Chapter 13 Fifteen

  Fire crackled low and steady, casting warm light across the floor where Wendel sat cross-legged in front of the hearth. Rhys sat on his lap, the two of them engrossed in a book. Their concentration was broken when a soft knock came from the door.

  “Annabelle’s here.” Cecilia whispered in Wendel’s mind.

  Wendel glanced across the small living room to the recliner where Cecilia was sitting. He exhaled slowly, carefully marking the page before Rhys slid off his lap, already grinning as if he understood. Before making his way towards the door.

  He opened it and froze.

  Annabelle stood in the hall; her silhouette was framed by the gentle flicker of the fireplace behind him. She wore a flowing green dress, a shade deep and earthy, bringing out the warm undertones in her red hair, which she’d braided and laid over her shoulder and coming to a rest near her navel.

  A subtle shimmer played at her neckline, and below the hem of the dress, where the fabric shifted as she stepped forward, the light caught the polished metal and carbon fiber of her prosthetic leg.

  Wendel blinked once, then again, as his breath caught.

  “Wow…” he fumbled, his voice catching. “You look amazing.”

  She smiled, as her fingers played with end of her braid. “Thanks”

  “Shall we head into town?”

  A grin spread across Annabelle’s face, “There has been a small change of plans, Cecilia now!”

  Violet light engulfed them both. Wendel closed his eyes and braced himself. For what he wasn’t sure.

  Slowly one eye opened and all he could see was trees, standing to his full height he looked around trying to get his bearings.

  Off to his left the early evening sunlight glimmered off the water's surface, turning the still pond into a sheet of gold.

  A light breeze rolled over the grass, rustling the early-spring blooms and carrying with it the distant scent of pine and damp earth.

  This was the place he always came to train with Cecilia; this is where he first met Gretchen and then Rhys. Cecilia had brought them back home.

  Wendel spun on his heels and turned to face the two girls before him.

  "You two—" he started, but Annabelle was already unpacking a small blanket and a picnic basket from the pack she'd slung over her shoulder. She looked back at him with a grin.

  "Surprise," she said.

  Cecilia gave him a look and smiled as she silently handed over the rest of the food.

  “I'll patrol the perimeter, happy birthday.” Cecilia leaned in and kissed Wendel’s cheek.

  Then with a nod she drifted off towards the edge of the clearing. When the clearing was silent, he turned back to Annabelle.

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  "You planned this behind my back?"

  She knelt and smoothed the blanket flat on the grass. "I had help," she said, glancing towards the edge of the clearing. "But yeah. I wanted tonight to be something you’d remember. You only turn fifteen once, now sit down."

  Annabelle had packed homemade sandwiches; they were stuffed with thick slices of roasted turkey topped cranberry chutney on soft sourdough bread. Alongside a pair of small, foil-wrapped containers filled with warm roasted potatoes and carrots.

  There were two glass bottles of soda, one was spicy cherry and the other was citrus flavored and far too sweet for Wendel’s liking.

  They ate slowly, talking and laughing as the sun dipped lower, casting long shadows across the grass. Wendel leaned back on his elbows after finishing eating, gazing up at the slowly emerging stars.

  "This was perfect," he said softly.

  Annabelle hesitated for a moment, brushing crumbs from her fingers onto a napkin. Then she shifted onto her knees.

  "I, uh... I have one more surprise for you," she said.

  Wendel raised a brow. "You mean this wasn't enough already?"

  "Close your eyes," she said quickly.

  He blinked at her suspiciously. "Why?"

  "Because I said so," she laughed. "Trust me.”

  He gave her a dubious look, then sighed dramatically. "Fine."

  He closed his eyes.

  Annabelle leaned forward, her heart was thumping in her chest so loud she worried Wendel could hear it. She pressed a soft kiss to his lips. The warmth of her touch lingered as she pulled away.

  "Happy birthday, Wendel," she whispered.

  He opened his eyes as she pulled back, blinking rapidly, utterly speechless, still tasting the sweetness of her lips and feeling the gentle press of her hand against him.

  "I—uh—what—"

  She giggled, cheeks-tinged pink, and reached behind her for a small, flat box wrapped in soft forest-green paper and tied with twine.

  "Here. Open the rest of your present before your brain melts."

  Wendel stared at the package for a moment, still too stunned to speak. Slowly, he took it and untied the twine, unfolding the wrapping to reveal a tin filled with chocolate raspberry tartlets.

  “Well, go ahead and try one…”

  “Mmm…” Wendel moaned as his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

  Annebelle chuckled. “I’ll assume that means you like them”

  “Wow these are amazing. Where did you get them?”

  “I made them. It’s my mom’s recipe she used to make them when I was little”

  Wendel leaned forward and gently took both of Annabelle’s hands. “She must have been amazing to make something this incredible.”

  “It’s just a dessert, Wendel”

  “I’m not talking about the tartlets”

  Annabelle looked straight into Wendel’s eyes and gasped. His gaze was steady and warm. Far too certain for someone who was only fifteen. It made her chest tighten in a way she hadn’t expected. “Wendel…”

  He squeezed her hands gently, thumbs brushing over her knuckles.

  “I didn’t mean to make it heavy,” he said softly.

  For a moment she didn’t answer. She swallowed, then let out a quiet breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.

  “She used to say food was just another way of saying I care,” Annabelle murmured.

  Wendel smiled, I wish I could have met her.

  The silence that followed wasn’t awkward. It settled around them like a blanket, warm and safe. Annabelle shifted closer, tugging the edge of the picnic blanket back out and patting the grass beside her.

  “Come on,” she said. “Before it gets cold.”

  They lay back side by side, shoulders nearly touching. Above them, the sky had deepened into a dark velvet blue, stars pricking through one by one. The pond reflected them faintly, as if the world were trying to remember the sky by heart.

  Wendel folded his hands over his chest, then hesitated, just a fraction of a second before letting one drift sideways.

  Annabelle’s fingers found his immediately.

  They didn’t speak after that.

  They lay there, their hands intertwined, listening to the night around them. Crickets chirped somewhere in the grass. A breeze stirred the trees at the edge of the clearing. The stars kept appearing, patient and endless, like they always had.

  For once, Wendel didn’t feel the weight of time pressing in on him, past or future. There was only this moment.

  Cecilia crouched at the edge of the clearing; her gaze was soft and steady on the pair. She could feel it, Wendel’s feelings were calm and for the moment unshakable.

  The way Wendel’s tension had melted away. For the first time in a long while, he seemed genuinely happy and whole. She smiled quietly, letting the warmth of his peace wash over her, a silent, protective joy filled her chest.

  Cecilia looked up to the stars above and wished this moment could last forever.