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Chapter 5

Author: Dayless Reverie
Julian went rigid. He opened his mouth, but Sophie cut him off.

"Julian, my head hurts so much... If I did something wrong, then let me pay for it with my life."

She clutched her head and lunged toward the wall.

The guilt in Julian's eyes disappeared under a wave of concern. He scooped her into his arms.

"The living matter more than the dead," he told me. "I'll make this right, but stop pushing Sophie."

A deeper pain spread through my abdomen. It felt as though something inside me was coming apart.

I drew a shaky breath, unable to move.

Then I felt warmth running down my thighs, and my mind went blank.

Two months earlier, Julian had come home drunk and mistaken me for Sophie. He'd ended up in bed with me that night.

It was only afterward, out of a sense of obligation, that he'd agreed to our engagement.

In my last life, I'd bled in the snow, too. I'd assumed the fall had damaged something inside me.

But the blood pooling beneath me now, together with the fact that I hadn't had a period in two months, told me what I'd been too blind to notice.

"Julian... it hurts."

My hands shook as I fumbled for my phone to call 911.

The moment I tapped the emergency number, Julian's expression hardened. He kicked my phone out of reach.

"Willa, you've gone too far this time.

"Every time something happens to Sophie, you either pretend you're sick or threaten to call the police.

"Will you only be happy when she's dead?"

"I'm not pretending..."

Pain made my voice tremble. Tears and cold sweat ran down my face.

My phone was only a few feet away, but I had to drag myself across the floor to reach it.

"I'm not calling to report anyone. I just need..."

For once, open irritation crossed Julian's usually gentle face. He reached the phone first and hurled it out the window.

"I've given you everything you've asked for all these years.

"And now you're willing to endanger someone's life? Your father would be ashamed to see you turn into someone so cruel.

"I'm not letting you call the police to terrorize Sophie again."

Then he carried her out.

The pain swallowed me, and everything went black.

When I woke, I was lying in a hospital bed.

A nurse explained that our housekeeper, Maggie, had found me unconscious in a pool of blood and called an ambulance.

"You were two months pregnant," the doctor said, handing me the results. "You didn't know?"

She sighed.

"Between the impact and the delay in getting treatment, you lost the pregnancy. Your health was already fragile. You'll need to take good care of yourself. You might still be able to have children someday."

I laid a hand against my flat stomach. Nothing felt quite real.

Maybe it was for the best.

I'd rather she had never existed at all than be born into a home without love.

On the day I was discharged, a few stray snowflakes drifted from the sky.

I took my small suitcase and boarded the train for the Red Basin.

Before it left, I sent Robert one final message.

"Uncle Robert, I've made my decision. Please cancel next week's wedding.

"Julian and I are finished."

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  • Rain After the Snow   Chapter 11

    I returned to Sawyer's Gap.Years passed.In five years, the run-down elementary school grew into several bright new classroom buildings.With the money Robert had given me when the engagement ended, I established an education fund for girls whose families couldn't afford the supplies and travel they needed to stay in school.My days were simple, but they were full.Every year, the school received an enormous anonymous donation, along with boxes of new books and teaching equipment.There was never a return address or a name.I knew who sent them anyway.I didn't turn the supplies away. The children needed them.But I never sent a reply, not even a single word.Some chances, once lost, are gone for good.In autumn, the cottonwoods in the desert grove turned a brilliant gold, as vivid as a painting.I brought the children into the trees to sketch.The breeze rattled the yellow leaves overhead.One little boy tugged at my sleeve and pointed toward the dunes."Ms. Hart, look

  • Rain After the Snow   Chapter 10

    The operation was a success. Julian's lower leg had been saved, though he faced a long recovery and months of rehabilitation.Sunlight spilled across his hospital bed when he woke.He spotted me on the sofa and smiled with unmistakable relief."Thank you for staying, Willa."His voice was quiet and weak.I rose, walked to his bedside, and took a packet of papers from my bag."Now that you're awake, I'd like you to sign these."A lawyer had prepared a formal agreement ending our engagement for good.In truth, I could have left without it. As long as I never went back to Julian, the papers meant very little.But I wanted something definite. Something written down.I wanted to stand before my father's grave and tell him that I had brought this part of my life to a proper end.Finish what you start. That was what he'd taught me.I wanted him to know his daughter could have a good life even without anyone there to take care of her.Dad had been a proud man who'd given his best

  • Rain After the Snow   Chapter 9

    When spring arrived, several violent storms swept through the mountains beyond our town.Weeks of rain loosened the hillsides. Mudslide warnings sounded almost every day.One afternoon, I was walking a few of the children who lived farthest away over the mountain trail toward their homes.I didn't know when Julian had started following us, but he kept his distance a little way behind.Halfway up the slope, a deep rumble came from the ground beneath my feet.I looked up.A huge boulder was tumbling toward us through a rush of mud and water."Run!"I grabbed the children's hands and pulled them toward a grassy rise beside the trail.But my legs weakened. My foot slid out from under me, and I fell hard into the mud.The rock was almost on top of me when a pair of strong arms lifted me off the ground.Julian threw me with all his strength toward the safe patch of grass.I landed on the soft slope and turned just in time to see the boulder slam into him."Julian!"I screamed h

  • Rain After the Snow   Chapter 8

    Julian kept his word. He never deliberately appeared in front of me again.But somehow, he was everywhere in the life I'd built.Winter arrived early in the high desert. When heavy snow blocked the mountain roads, supplies in town became painfully scarce.Yet coal and fresh vegetables quietly began filling the school's storeroom. Every child suddenly had a pair of warm winter boots.The mayor told me, smiling, that a Mr. Prescott from Westbridge had donated it all.I stood at the blackboard with a piece of chalk in my hand and watched snow drift past the windows. I said nothing.One weekend evening, I went to the post office to mail a letter.By the time I started home, the snowfall was thick enough to blur the street.Around a corner, I spotted Julian helping a local man push a stalled truck.Mud splattered his expensive coat. His dress shoes were so filthy I could hardly recognize them.But he looked calm and patient, without a trace of complaint.The driver kept thanking

  • Rain After the Snow   Chapter 7

    "Take it back. I don't want it."I didn't even look at the container. I turned toward the school.Julian didn't stop me. His voice was as gentle as ever."I know you don't want to see me, Willa. That's okay."But at least now there's one more person here who cares about you."He rented a room at the town's only little inn and became a quiet presence on the edges of my life.Every morning, another broken school desk or chair appeared, repaired and ready to use. Someone replaced the cracked windowpanes that let the wind pour into our classrooms.At lunchtime, a mug of warm spiced fruit tea would appear on my desk.I knew who'd left it. I never drank any of it. I poured every cup into the soil beneath the trees.One afternoon, a light rain began to fall.When I came out of my classroom, Julian was standing beneath the eaves with a black umbrella. He wore a plain white shirt with the sleeves rolled up and held a picture book for the children in his other hand.Raindrops slid fro

  • Rain After the Snow   Chapter 6

    After thirty-six hours of rattling along the tracks, the train finally stopped at Sawyer's Gap, a lonely town in the Red Basin.Wind whipped sand against my face hard enough to sting.I stepped onto the platform with one suitcase, still weak from the hospital. I glanced back at the rails stretching toward Westbridge and let everything I'd left behind fade into the distance.I rented a small one-story house on the edge of town and buried what remained of Dad's ashes in a grove of desert cottonwoods behind it.Kneeling in the dry earth, I ran my fingers over his rough gravestone.For a moment, I was eighteen again, standing at his funeral.Julian had stood beside me beneath a black umbrella. He'd wiped the tears from my face and made me a solemn promise."Don't be scared, Willa. I'm here. From now on, the Prescotts are your family."He'd been thoughtful and principled back then, always perfectly mannered. Being near him had made me feel safe.Only later did I understand that a m

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