Page 100 of Until We Meet Again

"You can work anywhere," she states.

"I'm not coming home, and I don't want to waste my time here with you guys fighting about it, okay?"

"You got yourself a girl, son?" I shoot my dad a glance that quietly pleads with him to drop the subject. He gives a slight nod in response and accepts my silence without another word.

I'm not ready to talk about Tessa with my family yet. Not until I've had the conversation I came for.

Even before we lost Kim, I never wanted to settle down. I was a guy who enjoyed his freedom, so marriage and kids were never in my plans. Kimberley resented me at times for it. She wanted me to find a girl to build a life with and have the perfect little family.

I never gave her that, and she never saw it happen for me.

But then I met Tessa.

She tore down almost every wall I'd built and worked her way inside my heart and under my skin, and I didn't even try to stop her.

But when she stood before me and declared her love for me, she bared her soul and opened her heart, and all I did was rip itout of her chest. I couldn't say what I felt for her, and the look on her face that night still haunts me.

Chapter 45

Zane

The drive to the cemetery with my dad felt like an endless twenty-hour drive instead of the twenty minutes it was. It's been a long time since I last visited Kim, and I regret not keeping my promise to return to her sooner. But coming here hurts, and selfishly, I don't want to feel the pain of seeing nothing more than her name etched in stone and surrounded by flowers.

Everything comes rushing back to me—the pain, the loss, the excruciating ache in my heart that serves as a constant reminder that Kimberley's never coming back. It's why I've spent so much time guarding my heart—never to allow myself to love someone so deeply that their absence could ever evoke even a fraction of the grief I felt that day—the day she never woke up.

I was with her as she took her final breaths. When her heart began to slowly stop beating, I held her hand, told her how much I loved her, and thanked her for being my best friend throughout the life we'd spent together. We came into this world together, and there was no way I'd ever let her leave it without me.

Every ounce of pain was pushed away until she was gone, at which point we collapsed to the floor, Callum and I clutching each other tightly while our parents sobbed inconsolably.

When she left us, I knew that nothing in this life or this world could ever hurt me more than that.

The car stops once it approaches the entrance of the cemetery. The large iron gates stand tall and imposing, ready to guard the sacred ground beyond them. I feel my dad's hand grip mine, offering me some comfort I didn't know I needed. As I turn to look at him, his gaze remains fixed straight ahead, as if he can't bear to face me or the place where Kimberley lies. Despite the pain we're both feeling, an unspoken understanding passes between us like a silent bond that words cannot possibly express right now.

I step out of the car and walk through the already open gates, basking in the sun's warmth. As I make my way to Kimberley, my heart feels like it sinks further into my chest with every step I take past the countless graves. My throat tightens as I catch sight of Kim, and a wave of fresh grief hits me, threatening to overwhelm me the closer I get to her.

I freeze for a moment, staring at her name as if staring at it long enough would alter reality, and Kimberley being gone would be nothing more than a nightmare.

Crouching down, I rest my hand on the headstone, smiling even though a lonely tear falls down my cheek. "Hey, baby sis."

I'm only three minutes younger than you, asshole.

I close my eyes and allow a feeling of peace to sweep through me as I hear her voice and her words echoing through my mind.

I look down and, for a minute, feel stupid for being here, stupid for needing to talk to her about Tessa, and that talking to thin air feels more natural than opening up to a living, breathing person.

"I'm sure you know why I'm here, Kim, considering that your meddling from up there sent Tessa my way." I close my eyes and see my sister's face as if she were right in front of me, throwing me that smug grin we share that she gave me whenever she got her way despite my protests. "God, Kim, I need your advice. I need to hear your voice because I've been all kinds of fucked up."

For a minute, I stand here in silence, reflecting on all of the moments I shared with Tessa.

I miss her.

I hurt her.

You can fix this, Zane. It's the epic love story that future Calloways will hear about.

"I found out yesterday that she has a middle name—Angelina. You really did send me an angel, huh? I see what you've done, but I didn't need the signs, Kim, because I know I'm in love with her. I think I've known for a while."

I told you I was going to send you your soulmate.

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