Page 75 of With You Here
“Amber? You ready?” Mila’s pixie hair was spiked and had a bandana tied around like a headband, a cute knot on top.
“Where’s Seth? Is he not coming?”
Mila’s mouth turned down in apology. “I am sorry. He had to leave yesterday. He tried to reach you, but you were with your brother.”
Leave? As in…leave? Not here but somewhere else, gone?But… “Is he coming back?”
Mila’s head swayed from side to side. “I am afraid not, sweet one. At least, not for the rest of this year. Next, perhaps.”
“Then…” Her thoughts refused to line up, whether in denial of his absence or rejection of the possibility this was the end, she didn’t know.
The last of the kids followed behind Ben on the trail, leaving Amber and Mila alone. Amber fixated on the gravel road they’d just traveled up to bring them to this trail. She stared, as if she had the vision to see past dense forests, across multiple countries, and over a body of water to a lonely soccer field thousands of miles away. She couldn’t see him, of course, but she could picture him, all lean muscles, his greatest strength found even deeper under the skin—his character. She’d never met a man quite like him, and she feared she never would again.
He’d said he’d wait. Did he mean it? Even though he was gone, was he still waiting for her? Or would he move on now? An ache spread across her breastbone.
“Then that’s the end?” She’d said their separation was for the best, them not being together in a romantic way, but that decision didn’t feel the best. In fact, she’d never felt worse in her life.
Mila touched her arm, bringing her back to the famous woods of Germany. “I think that is a question only you can answer.”
Amber blinked, wishing it were so. But she’d had her opportunity and squandered her chance. Even if she knew exactly what she’d say to Seth if he were here, he wasn’t. Moot point. “He’s gone.”
Mila’s eyes narrowed. “He has left. He is not dead.”
Amber knew that. But she also had responsibilities here. Mila and Ben needed her. The kids needed her. Especially now that Seth wasn’t here. She’d have to step up to coach. They had a big game coming up, and they were going to show the community just how resilient those kids could be.
“It is not difficult. Get on a plane and tell him what he already knows but longs to hear.”
But the kids. And his sister. His reputation. Her studies and career. All the reasons she’d given him, they—
Made absolutely no sense.
“What God has joined together, let no man separate.”A famous pronouncement at weddings, so why did it feel like a benediction over her soul?HadGod brought them together? Taken them both on a journey of self-discovery, so they could better become one in the future?
A sharp and burning wind blasted through her mind. Swirling and twirling. And then settling with a blanket of peace and conviction.
As though molten metal cooled in her veins, resolve hardened. She had to go to him. Find him and tell him that she loved him too.
But… She turned to Mila. “What about the kids? The soccer program?”
“Fuβball. And Kayla is still here. She has agreed to take over for her brother.”
Amber stumbled at that little piece of news. “Kayla? The same Kayla who has refused to have anything to do withfuβballor her brother in years? That Kayla?”
“Do not sound so shocked.” Mila studied the trailhead. “But come, before we are left so far behind we cannot catch up.”
It didn’t take long to rejoin the group. Not when the kids stopped every few minutes to look in wide-eyed wonder at something new, like a spotted fawn hidden in the underbrush or a fairy-ring of mushrooms growing out of the damp soil.
When Yara started to complain about being tired, Amber swung her up and settled the little girl on her shoulders. “Did you know I grew up on stories that took place right here in this forest?”
Orhan peered up at her with round eyes. “You did?”
She nodded and looked around. The light filtering between the tree branches, the green moss growing on boulders and crawling its way up bark—this was the perfect backdrop for the imagination. She could see why the brothers Grimm had set many of their stories in this location.
“May we hear them?” Sonia asked.
A few kids glanced back with interest in their eyes as they continued to walk forward.
Amber smiled. She may not be able to leave them with much, but she could at least tell them a fantastical story to remember her by. “Once upon a time…”
