Liberty Meadow Read online

around in her head but could not remember the meeting.

  “A day or two ago,” she lied.

  “And you saw her?”

  “Yes,” she lied again.

  He turned away from the corner to face her as she fought to calm the tremors rippling through her. “That’s remarkable because Marie died eight months ago.”

  A cold chill emanated from her spine and filled her entire body. Her jaw tightened and a lump formed in her throat. Impossible, she thought. She could not remember the details of their meeting but she was certain it had happened. The letter, the divorce papers, she did not make them up. They came from somewhere, from someone.

  “I don’t stay in this house out of fear, I stay out of love,” he explained.

  He stood up from his chair and faced the corner of the room again. From the look on his face she knew that he saw more than just a lamp, but a lamp was all she saw.

  “You are here and here is where I will stay,” he said. “I love you Mar.”

  He turned back to Samantha and smiled through teary eyes.

  “We married to death do us part and I’m still alive. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Unable to hold back the tears, she quickly wiped them away as they seeped from her eyes. The room, that just minutes ago had felt sad and empty, filled with love. She was nearly overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude and hope. She sat on the dusty old love seat, unsure what to do next. In an instant her heart calmed and her hands grew still.

  “I know what she was trying to do,” he said, kindly. “I’m not sure how she found you but I thank you for coming. We won’t need your papers, there will be no separation. This is my life and my choice.”

  He walked over to the door and paused to look again in the corner with the lamp. Then he pulled open the door and turned back to Samantha. She stood up, envelope in hand, and walked over next to him. She glanced over his shoulder to the corner one last time, in the hopes that she might catch of glimpse of something extraordinary. He extended his hand and she shook it. Before she stepped over the threshold she handed him the letter.

  “Here, you should have this,” she said. “The words really are hers.”

  “Thank you,” he said and nodded.

  She stepped out onto the unswept porch and observed the golden leaves that fell gently from the tall white aspens. With new eyes she looked on a world changed forever. Her mind raced as she climbed into her silver Mercedes. She wanted to share her remarkable experience. She reached into her purse and pulled out her phone. The touch screen did not respond and she realized her battery was dead. She reached into the glove box and retrieved her charger. She plugged it into the USB adapter and turned the key in the ignition.

  With a quick check in the rearview mirror, she put the car in reverse and backed down the dirt driveway. Once the car had pulled through the gate and reached the pavement, she turned the car around and headed back down the country road.

  A glance down at her phone showed the familiar white bitten apple that instantly gave way to an image of her niece Millie. Almost immediately, the phone began to beep and buzz as the screen filled with messages. Texts from Peter, her father, her sister and Dr. Nelson all stacked up one after the other. Before she could read them, her father’s picture appeared atop the familiar red Decline and green Accept buttons. She quickly answered the phone.

  “Daddy?” she said.

  “Sam?” he replied. “Thank goodness.”

  “Daddy what’s wrong?”

  “Are you o...I…there…”

  His voice cut in and out. She took the phone from her ear and looked down at the screen to see a single white reception bar. She stopped the car, opened the door and climbed out.

  “Hello?” she said. “Are you there?”

  “Sam?” his voice came back.

  “I’m here. Can you hear me?”

  “Sam?”

  “I can hear you, can you hear me?”

  She held her phone up in front of her and walked off the road to get clear of the tree line.

  “Hello?” she said. “Daddy?”

  She continued to walk until she saw two bars and then three. She stopped and tried again.

  “Can you hear me?”

  “I hear you. Darling, are you okay?”

  “I’m fine, daddy. What’s wrong?”

  “We’re worried about you. Peter called and said you had an episode at your conference. You ran off and nobody knew where you went. We’ve been trying to reach you since yesterday.”

  “My phone died.”

  “Where are you?”

  “I’m in a meadow,” she said.

  Samantha looked around and realized she had walked out into the middle of a large field. The tall aspen trees swayed gently on the breeze, which blew through in waves across the knee high grass. She looked up at the blue sky overhead. Her heart beat normally, no trembling, no perspiring. For the first time in years she felt grounded and truly at peace. She looked back at her silver Mercedes parked by the wooden sign that read Liberty Meadow. Tears of joy burst from her eyes and she smiled and laughed.

  “Daddy, I’m in a meadow and I’m fine.”

  Read Do Us Part

  Discover other titles by Aaron Blaylock

  The Land of Look Behind

  It’s Called Helping…You’re Welcome

  The Gorge

  The Very Best

  Connect with me online:

  Follow me on Twitter @AaronBlaylock

  Like me on Facebook AaronBlaylock

  Visit www.aaronblaylock.com