his face with both hands. It was hard to finally face the truth.
“She knew she wouldn’t make it, Sean. We all knew going in alone was too risky.”
“Look at her other option, Royce,” Sean said quietly. “It wasn’t much of an option if you ask me.”
Tara would always hold a special place in his heart. Her death was hard to handle, but Sean was right. It was time to let her go.
“I know,” Royce agreed, his heart still felt the pain of losing his wife, but it was less intense than it had been in the past. “Tara didn’t want us to watch her slowly fade away; she was too full of life to accept that fate.”
It made no sense. As many advances that had been made in medicine and technology, the cure for cancer kept eluding everyone. Tara’s tumor had been discovered during a routine physical. After extensive testing, it had been deemed untreatable. The doctors had advised that she had two years at best before the cancer claimed her. For the better part of a year, Tara had kept her illness a secret from everyone including Royce.
“She loved you, Royce. Respect her sacrifice for what it was. She saved the Tiara,” Sean reminded. “Hell, she saved the world, and died a hero… in her time and in her way. What more could we ask for, any of us?” Sean concluded quietly.
“I wished she had told me the truth sooner, but I guess it wouldn’t have made things any easier.”
“Her time, her way,” Sean reiterated.
“You’re right; she got the golden ticket in the end, didn’t she? It’s hard to let go, but I know it’s time.” Royce breathed deeply and felt the tension and guilt of the past slip away on the ocean breeze.
“You know she would kick your ass right now,” Sean said referring to the fact that Royce had just watched Becki drive away with the enemy.
Royce laughed outright, a big full laugh that had been missing for several years.
“In a heartbeat,” Royce agreed. “Maybe I need my ass kicked.”
“Um, I think I can help you out with that. Let’s go find your girl,” Sean clapped Royce on the back and walked ahead with a goofy swagger.
“Don’t push it, Jones,” Royce growled.
Sean was right. It was time to stop living in the past with regrets and what if’s. It was time to start living in today, and enjoying life again.
As he and Sean walked back to Fort Sumter House, he thought about the girl he had just let get away. Let -- hell. Pushed was more accurate, he admitted. She was out there riding around with a Warlock who’s suspected of murder. And to think he had told himself he was pushing her away because his life was too dangerous. Go figure.
Royce walked down the oyster shell pathway through the gardens enjoying a new feeling of freedom. Unencumbered, he absorbed the huge majestic Oak trees, garden rooms, statues, memorials, and even families picnicking in the grass. He couldn’t keep from thinking of the history represented by this park. The many people who passed through for pleasure, those who had served during war-time, even the gentleman pirate who was rumored to be hanged from one of these very trees.
Royce realized that time has a way of moving on. He was finally ready to move along with it. Living in the past wasn’t living. He would learn from the past and focus on the future.
#
What a perfect antidote for a shitty day: loud music, wind blowing through your hair, and an unhealthy amount of speed. As Trevor raced down Highway 17, wind blew through Becki’s hair and the radio blared. She began to feel the stress, brought on by her latest encounter with Royce, melt away. Trevor had arrived at the exact moment she needed to be rescued. Royce had turned out to be first-class alright: a first-class jerk, a first-class pain in her ass, a first class- kisser. Becki leaned her head back against the comfortable leather seat and attempted to push him out of her mind. Royce was obviously not interested, and Becki had plenty of offers anyway. Becki promised herself there would be no more tears wasted on that first-class idiot.
She felt as if she had spent the entire day on an unending, emotional roller-coaster. Royce sent mixed signals. She didn’t know what to think or feel. He pushed her way, then pulled her close, and then pushed her away again.
For someone who was supposedly in