Assumptions (18 page)

Forever . . .

The word washed over her in crushing waves,
unyielding, eternal. Her knees began to buckle. Oisin raised her up
and kissed her lips. Jordyn kissed him back hard. He tasted like
cardamom and honey and the dust of ancient stone cobbled streets.
She didn’t feel the snow now falling in heavy flakes all around
them on the sidewalk in front of the church.

Oisin kissed her forehead and watched as she
opened her eyes, watched as she recognized the centuries of longing
and of sorrow no longer hidden in his boyish face.

“You have to go,” said Jordyn.

“I do.”

Oisin twisted the ring off his finger. He
held Jordyn’s hand and pressed his ring into her palm. He closed
her fingers tight around it and placed her fist over her heart. He
kissed her again, long and slow, then walked away, vanishing into
the falling snow.

Jordyn uncurled her fingers and looked at the
ring, the three-lobed knot inside a circle. She smiled and pushed
it into her coat pocket, deep as she could.

Will waited behind the last pew. The altar
servers lit the candles and walked to the back of the church with
the priest. At the front, a guitarist strummed the first notes of
"What Child Is This."

Jordyn slipped inside with the rest of the
late-comers, excusing her way politely to Will's side. She took
Will's elbow. “So much for a good seat,” she whispered in his
ear.

He smiled. “Merry Christmas, Quig.”

“Merry Christmas, Emerson.”

After Mass, Will walked Jordyn to the el stop
then headed home. His stomach growled. He took the back stairs, the
quickest and most direct route to the kitchen, two at a time.

Will tossed his keys onto the table. They
landed on a manila folder with a soft thud and slid off the table
taking the file with them. The contents of the file scattered when
it hit the floor. He collected the keys and, pausing to read a line
here and there, stuffed the loose papers back in place until the
file was once again whole.

He rummaged through a cabinet until he found
a fresh package of biscuits, pocketing a few. The stack of files on
the counter stood at least ten high. He thumbed the edge of the
folder, tucked it into his backpack, and left the way he had
come.

An hour later Will rang Jordyn’s bell. She
opened the door. He slipped the corner of the file out of his bag.
She smiled sideways and pulled him inside.

*****

Connect online at:

http://www.emersonandquig.com

What's next?

Now that Will and Jordyn have touched
heaven,

find out what happens when hell comes
calling.