Bliss and the Art of Forever (A Hope Springs Novel) (42 page)

Knowing she’d be scattering Artie’s ashes, she’d never invested in an urn besides the red rectangle the mortuary had given her. She held it tight to her chest as she and Callum walked to the water’s edge. Once there, she opened the box and removed the sealed bag inside, toeing off her shoes.

Callum took the box from her hands. “You want me to come with?”

She shook her head. This was her journey. The end of one. The beginning of another. She waded ankle deep near the bank, the water breaking over rocks and tree roots before rushing to the deeper center. She took a half dozen short steps, then turned. “He would’ve loved knowing you. Riding with you. Downing Shiner Bock and grilling burgers. Not sure he would’ve had the patience to make candy,” she said, trying to laugh, and struggling. Her face was a wash of tears. “I miss him,” she said, choking. “I miss him so much.”

Callum came to her then, wading into the water in his boots and his jeans and wrapping his arms around her. He said nothing. He didn’t have to. He was there, and he was giving her exactly what she needed. And then he made it better by dropping a kiss to the top of her head.

“I’ll be right here,” he said, letting her go and backing away, crossing his arms over the box that had held her husband’s ashes, the water flowing between his legs. “Take care of Artie. Take as long as you need. I’ll be right here when you’re done.”

She nodded, backing her way through the shallow water, and holding his gaze until she finally had the strength to turn. She breathed in, filling her lungs with the clean, crisp air, the scent of oncoming summer, the water that grew deeper with each step she took. She could do this. Tell Artie good-bye.

Once she was knee-deep, she broke the seal on the bag with shaking fingers. And then she said, “Do you remember that chocolate shop in town? The one named Bliss . . .”

THE NEXT HOPE SPRINGS NOVEL

Don’t miss Alison Kent’s next Hope Springs novel, featuring
Dakota and Thea

Fall 2015

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Photo © 2012 Robyn Arouty

Alison Kent is the author of more than fifty published works, including her debut novel,
Call Me
, which she sold live on CBS’s
48 Hours
, in an episode called “Isn’t It Romantic?” The first book in her Hope Springs series,
The Second Chance Café
, was a 2014 RITA finalist. Her novels
A Long, Hard Ride
and
Striptease
were both finalists for the
Romantic Times
Reviewers Choice Award, while
The Beach Alibi
was honored by the national Quill Awards and
No Limits
was selected by
Cosmopolitan
as a Red Hot Read. The author of
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing Erotic Romance
, Alison decided long ago that if there’s a better career than writing, she doesn’t want to know about it. She lives in her native Texas with her geologist husband and a passel of pets.