high school kids really know what they want to be the minute they graduate ? I took general studies my freshman year and then declared a major my sophomore year.”
“And? Dare I ask what you grew up to be?” he teased.
“A teacher,” she said softly. “But I had to leave before I could go to work.”
“David always loved children. You share that with him.”
She smiled. “I always saw David with an entire house full of kids. One clinging to each leg, one in each arm and at least two running behind him screaming ‘Daddy’ at the top of their lungs.”
His stomach knotted. He’d wanted kids too. Hannah would have been the perfect mother. He and David had worked out that Hannah would stay at home with any children they had. They’d even had plans drawn up to add on to the house when the time came.
“I’m sorry,” Angelina said as she reached up to touch his face. “I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories. I forget sometimes just how tied you were to him and Hannah.”
Micah shook his head. “You should be able to talk about your brother without worrying what it’s going to do to me. He was your family. He loved you.”
“Do you ever wonder why them and not us?”
His brows furrowed and he looked sharply at her. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. I just wonder why some people die when they do. Why wasn’t it me? I wasn’t married. No connections to anyone. It would have been easier for it to be me. David would have mourned, but he would have had you and Hannah. Or do you wonder why not you instead of David? Or am I the only crazy one who asks those kinds of questions?”
“I think you can make yourself crazy going around in circles like that. Who knows why anyone dies? I’ve never believed in all that ‘it’s their time’ bullshit. I believe in bad luck and even worse decisions. I’ve seen enough in my time as a cop to know that things are rarely as random as they appear. There’s always a series of events that lead up to that one moment where all is lost.”
“You sound so cynical,” she said sadly. “I can’t say I blame you. I lost a lot of my belief in good when they died. It was such a senseless tragedy. As you said, bad choices. A driver not paying attention and David and Hannah paid the price. We paid the price.”
“How about we move on to happier things,” Micah said as he touched her nose.
She smiled, though her face still looked sad.
“I wish I could go back and do things different, Angel girl,” he said in a low voice. “You have no idea how much I wish it.”
She cupped his cheeks in both hands and pulled him down in a kiss.
“You’re here now. That’s all that counts.”
“So let me ask you something.”
“Shoot,” she said as she adjusted herself so she faced the ocean again.
“Do you ever think about trying to find your mom?”
She went still. “No. She left. She made her choice pretty clear. She didn’t want me or David. Why would I want her now?”
“Because she’s your only family,” he said gently.
She glanced sharply at him. “Just like your parents are your only family.”
He held up his hands in surrender. “You’ve made your point. Okay, both our parents are off-limits. I won’t talk about yours and you don’t remind me of mine.”
“Deal,” she muttered.
They sat not talking, the sounds of the sea in front of them, the traffic along the seawall boulevard behind them. It surprised him how content he was just to hold her. To feel her, to listen to her soft breathing.
They stayed until the sun slipped below the horizon and the sky was bathed in pink and golden hues. She stirred against him, and it was then he realized she’d fallen asleep.
“You ready to head back home?” he asked softly when she looked up at him with sleepy eyes.
She smiled and nodded. “Thank you for today, Micah. It was nice to get away for a while, to escape reality for a few hours.”
Unable to resist the soft, tousled look she presented, he kissed her lips, then the corner of her mouth, then her jaw and down to her neck. He nuzzled her ear and then worked his way back over her cheek and up to her eyes. He pressed the lightest of kisses to each of her closed eyes and