The sun shone into the front seat of the car as the green from the trees mixed with their limbs overhead appeared for just a moment, then whizzed past in a green blur. The wind through the window felt good and the air smelled heavy with magnolias.
“So, this isn’t the way to the airport. Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
The sheriff’s cruiser slowed and went off the road down a hard red dirt path and then through an opening between the trees she hadn’t seen from the road. It was cool and dark off the road with the sun dappling through here and there. She spotted a butterfly ahead.
The car stopped. “We’re here.”
“Where’s here?”
He opened her door and she took his outstretched hand, stepping out of the car and into the tall grass on either side of the dirt road. “You’ll like it, you’ll see.” He smiled.
He led her by the hand through the tall, green grass, across the clearing and through the trees just beyond. She could hear the water now, playing against the rocks, ambling by. It seemed happy.
“It’s Moon River, Hailey. I wanted you to see it.”
Hailey looked out onto the water, dotted with sunlight. The leaves in the trees and the Spanish moss swayed in the breeze. It was so beautiful, it didn’t seem real . . . like a magic spell had taken her away from everything dangerous and evil in her life . . . like a different world far away from her old world.
“Stay, Hailey. You can stop fighting now. You can stop. You’ve done enough. Have a life here. With me, Hailey. With me. With us. You don’t have to go back to that world anymore, Hailey. It can be over.”
The world stood still. Her New York apartment, her practice, her patients, the courtrooms, the crime, it all seemed a lifetime away. All there was . . . was this . . . this moment . . . this man . . . the water tripping by . . . the sun on her face.
“I’ll think about it. I promise.”
Sadness crossed his face before he could hide it. “Then, I’ll be in Manhattan in a few weeks to try and convince you. Can I do that?”
“I hope you do.” She smiled at him, close to his lips, but her eyes filled with tears. She didn’t know why.
“I’ve dreaded the moment, Hailey, the moment you wave from the plane. But Hailey, I’ll dream of you. You won’t be waving goodbye, you’ll be waving hello.”