Unbreakable Love (22 page)

Before long, she and Kate settled into their life in Washington and the days melted together to make weeks. Then when she wasn’t paying attention, swept up in the day-to-day demands of life, the weeks turned into two years.

Just as Jennie began to wonder if she would ever see Nate again, he appeared.

Western Washington was enjoying a warm spring and unusual amounts of sunshine. One day, after Jennie dropped Kate off at school, she decided to enjoy the weather and study outside on campus. After parking her car in one of the student parking lots, Jennie picked a bench near the library to sit on and began digging through her backpack for her notes. The sun that was peeking through a thin layer of clouds warmed her skin despite the cooler morning temperatures, and for a moment she stopped and lifted her face to the sky to take it all in. It was times like this that she found herself thinking about Nate, wondering if he was happy. Did he still think of her like she thought of him? Sometimes, even though she couldn’t see him, she could swear that she felt him near. When that happened, she would usually reach up and run her fingers along the smooth chain of her angel necklace. Maybe she was deluding herself, but touching the necklace validated her feelings, helping her hang on to Celeste’s promise a little longer.

Forcing herself to lower her gaze and get back on task, Jennie reached back down into her backpack and found what she was looking for. It was then that she first realized that someone was standing just outside the library entrance, staring at her with a quizzical look. At first, she wondered if she’d conjured up the image with her mind. He was maybe a hundred feet away. His golden blonde hair was longer than she remembered, but she would recognize those piercing grey-blue eyes anywhere. Cautiously, she stood up to confirm her suspicions. Trying to act as if she were heading for the library, she walked in his direction. As she drew closer, his gaze stayed unabashedly intent on her. Jennie could tell he was confused, trying to figure out why she looked so familiar to him. She smiled at him, her heart racing in her chest as she caught his eyes. He returned the smile cautiously. She would know that brilliant smile anywhere. Now she knew she was not hallucinating and that he was in fact Nate.

Jennie had been waiting so long, always watching for him on the streets and in the stores. Now he was here and he didn’t remember her. Was he still an angel or was he human with no recollection of their time together? Celeste didn’t warn her about this. What was she supposed to do? Suddenly Celeste’s words from their final conversation came back to her.

“He loved you before, and that love couldn’t be kept from you both here on Earth. That’s why he was not supposed to touch you. I was trying to keep you both from remembering your history together until after he kept you alive.”

Their love was so concrete, so far reaching that it couldn’t be kept from them. That’s why they couldn’t touch, the memories of their life before would come back. A gleeful giggle escaped from Jennie’s lips. She knew what she had to do to make Nate remember her, to break down the barrier between them.

Jennie licked her lips as she prepared for what was coming. It was easy to retrieve the memories of what it felt like to kiss him and hold him in her arms, and those memories were enough to make her feet continue forward. Her heart was pounding so loudly now that she could hear the blood pumping in her ears, and her stomach was all aflutter with an entire colony of butterflies. Just a few feet away from Nate, Jennie dropped her backpack on the sidewalk and walked briskly to him. Jennie could smell the scent of his skin and see the flecks of grey in his eyes as she got closer. It only motivated her more. Nate was about to speak when she grabbed his hands and clasped them tightly in her own. The sensation that always came with their touch was absent and Jennie recoiled for a second, surprised and disappointed, wondering if somehow she’d made a mistake.

Nate took the window of opportunity to speak. “I know you from somewhere. Where do I know you...” Hearing Nate’s voice gave her renewed courage, and Jennie stretched up on her toes and placed her lips against his before he even had a chance to finish his sentence. The first the kiss was light and tentative and then Jennie felt Nate’s hand move to the small of her back, edging her body a little closer to his. Jennie didn’t feel the warmth and light from before as their lips touched, but it was still magical to her. Then after several more soft kisses, the intensity heightened and the barrier in Nate’s earthly memory gave way, flooding his mind with thousands of pictures of him and Jennie, including the memory of their last goodbye. Nate clasped Jennie’s hands, weaving her fingers into his.

“Jennie!” he said fervently, pulling back to look at her. Then looking wasn’t enough; he had to touch her. He released her hands and began running his fingers along her cheeks and touching her soft curls as if he still needed validation that she was real. Kisses followed, what seemed like hundreds of them, not just on her lips but also on her cheeks and chin. Other students passed by staring curiously but they didn’t care. They were finally together. After their greeting, Nate pulled her close and breathed into her hair, using every sense to experience her.

“She told me to watch for you,” Nate mumbled into her hair as he held her.

“Who told you to watch for me?” Jennie pulled back a little and asked.

Nate was smiling broadly now, his whole face lit up with happiness. “This stranger I met on campus one night. She told me she was a messenger and that I would meet my true love soon and to watch for her.”

Jennie smirked. Could it be Celeste?

“What did she look like?” she asked.

Nate paused, trying to think of a polite way to describe her. “Was she a large woman?” Jennie pressed excitedly.

“Yes,” Nate said, surprised that Jennie knew what he was thinking.

“And she had kind of unruly silver hair and huge hands?”

Nate paused, debating his next words, but then, finally, he gave into the temptation to tell Jennie everything. “She told me that in order for me to come to Earth they had to take away my memory but that I would remember you anyway.”

“Did she say anything else?” Jennie asked curiously.

“No,” Nate responded, “but she took the bag of cookies that I was eating.”

Jennie burst out laughing. “That was definitely Celeste,” she said and then, humbled by Celeste’s sacrifice, Jennie looked down at the ground.

“What’s wrong?” Nate asked, confused once again.

“Celeste,” Jennie almost whispered, “she took care of us.”

Unable to remember anything about his former life except for Jennie, Nate was still confused. Jennie took his hand and rewrapped her fingers around his and they began to walk. They stopped long enough to pick up Jennie’s backpack before moving on.

“Do you remember Kate?” Jennie asked as they strolled down the sidewalk.

“Who?” Nate asked.

“So no to Kate and Celeste. It’s okay; we have lots of time, and I’ll explain the whole thing.”

“It’s good we have time. I have a feeling that it’s a very long story,” Nate said, still grinning from ear to ear.

Jennie chuckled. “You have no idea,” and then as they walked, winding their way around campus, Jennie started from the beginning.

Celeste sank back into her big black office chair and thought about the last several years. This had been a time of change for her. After she resigned as a manager, she was given a new assignment as a messenger. It didn’t take her manager long to realize that she was not much of a people person. However, her supervisor was also quick to notice that she really knew how to motivate people. After only a year of grunt work, she was promoted to a managerial position and put in charge of training new messengers.

Celeste had learned to enjoy her new job. Trainees came in starry eyed and submissive, just the way she liked her employees. She taught them the ins and outs of working with humans, getting your message across and getting out quickly. It wasn’t as exciting as supervising guardians, but it was also less personal and intimate. That was her favorite perk—no relationships, no inevitable pain.

Celeste straightened herself up in her chair until she was sitting upright with her feet resting lightly on the floor. She glanced at the large silver clock on the wall. Ten more minutes until her newest trainee arrived. She smiled, made happy by her own thoughts. She still had a little time. She reached down into her drawer and pulled out a brightly colored container, sealed in plastic with a picture of rich chocolate cookies on front. She lifted the package to her nose and took in the delectable scent of chocolate and mint blended together in what she considered to be perfection. She tore them open just as a child might open a long awaited gift on Christmas morning, wishing and hoping for and maybe even expecting good things. Once the plastic was torn, the smell drifted upward, the scent stronger than she remembered, triggering memories of Nate. She could see him in her mind’s eye handing her a box of Girl Scout cookies with that ridiculous sheepish grin on his face. That boy—why did she care about that boy so much?

Pushing aside the memories, she dug into the cookies with fervor, taking one in each hand, ready to indulge. That’s when the door to her office opened and in walked Alberto.

For a minute, Celeste wondered if she were dreaming. He hadn’t changed a bit. Not one hair on his head was greying and his liquid brown eyes were just as captivating as they were the first time she became swept up in them. He stood tall and straight, the look on his face giving away his naked surprise. The raw shock mingled with unadulterated joy also told her he was happy to see her. In one sweeping motion, she let the cookies fall to the ground and pushed the heavy oak desk aside. The scraping noise as it slid across the oak floor sounded loud in the room where the only other noise was the sound of them breathing in and out. He was the first to break the silence.

“Mi amore,” he said as he rushed to meet Celeste in the middle of the office.

Feeling as if she were a young protector again, Celeste fell into his arms, and wept shamelessly on his shoulder. Between the tears of joy she muttered, “I can’t believe you are here.”

Lost in his own burning emotions, Alberto held her close and whispered in return, “I have been waiting for this day, dreaming, always dreaming of you.”

Then neither of them spoke because their lips were busy making up for thousands of kisses that had been lost in their time apart. It was a miracle; one Celeste knew was not a random act of the universe. Just like Nate, she had finally proven herself, and now just like Nate, all things had come full circle and, mercifully, true love had come to stay.