As Olek, you lost your wife, your brother, and then your newborn child, and that pain stayed with you throughout your incarnations. The Fates must have decided that you’d suffered enough and that you deserve to be happy.”
David hoped so, but experience had taught him not to put too much faith in that hope.
Misery and heartache were the rule rather than the exception, and the vast majority of people carried around scars on their souls. Some were just better equipped to deal with the pain than others. They were more resilient, or less empathetic, or just decided to be happy despite their misfortunes.
David wished he could belong to the last group. He was resilient, but he was also sensitive and empathetic, and he hadn’t been strong enough to just decide to be happy and stick to that decision.
Perhaps if he had chosen a different profession, it would have been possible, but he didn’t regret becoming a psychologist and helping others deal with their pain. That was his calling in life, and he was good at what he did.
“You are a precious gift, my Sari, and you make me happier than I’ve ever been. But I can’t let go of my fears entirely. My remaining family, my colleagues, my students, and many others who I care about are not immortal. I worry about them. I just can’t help it.”
“You have a big heart.” She cupped his cheek. “I don’t want to add to your fears, but your family has just grown much larger, and now you also have an entire clan of immortals to worry about. Can you handle that?”
He patted his chest. “I welcome it. As you said, I have a big heart, and there is enough space in there for all of them. By the way, is the entire clan going to attend our wedding?”
“Given the rush, that’s not likely.”
Sari was the leader of nearly half of the clan. Her wedding should be a grand celebration. “Do you want to wait so everyone can attend?”
Sari shook her head. “I’m perfectly fine with having just my arm of the clan and my close family here. The last time I hosted a clan-wide celebration, it was a major hassle.”
“Are you sure?”
She leaned and planted a soft kiss on his mouth. “I’d rather spend more time with you than on preparations for a huge party.”
“Then it’s settled.” He lifted the phone. “I’m calling my mother.”
Sari pushed out of his arms. “I’ll give you privacy.”
“Stay.” He tugged on her hand. “I have no secrets from you.”
“What if your mother wants to speak to me? What am I going to tell her? She’s going to wonder about the reason for the shotgun wedding.”
“She probably will, and you can tell her that you’ve fallen madly in love with me and that you can’t wait for us to have a child together and that’s why we are rushing to get married.”
“I like it because it’s the truth.” She smiled. “Or at least a big part of it.”
Closing his eyes, David tried to recall his mother’s home number or her cellphone’s, but for some reason, the only number he remembered was his sister’s.
“I need to retrieve my phone from my suitcase. I don’t remember my mother’s number, only my sister’s.”
“If you want, you can call your sister first, and in the meantime, I’ll get your phone.” Sari rose to her feet and headed to the bedroom.
After entering the international prefix, David punched in Lisa’s number.
She answered right away. “Who is it?” She sounded stressed.
“It’s David.”
“Oh, my God! David! What the hell took you so long? I’ve been calling you like crazy for the past two days. Where are you?”
“I’m in Scotland, and I lost my phone. What’s going on?”
“Mom and Dad are missing, and I don’t know what to do. I’m all alone, and I’m freaking out.” She started crying. “Can you come? I don’t know what to do.”
David’s gut twisted into a tight knot. “What do you mean by missing?”
“Not here, lost, not answering their phones. They left Saturday morning to visit Grandma. I stayed with a friend at her house. They were supposed to come back Sunday night, but they didn’t. I called Grandma, and she said that they left her house hours ago. I kept calling them, but all the calls went straight to voicemail.”
“Did they drive?”
“Yes. Grandma lives only five hours away.”
“Did you call the police?”
“I did. I gave them the car’s license number and Mom and Dad’s phone numbers. They told me