Page 43 of Perfectly Matched

Hannah nodded. She still had Bella, Tucker, Oriana, a handful of friends, her parents, and of course, Piper. “Okay. Let’s go home,” she said as Piper stood and pulled her to her feet. She’d spent two unexpected days among the mortals, and in that short amount of time, she’d found something she’d never encountered on Archer Island. She’d found love. And now she had to return knowing that what she’d found, she’d also lost. Maybe Piper was right; maybe it was never meant to be. No matter how much she wished it to be otherwise, it just wasn’t. And as she glanced around the parking lot one last time, she whispered a good-bye to Payson and the love they had briefly shared. It was time she returned to a life that made sense, a life she didn’t have to explain. She would bury herself in her duties, mend her heart, and hope that someday, the stars would grace the sky with her name.

* * *

Piper and Hannah materialized on the porch of her house. Bella whinnied from the field and came trotting over. “I’m glad to see you, my friend,” she said as she gently stroked Bella’s neck. Piper opened the door, and Tucker came bounding out. “Okay, okay.” Hannah giggled as he rolled over and started peeing. “I’m glad to see you too.”

“Someone sure missed you,” Piper said.

Hannah scooped Tucker up to a face full of kisses. This was not the night she had envisioned, but it would still be a night where she was surrounded by love. As they settled on the porch steps, Hannah rubbing Tucker’s belly, she glanced at Piper. “I’ve lost her.”

“You will find another,” Piper said as she joined in the petting.

Hannah tilted her chin to the night sky. The stars of all the lovers she and other cupids had successfully united looked down upon her. She searched in the blackened areas and hoped she would spot one in the shadows, waiting to be lit with her and Payson’s name. Maybe in time, their paths would cross again, and by then, the outcome would be different. She still believed they were meant to be together. Maybe it was the timing that was off, not the love.

“What are you thinking about?” Piper asked as she leaned back on her elbows.

Hannah shook her head. “Oh, nothing really.”

Piper nodded. “Are you going to sleep in the hammock tonight?”

“Yep,” she said as she glanced again at the sky. Maybe Payson would be stargazing tonight, and if so, Hannah wanted to feel connected to her as much as possible. “You wanna crash on the couch? I’ll keep the door open so we can both enjoy the fresh air.”

“You saying you’ll make me breakfast in the morning?”

Hannah chuckled. “Sure, I’ll make you breakfast in the morning.”

“Pancakes?”

“Yeah, I can do that.”

“Then I guess I’ll crash on your couch.”

Hannah smiled. “Well, that was easy.”

They fell into a comfortable silence as Tucker curled between them, and Bella put herself to bed in the adjacent stable. And as Hannah’s heart ripped apart with more thoughts of Payson, one thing was certain, those around her would do their best to help put the pieces back together.

* * *

Hannah was sitting in a tree at a park, waiting for her second mark to jog by. The weather was drizzly and dreary, and it perfectly represented her mood. It had been a week since Payson had driven out of her life, and the hollow feeling she’d left behind was no closer to subsiding. She’d performed her duties on autopilot, and every night, when she’d returned home, she’d curled into her hammock with Tucker and had gazed at the stars until she’d fallen into a restless sleep. She had not been to Brea’s, the lake, or to Piper’s, opting to be alone.

“What has become of me?” she whispered to herself as she leaned against a branch and gazed at the sky for answers. The vibration from the companion arrow snapped her back to her task at hand. She scanned the path, and about twenty yards out was her second mark, jogging toward her. Her bow was nocked and ready to go in a blink. As the runner rounded the turn, Hannah paused as she looked at his face. She was making it a point to study those whom her arrows pierced. She wanted to remember them if ever their paths crossed again. And she hadbegun wondering, for the first time, how her marks had met, and what their future would hold. All questions she would never have the answers to.

Now, the wind said as it danced around her. She released the arrow and handed it over to the wind. It pierced the mark perfectly. He would never know the truth of how his love was delivered to him: Hannah’s marksmanship, Piper’s arrows, the guiding hands of the wind, and the writing in the night sky. And he would never know that as he rounded the bend and accidently tripped over an untied shoelace, that the person who caught his fall had been pierced moments ago by a companion arrow. Hannah wished them well as she replaced the bow on her shoulder and placed her fingers on her cuff’s striped inlay.

She landed in front of her house. Piper was in the hammock with Tucker, and her horse was grazing next to Bella. “Another successful day?”

“Always,” Hannah said as she slowly strolled up her porch, stripped the quiver and bow from her back, and sat on a step.

“I, um, was wondering if you were up for a drink at Brea’s?”

Hannah shook her head. “I’ll just hang here for tonight.”

Piper swung out of the hammock, sat next to her, and placed Tucker on the ground. “You’ve told me that every day this week.”

Hannah shrugged. She was tired of thinking and tired of feeling. She was miserable and numb and didn’t feel like eating, socializing, or even talking.

“How about I bring some food over? You’ve lost some weight.”

Hannah shrugged again. “Nah, I’m not all that hungry, but thanks anyway.”

“And are you ever planning on returning to Oriana’s arena for practice? She said she hasn’t seen you all week.”

“Maybe I’ll go next week.” Hannah got up, placed a loving hand on Piper’s shoulder, gathered her stuff, and shuffled into her house. Tucker bounced at her heels. She placed her bow and quiver on the shelf, patted them lovingly, and flopped on her couch. Tucker jumped in her lap, and she rubbed his head as she rested hers against the cushion and let her mind drift to Payson. She had been a fool to mess with the universe, and this was her punishment. She bent forward and released a breath. She had robbed the universe of their star, and in turn, it had robbed her of her heart.

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