Love Never Dies (30 page)

“No,” she exclaimed, her hands reaching up to grab at his arms
; but he remained steadfast.

“Y
ou haven’t seen me since Saturday, do you understand? You didn’t have anything to do with me after I offended and insulted you. Say it.”

“Offended,” was all she could manage.

“That’s right, I insulted you and offended you and was nothing like Seth. You fell in love with the better twin; do you understand me?”

“Yes,” she affirmed.

“Then, upon your arrival home, you relate to your brother that the weekend was a real eye-opener. You finally realized that life goes on and that maybe someday, in some way, there might be room for another man.”

“No,” she moaned, “you can’t be saying this.”

“Look into my eyes now. Do you see their color? Forget that color. Observe my hair and streak one last time and forget about it. These cheekbones, this mouth, the strange upturned scar; none of them matter Julia. They’re only identifiers to the others in the world, but we will have our own private identifiers to indicate how much we love one another won’t we?”

His soul seared hers
, and Julia gasped in pain as a lean hand slid down from her arms and touched the tattoo where it lay hidden under the denim of his pants. “Here,” he tapped and lifted his hand to his chest, “and here. This is how we know love never dies. Say it Julia; repeat the words.”

“Love never dies, it never dies,” she cried
, as the approaching whine of rubber ground against the tire-marked pavement. Stan Garten arrived much too quickly.

“When you get into that car I don’t want you to lo
ok back. Promise me that Julia, and remember that time is of no relevance. You know what to say to your brother, parents, to everyone, so tell me now. What was Simon?”

“A womanizer and a cad.”

“And about our love?”

“It never dies.”

“Don’t ever forget it and brace yourself for whatever you might see or hear over the next few days.”

Steven H
amilton, alias Seth and Simon Hayes, leaned down and kissed her as tenderly and sweetly as he’d ever done before. It was a lingering goodbye kiss, yet somehow held promise and her heart glowed with the unrestrained love he poured into her.

A tan Chevy pulled up abruptly behind them and a tall
, mustached man with a terrible bruise on his cheek and traces of blood on his temple opened the car door.

“It has to be now
, Stan,” said Simon shortly, and shoved the woman he loved into the passenger seat. He picked up the plastic bag and dumped it onto the seat behind her.

“You remember what I said Stan; not a word, do you hear, not a word to anyone.”
Stan nodded an affirmative while Julia numbly buckled her seatbelt. She waited as Stan reversed the car and heard Simon’s beautiful voice wash over her one last time.

“Don’t lo
ok back Julia. I love you forever and always.” The last words faded as Stan gunned the engine and shot down the highway, driving faster than safe.

They’
d progressed no more than a half-mile down the road when a massive explosion tore the late morning air, searing the sky in one bright burst. A tremendous jolt of excitement ripped through her heart, but the continuing glow of his soul never altered, only sparked intensely as a prudent reminder before retreating once more into its banked state. Stan Garten drove for another five minutes before turning onto the main highway. Within ten minutes screaming red-lighted vehicles tore past, heading toward the mountain explosion and subsequent brush fire.

“You
okay?” he asked, his voice deep and gravelly.

“Yes.
Everything’s going to be fine,” she replied, and he nodded. She noted he was a handsome man except for the incredible lines of fatigue and the bloody battle wounds Adam’s cohorts had given him.

He turned south on Highway 154 and then left on Highway 101, slowly heading back toward UCLA where he’d left her Ford.

“You need to see a doctor,” she said, noting his pallid face and clenched teeth.

He grimaced.
“I don’t deserve to see a doctor after falling for a trick like that. I spent the last eighteen hours locked in the trunk of my car until a little old lady with a bright yellow parasol opened my trunk. I was so happy I kissed her.”

Julia was able to laugh.
“Did she faint dead away?”

“Nah, just gave me her phone number.”
He continued to chat to her pleasantly, allowing her to relax, while she in turn kept him awake and alert until finally he pulled into the UCLA Medical Center’s parking structure. Near a wide pillar sat her dark blue Taurus, just as if nothing had happened.

As he pulled up beside her Ford and she shakily departed the big car, Stan watched her with dark brown eyes before reaching into his wallet and pulling out a business card.

She stared at the police insignia and his n
ame in bold print. “
Stanley L. Garten
. You’ve been watching me for months haven’t you?”

“I’m not sure I made much of a guardian angel, but I did the best I could.
At least you’re still alive.” His words mocked himself and Julia almost wished she could tell him the truth about Seth. He continued. “I checked you out of the hotel and your bags are in the trunk of your car, compliments of LAPD. Drive home. You never met me, you never knew me. You don’t know a damn thing about what happened on that mountain road this morning, do you Julia Morris?”

“I don’t know anything,” said Julia obediently.
“Nothing at all.”

Stan raised a hand and pulled the heavy car away while she tucked his card inside her p
urse and swung the plastic bag onto the passenger seat.

Three hours later, after p
racticing her alibi at least twenty times, she numbly punched the numbers of her brother’s cell phone and listened to his chipper welcome.

“Tell me all about your trip,” he said.

“I will,” answered Julia. “Maybe I can come over to dinner tonight and tell you all about it.”

“Did Simon come back with you?”

“Simon,” repeated Julia. “Was he supposed to? I haven’t seen him since Saturday and that’s a tale in itself. I’ll fill you all in on the details tonight if you and Angie are game. I know it’s rude to invite myself over, but I’m tired and don’t feel like cooking tonight.”

She listened
to his response for a moment and rubbed her burning chest before agreeing on a time to arrive for dinner.



Angie had made a delicious beef stew for dinner and by the time that Julia arrived at
6:30 she had recited her modified weekend story to herself another dozen times. When her brother asked once again about Simon she managed to shake her head scornfully and snort out,

“He’
s as bad as Seth said he was. Not only did he make several undignified passes at me, but as soon as this busty redhead walked into the room he was buzzing about her like a bee to honey. I was fortunate to be rid of him. Besides, I needed some time to myself and really didn’t relish his face constantly reminding me of Seth.”

“I’m sorry,” grimaced Paul.
“I was kinda hoping that maybe you and Simon would hit it off.”

“No,” lied Julia.
“We didn’t hit it off at all, but don’t fret about it Paul. This weekend has given me space to reflect on how it’s time to start moving on with my life. I understand that my beloved Seth will never be replaced and will remain one of the most important parts of my life. Yet, I’m positive he wouldn’t want me to sit here and waste away. I’m only twenty-nine years old and maybe someday...” her eyes flickered hopefully at her brother and sister-in-law, “he’ll send someone to me to take his place.”

Angie gave her an impulsive hug.
“I’m so glad to hear you say that.”

“But you’ve got to promise me,” stated Julia determinedly, “that you won’t match me up with any of those young doctors at your hospital.
Let me muddle through this at my own pace and in my own way. Please Angie?”

Her dark-eyed sister-in-law grinned at her husband.
“Okay, it’s a deal. Besides,” she said slyly, “you’ll have a lot of other things to think about since you are going to be an aunt.”

“An aunt,” gasped Julia, “but you’ve only been married for two months!”

“Shoot,” said Paul, “you ought to know by now that it only takes a minute.”

“I going to be an aunt,” said Julia delightedly, relieved and thankful there was now something to take her mind off what had happened this past weekend. They chatted quietly and affectionately for the next hour until her brother flicked on the local news.
There had been a blaze in the Los Padres Mountains above Santa Barbara that very afternoon.

The perfectly made-up
female newscaster for the local station reported from the scene.

“The police are trying to piece together what happened in what seems to be a bizarre incident.

All authorities can surmise is that a silver BM
W and black Chrysler LeBaron were racing recklessly along this twisty dangerous road before colliding and plummeting over the cliff. The police have recovered two bodies and have identified the first as a mechanic from Stockton by the name of Adam Gable and the second as a Canadian national, Simon Hayes, who appears to have been visiting southern California as a tourist.

“Oh my God,” shrieked Angie. Her brother tried to calm down his hysterical wife as Julia listened numbly to the newscaster’s final statement.

“I knew he was reckless,” croaked her brother
, who was beside himself in a mixture of rage, confusion, and indignation.

As Julia watched the firefighters douse the remains of the brush fire, her heart swelled and called the newscaster an unknowledgeable liar.
The glow intensified as the camera revealed a close up of the mangled remains of the blackened BMW and Chrysler LeBaron, and she turned her attention to comforting her distraught sister-in-law. By the end of the newscast, Julia Ann Morris was firmly in control of her emotions and prepared herself to wait for whatever the future chose to bring.

Chapter 14

It was the Tuesday after the long Labor Day weekend, a full ten months after Simon Hayes and Ad
am Gable had plunged their cars to their death upon that twisty mountain road, when something strange happened. The fervor regarding the accident had died down within a couple months and Julia rarely spoke of it. She’d even gone against her own better judgment and ventured out on a couple of double dates with her well-meaning brother to prove that she was healing. Her brother and parents had taken her vow to start anew way too seriously, and it was often with barely bridled impatience that she brushed off their well-meaning attempts at matchmaking.

Now, she ex
amined the nineteen
bright new faces of her eager second grade students and grinned. They’d just placed their brand new backpacks into newly white-washed cubbies and sat down at their tables, hands folded primly in front of them.

She’
d just introduced herself, taken roll, and discovered one student was missing, when her principal, the irrepressible Connie Fernandez, knocked on the door jam and ushered in a tiny little girl with reddish-brown hair and bright hazel eyes.

“We have a new student for you Ms. Morris. Her n
ame is Gertrude Johnson, but she likes to go by Gertie.” The little girl smiled unreservedly up at Julia as she politely shook the hand of her new teacher.

“This makes things just perfect,” said Julia. “Now I have an even
amount of boys and girls. I was wondering when my twentieth student would show up and here you are. Why don’t you sit at that table right over there Gertie?”

The petite girl sat down beside two other second grade girls and placed a bright red pencil case upon her desk.
Gertie wore a pretty red-checked dress with matching bobby socks and black patent leather shoes and carried the fresh-scrubbed face of a first day student. Gertie listened intently to Julia’s instructions and began writing immediately about her summer, working quietly and diligently until the recess bell rang. She then traipsed up to Julia’s desk, her black shiny shoes gleaming upon the gray carpet. She hadn’t spoken since the first few minutes of class and now laid a white envelope on her new teacher’s desk.

“My grandma and uncle said that I should give you this.”
It was common that nervous parents gave their children letters for the teacher on the first day, and Julia smiled back.

“Are you new in town Gertie?
I don’t recall you being at this school last year.”

“Yes I
am,” she said, revealing a missing front tooth. “My grandma and mom moved down with my uncle to Santa Barbara just last week. They say this is where we are going to live for a long time.”

“And your daddy?” asked Julia gently.

“My mom and dad are divorced but my uncle stays with us and he’s a lot of fun. He’s an ‘ivil’ engineer.”

Julia thought hard. “You mean a
civil
engineer?”

“Yeah that’s it,” lisped the little girl
, breaking into a huge smile. “Anyway, he made me promise to give you this letter. I’ll see you later Ms. Morris; Katie and Juanita are waiting for me.” And with that the little girl skipped off, her braids bouncing against the geometric pattern of her new first-day dress.

But Julia didn’t open up the letter immediately, instead spending the short recess period reading the files regarding her new students. Within twenty minutes her sweaty class returned from their energetic recess and she walked them to their music class, spending the next fifteen minutes grading a pre-spelling test she’d given the children to determine their grade level.
Finally, she remembered the bulging letter housed within the plain white envelope with her name written on it. She thought it was a bit odd that the girl’s uncle would already know her first name.

Julia opened the envelope but no piece of paper rested inside.
Instead, two delicate rosebuds tumbled onto the table, one the deepest purest red, the other, the palest pink. Their thorns had been carefully broken off, leaving the stems and petals perfectly unblemished and beautiful. Julia sat for a full three minutes staring at the two rosebuds, her heart quickening; and when she closed her eyes and reached out with her soul, an answer floated back. It started out as a slight tingling, spreading from her heart down to her fingertips until finally erupting into flame. She lifted the two rosebuds to her lips and kissed them tenderly.

Later
, when she was calmer, and after placing the two rosebuds in a tiny glass of water, she approached little Gertie. She and her partner Juanita were reading the first chapter of
Charlotte’s Web
to each other.

Julia pulled the small child away and sp
oke quietly, her heart pounding in excitement. “Thank you for the letter from your uncle. What did you say his name was?”

“His n
ame is Mark. Mark Sebastian.” Her hazel eyes were guileless and Julia’s heart quickened.

The rest of the day passed too slowly
, until finally the end of the day bell rang at 2:20. Eager parents and siblings showed up at her classroom door to help their sisters, brothers, and friends pack up after the first day. Gertie carefully and methodically placed her polka-dotted lunch box inside of her Barbie bag, as well as the first day information normally distributed to students at the start of each school year.

A plump woman in her mid-fifties materialized beside Gertie and gave her a swift hug and kiss.

“How was your first day sweetie?”

“It was wonderful,” breathed the tiny girl, gazing up into her grandmother’s eyes. She dragged at her grandmother’s hand. “Come meet my new teacher. She’s over here!”

Julia straightened her shoulders and gazed steadfastly at the middle-aged woman approaching her.
The woman was of average height, her short brown hair shot through with gray. She possessed shrewd blue eyes underneath gold wire-rimmed glasses and her beige pants suit was tailored and stylish. She stuck out an unhesitant hand to Julia.

“I’m Meredith Johnson, Gertie’s grandmother.”

“And I’m Julia Ann Morris,” said Julia carefully, watching the older woman intently for her reaction.

Gertie’s grandmother gave her a thorough once
-over before proceeding. “I just wanted to let you know that Gertie was originally meant to be in first grade, but because of her academic performance and the fact that her birthday is in January we decided to move her up. If there are any problems at all, could you please let me, her mother, or her uncle know, and we’d be happy to meet with you. Gertie will normally catch the bus home, but today I decided to take an hour off from work and make sure everything turned out alright for her.”

“I believe Gertie had a very good first day and she reads so well!” The little girl be
amed up at her, the gap in her front teeth immensely appealing.

“I work for the county offices as a postal investigator.
Gertie’s mother Elizabeth is a library assistant down at the Santa Barbara Public Library.”

“And Gertie’s
uncle?” managed Julia.

“He’s a civil engineer working for the City of
Santa Barbara. We’re all in our first week of new jobs and he couldn’t break away today to come and pick up Gertie himself, though Mark said maybe he’ll be able to make it on Friday. He says he’d really like to meet you. Anyway, I need to get Gertie home and have a snack. We’re still unpacking boxes and everything’s in an uproar.”

“You promised you would pick me out some blue butterfly curtains today Grandma,” blurted Gertie, tugging at her grandmother’s sleeve.

“I did indeed; how could I have forgotten? Anyway, it was very nice meeting you Ms. Morris, and I’m sure we’ll be in contact.”

Julia gulped as the stout middle-aged woman pulled her granddaughter’s hand as they headed down the hall, the pink of the girl’s bright backpack glowing in the mid
afternoon sun.

A wave of confusion settled down over Julia and her eyes flitted back to the small cup where the two rosebuds nestled against one another as they floated in the small container of water.
Julia shuffled papers aimlessly on her desk for a full twenty minutes before finally giving up and heading home, thoroughly unsettled by the whole situation.

That evening at the dinner table, her entire f
amily quizzed Gertie. Her mother Elizabeth was most concerned about whether or not Gertie had finished her lunch, since the girl was a bit underweight.

“I did mommy! I ate all my pe
anut butter and jelly sandwich just like you said.” Liz Johnson smiled at her daughter, and reaching forward tousled her hair.

“I’m proud of you Gertie and hope you made a good impression on your teacher.”

Gertie chirped up excitedly.
“Ms. Morris is the nicest teacher and the prettiest in the whole school. She had her hair done in this interesting braid. I wish you could do my hair like that grandma! And how was your day mommy?” she added politely.

“Very good, I’m enjoying working at the library; it has just the right
amount of peace and quiet for this world-weary woman.” Liz raised her blue eyes to her mother, who gave her a reassuring pat upon her too-thin hand.

“And your day Mark?”

Mark Sebastian leaned back in the oak dining room chair and surveyed Meredith Johnson with warm brown eyes. “Just what I expected. I’m getting into the routine and can stumble through my day without too many major fiascos. And so you met her teacher?”

“Yes, she is a lovely young woman and I think Gertrude is going to have a fine year.
More pork chops Mark?” Her blue eyes met his and nodded slightly. Their unspoken communication was unrecognized by the excited Gertie, who jabbered to her mother about her busy day and all the new friends she’d met.

Meredith Johnson leaned forward and placed a hand over his.
“Remember that patience is a virtue my boy. Slow and steady is our motto, at least for now. You’ve got to hold fast for all our sakes.”

Mark’s teeth clenched and he set down his fork, his brown eyes meeting hers over the table.

“Patience
has
become my best virtue. I won’t let you or the girls down.” The tall man with the barely noticeable limp left the table, followed by the sympathetic eyes of the woman he’d come to know and love dearly and now referred to as mother. She only wished she could ease his pain and return his life to normal, and she quickly sent a message up to the heavens to make everything work to plan.



The roses faded and the banked coal nestled inside of Julia’s heart still glowed in peaceful slumb
er as September stretched to an end. Julia stopped waiting in anticipation for a meeting with Mark Sebastian who never arrived to pick up his niece, though she found it difficult to shove her hopes aside. That final Sunday in September Julia made a belated visit to Seth’s grave. She didn’t know what motivated her to visit the empty grave, since he wasn’t really buried underneath the marble headstone, but somehow it comforted her to see his name engraved upon the white rock and remember his passionate hands upon her willing body.

Julia sat back and talked to him, her fingers playing with little stubbles of freshly mown grass as she related to him all the tidbits regarding her week and new students.
She even mentioned Gertie to him and how she’d hoped the envelope from the child’s uncle had really been from him. A shadow passed over the gravestone and Julia glanced up, the sun casting the stranger’s entire body into shadow. The glow surrounding his silhouette appeared like an aura and suddenly her heart began to glow and expand.

Julia reached her hand up to try to shade her eyes as he moved
, and a tall man in a leather jacket and blue jeans stood quietly before her. His face was one she did not recognize; the hair a golden brown crown over eyes of milk chocolate set above a straight and slightly arrogant nose. His full lips were pursed below high cheekbones as his searching eyes peered at her from behind wire-rimmed glasses. He remained motionless for the longest moment, simply gazing down at her before he spoke. His voice was rich and deep, and irrelevantly she wondered if he was a singer.

“Do
you come here often?” he asked, the glow within her spreading until her very fingertips tingled with it.

“No,” she managed to croak out, “not often. But today I felt like I needed to talk to a friend.”

“It’s strange,” he observed, peering across the wide expanse of well-manicured lawn with its pristine row of white headstones, “but this place holds no trepidation or fear for me. It’s instead peaceful and welcoming.” His eyes cast downward to the tombstone and he read the words engraved there aloud. “
Seth Hayes, 1970-2004. Love Never Dies
. Was he your husband?”

“No, my fiancé; well almost.”

“It’s hard to say goodbye to those who meant so much to us. But you know, I have come to the conclusion after all these years that things always work out for the best.” His dark eyes scanned the quiet graveyard. “I also realize that sometimes things are not what they seem. A person dies and moves on to another place, but they leave so much of themselves behind that their life was not futile or lived in vain. I just hope whoever I’ve loved will never forget me.”