure she will always cherish it.”

The strange woman smiled at him, but behind her smile there was a thread of sadness, a loss that had taken a part of her when her angel left. Surprising him one last time, she reached up with her hands and ran the tips of her fingertips lightly across Nate’s face. He could see that although she touched his skin, she was thinking of her angel, remembering what it was like to be with him. As quickly as she became lost in the memories, she suddenly pulled back and the faraway look was gone. As if shaking off the past, she straightened up and smoothed her skirt. It was back to business.

“Well, young man,” she began using a more professional tone of voice, “you can’t purchase that necklace. However, I will give it to you and if you feel so inspired to donate money to help pay my light bill, I will not complain.”

Nate laughed. “I understand,” he replied. “Here on earth, money pays the rent, but it’s love that makes life worth living.”

The woman threw back her head and laughed appreciatively. “Truer words were never spoken,” she said as she took the small box and carried it behind the counter to wrap it in elegant silver paper before placing it in a small, brown paper bag.

Nate took the bag from her and slid a ten-dollar bill in her hand in exchange. Hopefully, she wouldn’t find the additional hundred dollars that he’d slipped into her pocket until after he was long gone. Without even looking at the paltry sum, she slipped it into her cash register.

“Good-bye, my friend,” she said as he turned to leave.

“Good-bye,” he returned warmly and walked out with the package tucked tightly under his arm.

He and Jennie planned to exchange gifts on December 23. Nate was leaving town for a few days, mostly to avoid watching her family spend their last Christmas together. He was already too close, and every time he turned around Jennie’s mother was doing something nice for him. It was impossible not to love them. It was impossible not to want to protect them. He had to stay away from them just to keep his focus, so he told Jennie he would take her to dinner and they could exchange gifts at the restaurant. Two more days, that’s all he had to wait and then he could see her eyes when she lifted the velvet lid and saw the necklace for the very first time.

The uneasiness started for Jennie’s mom several days before Christmas. At first, it was subtle. Wondering why she felt apprehensive, she would go over in her mind what she might have forgotten. They were having a large Christmas party for all of her extended family the day after Christmas. She wondered if she was overwhelmed by the preparations. She was done with all of her shopping, and the turkey was ordered. In fact, the more she thought about the upcoming events, the more she realized nothing was left unfinished. When the unsettling feeling persisted, she wondered if maybe it had to do with Jennie’s 18th birthday. Maybe it bothered her on some subconscious level that her little girl was all grown up and leaving for college soon. In the last few years, she’d leaned on Jennie for friendship and support in raising her headstrong sister Kate. Whatever it was, Jennie’s mom couldn’t shake the feeling that she was missing something. Finally, in the middle of the night on the 22nd of December she awoke abruptly and knew what she had to do. The next morning she called a lawyer and set up a time to update her and her husband’s wills.