Page 110 of Always Meant for You
I posted over a dozen times today. But the image getting the most engagement is the one of Cal and me at the dairy. His arm around my shoulders. My hand resting over his heart.
Can strangers online feel it? That tether between us. That little slice of maybe-this-could-be-something energy.
I stretch my hand toward the open window. The humid air clings to my skin.
And then I see it—a soft pulse of light, then another.
“Cal, stop. Pull over.”
He glances at me, then back to the road, already easing off the gas. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I need to do something. Catch something.”
He pulls onto the shoulder and shifts into park. “Catch something?” he repeats, frowning.
I don’t answer. There’s no time. They could vanish with the next gust of wind.
I unbuckle, kick off my heels, and step barefoot onto the gravel.
“Mabel?” he calls again, louder now. “What’s going on?”
I move toward the field of wildflowers, my heart hammering. “There,” I call over my shoulder without turning. “Fireflies.”
I stop short as the field opens in front of me. Swarms of fireflies rise from the tall grass. The air glows in bursts, pulsing in a rhythm I haven’t felt in years. I step into the middle of it and open my hand. One lands on my palm, blinking against my skin.
“I haven’t seen you all in forever,” I whisper, talking to the tiny creature. It lifts off, joining the flickering tide.
“They’ve been here,” Cal says softly behind me. “Waiting for you.”
I turn.
He’s there, a blanket in hand.
“I thought you might want it, even though you used to . . .” He trails off, but the small smile tugging at his mouth says more than the words he dropped.
I smile back. “I used to lie flat on the grass and wait for fireflies to land on me. Arms out. Face still. I thought if I stayed calm enough, they’d cover me.”
He chuckles and shakes his head, unfolding the blanket. “I figured you might want something between you and the dirt.”
He spreads the blanket over a smooth patch. I sit, and he lowers himself beside me.
“Today was a good day,” he says quietly.
I lie back and stare up at the light show. “Yeah, it was.”
“You dazzled every crusty farmer in the county.”
I rest my hands on my belly and laugh. “They seemed pretty impressed with you.”
For a while, we say nothing. After a few minutes, he reclines beside me, both of us gazing at the sky.
“Thank you, again, for showing my grandma such kindness,” he says.
“Cal, you don’t have to thank me.”
“She remembered that you tied her scarf after Jamie’s funeral, didn’t she?”
“That’s right. How’d you know?”
