Safe Haven

Protecting the Loved

Eight Years Later...

"I cannot believe you graduated high school!" Shawna gasped, placing a hand on her chest. Bo moved in, worried she was about to faint. The woman still looked amazing for someone in her early fifties. He didn't know how she managed it, but she actually seemed to get younger with each passing day. So did Will. The man was as tough as a bull. Nothing could slow him down. "My poor baby is growing too old! Where is all the time going?"

"Shawna, calm down. You're smothering the poor boy." Will walked into the room, carrying a box of more momentos and pictures. "What exactly is it are you looking for, boy?"

"Anything from the summer when I was ten up until now," Bo answered, holding a picture up to the light and examining it. "Rosabelle Sage doesn't know I'm in town, so I'm planning on surprising her when she gets home from school." The picture was of him and Rosabelle Sage sitting on a ferris wheel. She was thirteen and he was fifteen. They were both grinning and waving at the camera. He had his arm draped around her shoulders and he remembered even then how much he thought about her, how much he wanted her to like him back.

"Oh, here's another picture of you two at Christmas," Shawna cooed, a tear escaping down her cheek. She passed the picture to Bo and he grinned immediately. In the picture, seventeen-year-old, six-three Bo was lifting a fifteen-year-old, five-three Rosabelle Sage so she could put the angel at the top of the tree. She hadn't grown at all since that Christmas. Another picture showed the two of them sitting on a sled being pulled by a four-wheeler driven by Nick. She was sitting up in the sled, her legs spread apart to give Bo room. He was sitting in between her legs, leaning back so that he was practically laying on her. His eyes looked lazily content as he waved at the camera.

"What are you planning on doing with all the pictures?" Will asked, sorting through pictures from the day they met. "Hang them up?"

"All over the place," Bo replied. "I've already been posting random pictures going from her school to her house. The bus ride home ought to be interesting, seeing as how all of her friends are going to see it."

"What about the rest of the pictures?"

"I'm going to hang them up all over the place so that she'll see them when she walks through the house," Bo explained.

"Wow. Somebody has been planning this out for a while," Shawna giggled, holding up another picture.

"Well, he's only been in love with the girl for years," Will joked. He looked down at the picture he held in his hand. Where had all the time gone? It seemed like just yesterday when Bo had visited his grandparents for the first time, he and Rosabelle Sage had stayed up all night watching movies and eating food Bo's dad had never let him have. They were both sicker than dogs the next day. "I guess it would be hard not to fall in love with someone like that."

"How many more days of school does she have before she can begin her summer vacation?" Bo questioned.

"I don't know. Three?" Shawna guessed.

They began packing boxes of pictures into Will's truck and headed out to the Ayers' home. Together, they posted up the pictures throughout the house, covering every inch of the wall they could. Nick and Kate pitched in as well, even using pictures of her as a baby to cover up spots on the wall.

"After you're through with your little plan, you and Rosabelle Sage are going to clean this mess up," Nick said, handing Kate a piece of tape. At that moment, Kate's phone began ringing. At first, she ignored it and let it go to voicemail, but then it rang two seconds after. Nick picked up the phone and looked at it. "It's Rosabelle Sage. Why is she calling? She's supposed to be in class." He answered the phone and immediately looked alarmed. "Sweetheart, what's wrong?"