Until We Meet Again

by Renee Collins

  He smiles a little. “Why not? This is everything we’ve been working for. Don’t you want to be together?”

  “Of course I do, but…what if it doesn’t happen?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What if this beach, being able to see each other, really is just a freak accident? An anomaly. A random crack in the time-space continuum. There’s no fate. No destiny. It just…is what it is. Nothing more. What if saving you changes nothing?”

  “There’s only one way to test that,” Lawrence says. He holds out his hand.

  The train of what-ifs roar through me again.

  “Suppose it does work. What if we only get one free pass to move through time?” My throat feels tight. “I never really said good-bye to my mom.”

  “I’m sure that’s not the case,” Lawrence says, but I can tell he’s trying to sound more confident than he feels.

  “You don’t know anything for sure.” I stare at the pathway,. “What if saving you actually closes the portal or the gateway or whatever crazy thing has been letting us see each other? What if fate allowed me to see you only so I could save you? And now that I have…it will be over. What if when we leave this beach, we fade into our own times and never see each other again?”

  The questions are enough to make Lawrence step back. He stares at the pathway, thoughts racing behind his dark eyes. I throw my arms around his neck. He holds me tightly.

  “I can’t lose you, Lawrence. I can’t take the risk.”

  After a long pause, his words come. “But what other choice to do we have?”

  I break from his grip. Lawrence touches my face.

  “We can’t stay on this beach forever.”

  “Yes, we can.”

  “Cassandra.”

  The lump in my throat burns. “I’m so afraid.”

  “And so am I. But the chance to spend forever with you is worth the risk. And the only way we can know is by trying.”

  He presses his lips to mine. I kiss him back hungrily. He starts to pull away, but I don’t let him. He returns the passion. And deep inside, I know that it is worth the risk. To have him forever. To have this kiss for the rest of my life.

  I set my forehead to his. “If we don’t see each other on the other side—”

  He puts his fingers to my lips. “Don’t even speak it. We will.”

  I release a trembling breath. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

  Hand pressed to hand, we turn to the path.

  One step. Then another. Lawrence keeps his face turned to me. He gives me a little smile. Pulling my hand, he runs into the path.

  “Lawrence!”

  For a blurred, breathless moment, we’re flying hand in hand. And then…the definition of Lawrence’s features start to fade. The strength of his grip seems to melt away. His colors fade, and like a ghost, he vanishes into the night air.

  Chapter 37

  Cassandra

  He’s gone.

  I stand and stare at the spot where he vanished. This isn’t happening. It’s too cruel.

  I stagger back to the beach. It’s empty. Only dark sand and white-tipped surf.

  “Lawrence?” I call out.

  Nothing.

  I scream as loud as I can. “LAWRENCE?”

  Gasping, I fall to my knees on the sand. “No. No, no, no.” It can’t be over. It can’t. I’ll never forgive myself for letting Lawrence leave my arms. I’ll never forgive the universe for not giving us a chance to say good-bye.

  He bursts from the bushes.

  His face is ashen, his eyes wide. I draw in a sharp breath, and we collide in a fierce embrace. There are no words. We just hold each other.

  Lawrence finally steps back. Taking my hand, he leads me to our spot on the sand, overlooking the waves. The place we first met. Side by side, we stare out at the sea.

  “I don’t understand,” he says.

  “I do.” The words hurt to say. “This beach is just an anomaly. A crack in time. Always has been, always will be.”

  Lawrence frowns. “But how could that be? Don’t you think someone would have noticed in the nearly hundred years this house has been standing?”

  I shake my head. “Maybe they didn’t.” But even as I say it, I realize how implausible that would be. Surely someone would have noticed.

  “There has to be another explanation,” Lawrence says. “Some sense to it all.”

  “Or maybe there’s not.”

  Despondent, I lie on my back, wincing at the pain that still hangs over my body. My eyes are drawn to the moon. It’s especially big and bright, hanging over the beach. Beautiful. Almost full, by the looks of it.

  A sharp snap of realization clicks into place. The moon. The full moon. The full moon tomorrow night. I sit up.

  “What is it?” Lawrence asks.

  I set my hand on his knee. I need a minute of silence to put together the wild thoughts in my mind. That first night. The full moon rising out of the ocean. The pulse of light. Lawrence suddenly standing down by the water. The painting in the library.

  The full moon. It has to mean something.

  “What’s going on, Cassandra? You’re making me jumpy.”

  I turn to him. “I have an idea. A theory, really.”

  “Okay. So, tell me.”

  “First, I have to ask a question. On the night we met, did you watch the moon rise?”

  He frowns. “I think so, yes.”

  “And did you notice anything…strange?”

  He stares at me for a long moment. Then, slowly, shock spreads over his face. “The flash of light. You saw it too?”

  I release a shaky breath. “Yes.”

  “I thought it was a trick of the eye. What was it, then?”

  “All I know is, I was alone on the beach, and right after that pulse of light, you were suddenly standing down by the shore.”

  His eyes widen. “That’s exactly how it happened for me. That has to be significant!”

  “Lawrence. The next full moon is tomorrow night.”

  Lawrence perks up at the revelation. “Are you sure? Well, this could be our answer, Cassandra! This will be what allows us to travel into each other’s worlds. Another full moon will open the portal.”

  “Or it could close forever.” My words bring his enthusiasm to a halt. “Maybe this anomaly will only last through one cycle of the moon. And at the rise of the new full moon…it will be over.”

  Lawrence shakes his head, processing what I’ve said. “No.”

  “Think about it. If we were going to be able to move through time, it would have happened when we tried it. It’s not going to last forever.”

  Lawrence’s lips part to reply, but no words come. We’re silent for a while, digesting the awful, sad truth of it. I glance over at Lawrence, my heart still raw from everything I’ve gone through in the last twenty-four hours.

  “They’re probably all wondering what’s taking you so long,” I say.

  Lawrence sighs. “You were supposed to come with me.”

  “I know.”

  He grips me by the shoulders. “We’ll figure this out, Cassandra. There has to be a way. We will be together.”

  “You should go,” I say. “The police have probably made it to the house by now. You’ll need to tell them about your uncle.”

  His expression drops. “Yes.”

  “I’m sorry. I…can’t imagine what that must have been like.”

  He only shakes his head. I touch his face.

  “Everything’s gone wrong,” he says, his voice choked.

  “You’re alive. That didn’t go wrong. And that’s the most important thing. We changed the past. And probably the future.”

  A shiver passes through me. The old fear about messing with the time pricks at me, but I shake it away.

>   “Will you meet me here tomorrow?” Lawrence asks. “Will you spend the day with me, if it…”

  His voice drops off, but I know what he was going to say. If it is our last day together.

  “Of course,” I say.

  He rises, brushing the sand from his pants. His steps to the bushes are slow, conflicted. He turns just before going back to his own world. His beautiful brown eyes are flush with sadness.

  “I need you, Cassandra. Now more than ever.”

  Chapter 38

  Lawrence

  The telegram from my father arrived early this morning. It lies flat on the desk. Like a wound. I try to ignore the neatly printed message and pour my pain onto the page.

  I pause in writing for a moment, brushing my finger lightly over one of my wounds. The place where Ned’s fists split my skin is hot to the touch. Overnight, an angry bruise has spread over the skin.

  The police took Ned in last night. As it turns out, the Feds had been monitoring him from a distance, aware of his dealings with the Cartelli family. They were waiting for the announcement of the merger with Cooper Enterprises—another company they’d had their eye on—and they would have closed in.

  After a restless night of sleep, it all feels like a bad dream or some sensational story I heard at a party. But then, many things have felt that way this summer.

  I look back down at my writing. I’ve amassed several pages since I started. It’s as if I’m searching for the answer to how to keep Cassandra in my own words. Nothing has come. Instead, I flail in the deluge of sadness and anger and despair. The only way to breathe is to keep writing.

  This telegram certainly doesn’t help.

  My father’s words are written out in neat print:

  Bad business, this situation with your uncle. Your Aunt Eloise is quite beside herself. She’s purchased you a ticket home on the afternoon train this Monday, 7th of August. Don’t be late.

  They’re the first words I’ve had from my father all summer.

  I close my eyes and set the telegram down. It’s just as well. If Cassandra is right, if tonight truly is the last time I’ll be able to see her, then I might as well be on a train back to Connecticut. If I can’t see Cassandra on that beach, then I never want to set foot on it again.

  I don’t want to seem ungrateful after escaping the grasp of death, but at this moment, all I can feel is pain.

  Tomorrow. I leave for home tomorrow afternoon. And tonight I say good-bye to my Cassandra.

  Chapter 39

  Cassandra

  It’s another perfect summer evening as I walk across the lawn to the beach. A warm wind curls through the air, and the blue of twilight almost sparkles. Hearing the familiar sound of the ocean as I draw near, I’m overcome by how beautiful the place really is.

  Lawrence and I spent most of the day together and agreed to meet just after sunset. I’m a little early, despite the fact that I spent a good amount of time getting ready. I brushed my hair in long waves, perfumed my skin, and put on the green silk dress that’s hung unused in my closet all summer. It’s childish, perhaps, but I want his final image of me to be beautiful.

  I find myself lingering on the path. I have the strangest desire to see if I can feel Lawrence pass through me as he comes to the beach. Will I be able to sense him? Even separated by a hundred years?

  But then movement on the shoreline draws my attention. It’s Lawrence. He’s already there. He’s wearing a dashing suit. Dark gray with elegant pinstripes, and a deep-crimson tie. He dressed for me too. For some reason, this makes me want to cry.

  Lawrence looks up. At first, his eyes widen with awe, and then a sad smile pulls at his lips.

  “Come here,” he says, holding out his arms.

  I run to him. As his arms close around me, the threat of tears returns. This isn’t going to be a cry-fest. I swore to myself.

  We break apart, and Lawrence gazes at me. “You look…sublime.”

  He cups my face in his hands, resting his forehead on mine, and sighs. There’s a hitch in his voice.

  “I don’t want to speak,” he says softly. “I know anything I say will just be the beginning of good-bye.”

  “That’s all there is left to say, Lawrence.” I can’t meet his eyes or I’ll lose the tenuous grip I have on my emotions. “We know we have to say it. Why prolong the inevitable?”

  “No,” he says resolutely. “No, there’s so much more I have to say to you before good-bye.”

  He pulls what looks like a large envelope from his inside jacket pocket. The pale gold paper is tied with a brown string. I can see the shadow of words pressed through from the other side. Lawrence puts the envelope in my palm and closes my fingers over it with both of his hands.

  “For you,” he says. “My very soul is on these pages. You can have something to remember me by.”

  Not going to cry. Two rogue tears escape and splash on the envelope.

  “And there’s something else,” he says softly. He reaches into his pocket. When he opens his hand, a glint of light flickers off the object in his palm. I draw a sharp breath.

  It’s a sapphire ring. Blue and bright as the moon.

  Wide-eyed, I look up at him. His expression is sweet and sad.

  “It was my mother’s. Father gave it to her when he went to Vienna for a summer, as a promise that he wouldn’t forget her. She passed it on to me to give to the love of my life. I was planning to give this to you once we…once we were truly together. But last night I realized that no matter what, you are the love of my life. I want you to have it. And I make the same promise my father did to my mother. Whenever you look at this ring, you can know that I will be thinking of you.”

  I try to keep the swell of tears from spilling over, but it’s no use. Setting my hand over his, I feel the ring between our palms. It cuts into me deeper than any blade ever could.

  “I can’t take it. It will break my heart.”

  “Please,” he says, stroking my cheek. “It will break my heart to keep it. It belongs to you, Cassandra.”

  He lifts my hand and slides the ring onto my finger. It hangs loose, a few sizes too big. He twists his lips to the side and places it on my pointer finger. “I guess now you know where I get my fat fingers from.”

  We both laugh. I wipe a few more tears and kiss his hands fiercely. “I love your fat fingers.”

  He smiles and then holds my hand out to examine it. “This ring belongs here. It’s perfect. Nearly as beautiful as you are.”

  “I wish I’d brought something for you,” I say softly.

  Lawrence strokes the skin on the back of my hand. “You don’t have to. You’ve given me the greatest gift anyone ever could.”

  “I want to give you more than just my love.”

  “Cassandra, you gave me my life. And I don’t only mean by saving me from Ned. It’s more. So much more.” He touches the envelope in my hand. “You’ve given me a voice.”

  I stare at the words on the page.

  “Don’t you see?” Lawrence says. “Loving you has given me the courage to do what I should have done long ago.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’m not going to law school. I’m going to write. I’m going to go home tomorrow and say good-bye to my father. Then it’s on to New York or Paris or anywhere my writing takes me.”

  His beautiful eyes shine, even in the fading light. His happiness fills me with a bursting, soaring joy.

  “I’m so happy for you. You’ll be an amazing writer, Lawrence. I know it.”

  “I may be a lousy writer. But I’ll be a writer. And I have you to thank for it.”

  Meeting Lawrence may not have been some grand plan devised by fate, but it doesn’t matter. Knowing him, loving him, that is enough. Even if I can’t be with Lawrence forever, he’s still made a difference in my life. I’m a differen
t person, a better person for having known him, however brief that time was.

  Love is its own reason.

  I set my hand to Lawrence’s face. We don’t kiss. We just look into each other’s eyes. Everything that’s passed between us, every moment, every feeling of agony and bliss, surges from his soul to mine and from mine to his.

  “I love you,” Lawrence says, his voice heavy with emotion. “I wish there were better, more meaningful words to express how much.”

  “A kiss could be a good start,” I say, smiling.

  He obliges me. As the warm night envelops around us, we push away every other thought but our kiss.

  We take our place at our favorite spot. It seems only fitting. Lawrence keeps his arms around me as we walk, as if he can’t bear the thought of being apart even one second before we have to. We’re quiet, but then he asks the dreaded question: “When does the moon rise?”

  “In about fifteen minutes.”

  “So soon?”

  I rest my cheek to his shoulder. “Try not to think about it.”

  “How can I not?” He sighs deeply. “This is agony, Cassandra. I’d almost rather we just say good-bye and part ways.”

  “Would you really?”

  He closes his eyes. “No. Of course not. I want to spend every moment I can with you.”

  “Then just hold me.”

  The minutes pass without mercy. Each moment fills me with deeper and deeper sorrow. And then we notice the first gleam of light on the horizon of the ocean. The moon. It’s here.

  “I’m not ready,” he says. “I can’t let you go.”

  I can tell from the way his voice shakes that he’s crying, but I don’t dare look at him. The sight of his tears will break my heart forever.

  “We have to let go, Lawrence.”

  He pulls away from me. His eyes glisten, and tears spill down his cheeks. I wipe them away, kissing the wet trail as I do. He takes my face in his hands and kisses me. Even as I try to just enjoy the moment, I can’t help but think that I’ll never again find a kiss as beautiful as this.

  The glow from the rising moon grows brighter.

  Lawrence draws a shaking breath, trying to compose himself. I know the words he’s going to say. “Good-bye, Cassandra.”