Seven Weeks to Forever (Love / Romance)

Chapter Thirty-Nine

"What just happened?" I keep my eyes on the spot where David disappeared.

Noah squeezes my shoulder. "He went home."

I shake my head, still not understanding.

"The Life-After," he explains.

"But I thought—" I stop. None of this feels real. "I don't get it," I mumble, letting myself sink down to sit on the sand. Noah sits down beside me.

I watch the ocean, silent while I try to figure out how to say what I'm thinking. It's hard to find words that won't make me sound like a spiteful person who's finding the universe more than a little bit out of balance. Finally, I just say it.

"David gets to return to The Life-After because of something I did to set him free, and I have to abandon the kind of love that almost everyone else in The Before gets years to explore and enjoy? That's how this works?" I know I won't feel this way when I'm in The Life-After, but here in The Before, on this beach, it just seems messed up.

"Not quite," he replies.

"Then what?" I ask.

"It's not your time."

"But today is the day I go back," I argue. I'm certain it is. I've been counting down to this day for eighteen years.

"You thought so, but it's not," Noah says. He scoops up a handful of sand, letting it slip through his fingers. I watch it scatter in the breeze. "Today is the day you freed David."

"So when do I go back?"

"After you finish your life here with Riley."

"I can't see Riley past today, though. You already showed me what happens if I stay."

He scoops up another handful of sand. "No. You saw what you needed to see so you could make the decision on your own. You chose to be guided by a love for Riley that went beyond your own wants, so he could have the life he's meant for. That kind of choice is the truest love there is."

"I still want that for him, more than anything. I want him to get to The Life-After when he's supposed to, and to be happy for the rest of his time here."

"He'll do both of those things, but you're going to do them together."

I gape at Noah, not sure if I'm really hearing what I think I'm hearing. He smiles.

"Let me show you. Close your eyes and think of Riley. You'll understand."

He reaches out and takes my hand. I close my eyes. Golden light glitters for a moment and then images begin to appear. The first image is similar to something Noah has shown me before. Riley sits on a sofa, reading to a little girl who's about three or four years old. But this time, she's the daughter Riley and I had when I saw his future if I chose to stay, and not the girl I watched him read to in the other vision.

He looks up from the book, just like he did the last time I saw this. When his eyes move to the doorway of the room, I can now see the woman standing there. It's me, and I'm holding a baby boy who appears to be only a few months old. There's a gold band on the ring finger of my left hand, I notice. Riley has one, too.

His eyes light up when he sees me standing there with our son. I walk over to sit beside him and our daughter, holding our son on my lap, and we read the story together. Our daughter's eyes shine with delight when Riley makes up voices for each of the characters. On my face, I see deep contentment and love.

The image fades and what I recognize as a film set comes into focus. There's a whole crew of people on the soundstage, and I can tell from how much time I spent on sets as Anna that everyone is getting ready to shoot a scene. I can't figure out why I'm being shown this image until I notice a young woman sitting in the corner, waiting as a makeup artist finishes touch-ups to her face. The young woman is me.

I go back into acting? I wonder, just as the scene fades out and another image takes its place. Riley is with me this time, and we make our way from a limousine onto a red carpet. Flashbulbs light up the night and I blink a few times, but I'm grinning from ear to ear and so is Riley. We wave at the people standing behind metal barricades on either side of the red carpet. Then we continue over to a step-and-repeat backdrop for photos and interviews where we're greeted by a slew of photographers, videographers, and reporters. One of the reporters holds his microphone out to me and the scene fades.

It's replaced by the image I've seen before of Riley at a book signing, with hundreds of people crowding around him. The line of people waiting to talk to him and get his signature wraps around the store several times. I feel a surge of pride watching him scribble inside of the novel that's handed to him. He beams as he passes it back across the table. Selena is there, too, standing beside me. We must make up and become friends again. Maybe the note I left in her mailbox was the start.

Right after that comes the image of Riley receiving an award, and then the benefit concert where he's on stage singing, and he receives wild cheers from the thousands of people in the audience. I see flashes of fundraising dinners and charity events similar to the ones I saw before, but both of us are there this time.

When the familiar pictures fade, a new one flashes before my eyes. We're older now, probably in our fifties. Our daughter and son sit with us at a dining room table, along with a baby in a high chair. A young man I haven't seen before sits beside our daughter, and both of them wear wedding bands. This is our son-in-law and the baby is our grandson. It's a vision of a life I didn't think was possible, and that I can't wait to live.

Golden light appears in front of me again, and its brilliant glow is all I can see. I open my eyes, and then I blink a few times to bring myself back to the present. Noah studies me.

"This is different from what you showed me before," I tell him. Of course he already knows that.

"It is," he agrees. "Like I said, what you saw before was what you needed to see to listen to your heart, instead of being overpowered by the fear of what you stood to lose. It's all energy."

I think about that for a minute, and then about all I've just seen. A life with Riley, and our children and grandchildren. A friendship with Selena again. Doing great things for the world to raise the energy of others and of ourselves. Having the successful career that was cut short when my time in The Before as Anna came to an end. Another chance at this part of life and at love, blessed with all of the things I never thought I would have.

"Take a few minutes to process it," Noah says, squeezing my shoulder again. I turn to face him and for the first time that I can remember, wrap my arms around him in a hug.

"Thank you," I murmur, my voice coming out muffled since my face is pressed into his shoulder. He puts his arms around me.

"Welcome back to life."