Home is Where You Are (24 page)

I run. Each time my foot hits the ground I propel myself farther and faster, ignoring the pain coursing through my body. I curse myself for telling her about the trestle.

The road in front of me is endless. For the first time in my life I wish I had a car. Fire burns in my lungs. My heart beat
s like a ferocious drummer. The closer I get, the more fear builds within me.

I take the turn in the road at rapid speed only to come to a halting stop. Anna’s car is at the edge of the street in front of the tracks. My legs shake as I push the paralyzing fear aside and run.

Rocks tumble down the cliff as
my foot slips. Oh my God! My heart races, every nerve in my body is on alert causing my knees to shake.

I can’t run, but I can’t die. My mom and my brother are finally starting to come around. It took them seven years. If something happens to me they’ll never recover.

Think Anna. Think!
I can’t outrun a train. If I move on to the trestle I’ll be safe, but if I don’t make it in time the path is too narrow and the force of the train will knock me over the edge.

Slowly, I turn, making sure to keep my weight balanced so I don’t fall. My foot comes around at the same time I hear my name.

“Anna!”

Dean.

Anna
’s on the tracks. Closer to the trestle than to me. She looks so small. A vice grip on my heart and a lump in my throat make it impossible for me to scream to her.
Calm down, Dean.

The train’s horn thunders in the distance. Every worst case scenario rushes through my mind. Then she turns
, and I see the terror in her eyes, the fear in her stance. I scream around the lump. “Anna!”

 
Almost anybody else would run the other way. It’d be stupid to run onto the tracks as a train is coming towards you. I drop my backpack, the paralyzing fear replaced by the desire to protect her. I run.

I
f she doesn’t stand just right she’ll get knocked over the cliff. I can’t lose her. I’ve already lost too much. I will not lose her too.

As I get closer
, the terror surrounding her eyes makes me want to keep running to her and hold her, assure her everything is going to be okay. I can’t. I hear the horn of the train coming closer, and when I look up, it’s barreling down the tracks.

“Anna, listen to me
!” I scream so she can hear me over the engine. “You have to brace yourself, like this.” I get into position slowly so Anna can mimic everything I’m doing.  

She’s standing ther
e frozen in fear. If she doesn’t act now…

“Anna
, please!”

“Dean
, I’m scared!” Her voice is shaky.

“Don’t be. You can do this.” Our eyes lock. I’m tempted to run to her, but if I do I’ll be putting us both in danger. I hold her focus. “
You got this.” I nod as if willing her to act.

I’m flooded with re
lief as she stands in position. “Good. Now brace yourself and keep your balance.” The terror starts to fade as she puts all of her concentration on balancing.

My heart feels like it’s going to implode. The green of her eyes disappears as they close. I hold my breath.
I stay focused on Anna, too afraid to look away for even a second.

The train rushes by, her hair wiping around its wake. Her body sways to the right
, and I watch as rocks tumble down the edge. I’m about to scream her name when she centers herself. The train is almost past her, and I brace myself for the force.

The train
whizzes by so fast, but I don’t take my eyes off Anna. Once the train is behind me I run towards her. She’s not moving. I reach her and wrap my arms around her. She’s shaking. I rest my hands on either side of her face, take her all in, grateful to feel the heat of her skin beneath my hands. She almost got herself killed. For what? For me. I can’t help but be angry that she put herself in danger.

“Are you out of your mind?”
 

H
er eyes open big, lined in gloss. “I needed to find you. I needed to talk to you and prove we can make this work because I can’t imagine not being with you. And maybe I’m out of my mind, but love makes you do crazy things. ”

My hands drop from her face.
I feel my eyes widening.

“Dean.” S
he moves closer, taking my hand in hers. “I love you.”

“
That’s good.” I place my other hand on her face. “Because I love you, too.” My lips are on hers. My hands run down the warmth of her cheek before getting lost in the strands of silk she calls hair. And to think I was going to walk away from this. From her.

For someone as cynical as I am
, Anna has managed to make me believe in happily ever after. I owe her everything.

“I found my sister,” I say as I rest my head into her hair.

“Oh my God, Dean!” She pulls away, her eyes filled with shock and joy.

“
That’s why I wasn’t at work today. I found her and she’s good. Really good. She has a great family, and it turns out she’s been looking for me too. She only lives three towns over. I told her about you, and she can’t wait to meet you. And I talked to Marv and I’m going to move in with him, temporarily of course, until I can get my own place. I’m going to take the GED test and once I pass I’m going to apply to college.” The words just pour out. It’s as if I haven’t talked to her in a year. It’s only been a week.

“Dean
, that’s great. But what changed your mind?”

“You.”

She wraps her arms around my neck and presses her lips to mine. At first I feel her smiling, but once I pull her in closer to me
, the smile fades, and we lose ourselves in each other.

Who would have thought the girl I bumped into one night on the sidewalk would be the best thing
that ever happened to me?

 
I inhale through my nose to smell cherry blossoms. The smell has always reminded me of home, of the life I used to have, and now with Anna, I feel like I am home.

My phone rings in my bag when I put my car in park. I grab for it, but don’t recognize the number.

“Hello?” I answer.

“Hey, BS.”

Seth
. “Hey. What number are you calling from?”

“A friend’s phone.
My battery died. Anyway just calling to check in and say let the countdown begin.”

“Are you really coming home?”

“Next week. Just in time for Thanksgiving. I expect pumpkin pie.”

“If you actually show up, I’ll buy two.”

“Buy? Hell no. I expect homemade.”

“Then you’re helping”

“Oh no. I’m still scarred.”

“
That was you and Katie. I leave you two in the kitchen alone for two seconds and all hell breaks loose.”

“I told her to keep the mixer off until it was in the bowl. She doesn’t listen very well. How is she anyway?” 

Seth always had a soft spot for Katie. “Her usual self.” I don’t want to get into any details. “But you can ask her when you come home,” I say.

“I guess I can.”

“Seth.”

“Yeah?”

“
I can’t wait to see you.”

“Right back at you, BS.”

We’re both silent for a moment. “Hey, I got
to go,” Seth says. “I’ll see you soon.”

We say our goodbyes and I toss my phone back in my bag. Next week after two years, my brother will finally be home. I smile at the thought and get out of the car.

I walk up the same path I collapsed on only days ago. It feels like a lifetime. So much has changed these past few days. But one thing I know. The loss and the pain that tore through me, is something I never want to feel again.

The door is open and I peer through the screen. My hand stops just short of knocking, my heart warming at the sight. Past the
beautifully decorated living room, down the hall I can see the kitchen table. And it’s not the coziness of the home that warms my heart, but the family sharing breakfast.

Marv kisses his wife and takes the plate of bacon from her
then holds it out to his daughter before passing it to Dean. Dean takes a bite out of a piece of bacon then places several more pieces on his plate.

I no longer have to worry about him being hungry and cold while I’m in my heated
room. Ten years after losing his parents, moving from one foster house to the next, he has finally found the place where he belongs. He found his home.

“What are you doing out there?” Marv yells. “Come in. Family doesn’
t knock.”

I open the door and step inside. Dean swivels in his chair, and when he sees it’s me, he jumps up from his chair and meets me halfway.

“Good morning,” I say, pushing the black curl off his forehead.

He leans down, and presses his lips to mine. It’s short and sweet, yet it still brings a big
goofy smile to my face.

“
Morning,” Dean says, resting his forehead against mine.

A gag noise sounds behind us and I glimpse to see
Izzy sticking her finger down her throat.

Marv taps her plate with his fork.
“Eat your food and mind your business.”

Dean pulls away and takes my hand in his
, guiding me to the table.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” I say. 

“What are you talking about? Interrupt what?
Family breakfast?”

“Well yeah.”

“Like I said, family don’t knock and they sure as hell don’t interrupt.”

“Marv, the mouth,” his wife, Peggy, says.

“Sorry,” Marv grumbles before looking back to me. “Well go on. Sit.”

I do as he says and sit in the chair Peggy brings to me.

“It’s actually good timing. I was just about to give Dean something.”

Dean’s eyebrows knit together as Marv reaches into his front pocket. He pulls out a box with a squished bow on it.

“What’s that?” Dean asks.

“Open it and find out,”
Izzy says and rolls her eyes.

“I don’t do…”

“Charity. Gifts. Handouts. I know. Just open the damn box, will you?”

“Marv, the mouth,” Peggy warns again.

“Sometime today,” Izzy says.

Dean looks to me and I silently urge him on.
He lifts the top of the box and glances up to Marv. He reaches in taking out a key.

“Figured it was time you got your own key.” 

Dean doesn’t say anything just continues to stare at Marv.

Peggy comes up behind Dean and rests her hand on his shoulder. “This is your home now.”

Dean’s lips move, but no words come out. Everything he’s ever wanted. Never thought he’d ever have again is in that tiny box.

“I think we rendered him speechless. Now that’s a first,” Marv jokes and slaps Dean on the back.

“Thanks,” Dean finally says.

Marv smiles and nods.
“Now eat up. Don’t want any of this going to waste now, you hear?”

Marv hands me a plate and I accept it. The conversation shifts to
Izzy and her science project. We finish up our food and Dean promises to help Izzy with her project when we get back from visiting Josie. 

Finally, in my car, Dean and I are alone. He leans over the center console at the exact time I do. He tucks my hair behind my ear, his fingers lingering on my chin
, before he erases the space between us and kisses me.

I run my hands up the back of his neck, tilting my head and parting my lips to deepen the kiss.
For so long, I thought the only way I’d find happiness was by getting into an Ivy League school. It’s still part of the plan, but now I know there’s more happiness, more to life.

My brother coming home.
Mom actually being part of my life again. Sitting with Dean and his new family. And this. Being in Dean’s arms. His lips pressed against mine. Knowing there is no place I’d rather be,
that
is happiness.

Dean pulls back, fingering my pearl earring.

“Ready to go?” I ask.

“Definitely.”

“I can’t believe next week is Thanksgiving,” I say when we pass a house with pilgrims in the window.

“I can’t believe last year I ate turkey at the soup kitchen then spent the night trying not to freeze to death at the trestle. And this year…
”

“You have three places to go,” I say
and press on the brake for a red light. I link my fingers with his over the console. “But I think you should spend this Thanksgiving at your place.”

A s
mile spreads across his face, and he cups my cheek, looking deep into my eyes. “A place is just that, a place. But a home. A home is where your heart is. And this Thanksgiving it’ll be at all three.”