Page 5 of The Next Person You Meet in Heaven
And they can see you coming.
***
Nine hours left. The night was misty and rain began to fall. The driver flipped on his windshield wipers. As they slapped back and forth, Annie thought about what lay ahead. First, their honeymoon, a long-planned trip to Alaska to see the northern lights. Paulo was obsessed with them. He’d shown Annie hundreds of photographs, and teasingly tested her on their origin.
“I know, I know,” Annie would recite from memory. “Particles fly off the sun and blow to earth. They take two days to reach us. They break into our atmosphere where it’s most vulnerable, at—”
“The top of the world,” Paulo would finish.
“The top of the world.”
“Very good,” he’d declare. “You pass.”
After Alaska, a new life awaited. Paulo and Annie had joined an organization that brought water to impoverished villages. They’d signed up for a year. It was a big leap for Annie, who had never been out of the country. But her nursing skills could be put to good use, and Paulo believed in charity, often building things for free (his friends joked that he was “trying to win a merit badge every day of his life”). That made Annie smile. She’d made bad choices in men before. But Paulo. Finally. A partner to be proud of.
“I can’t wait,” Annie said, “to get to—”
The limo swerved and missed their exit.
“Dang,” the driver said, looking in the rearview mirror. “The guy wouldn’t let me in.”
“It’s all right,” Paulo said.
“I’ll get the next one—”
“That’s fine—”
“Normally, I have my GPS—”
“It doesn’t—”
“But I left it at home—”
“Don’t worry—”
“That guy came up so fast—”
“It’s OK,” Paulo said, squeezing Annie’s fingers. “We’re enjoying the ride.”
He smiled at his bride and she smiled back, with no idea of how the world had just changed.
***
As the limo made its turn, heading back onto the highway, Annie noticed, through the rain, flashing taillights up ahead. A small, boxy vehicle was pulled over on the shoulder, and a man was crouched beside it, soaking wet. As the limo approached, the stranger stood and waved.
“We should stop,” Annie said.
“Really?” Paulo said.
“He’s drenched. He needs help.”
“He’ll probably be fine—”
“Sir, can you pull over?”
The driver eased in front of the stalled car. Annie looked at Paulo. “We can start our marriage with an act of kindness,” she said.
“For good luck,” Paulo said.
