It took a second for the words to sink in. I couldn’t process them right away. They were too heavy and cruel. More important, they didn’t make any sense to me.
I thought about turning to Dominic’s mother and insisting she was wrong. What you’re saying to me can’t possibly be true. I was with your son last night. He’s beautiful and romantic. When I was a little girl, I dreamed of marrying a boy just like him one day. We danced together. And I think we fell in love. I’m pretty sure I want to spend the rest of my life with him. But how can I? Take those awful words back. Please.
Instead, I pulled my hand away from hers as if I’d been wounded or burned. I stared down at my palms, at the lines and patterns on my skin. “Dominic is dead?” I asked.
She nodded, still crying. “I know it’s not easy to hear,” she said. “He was a wonderful son. A real good person. He took care of us. He worked real hard. Never complained about nothing. He was the best thing that ever happened to me. I swear to you.”
Was he? I’ll never get the chance to find out for myself.
“I believe you,” I said. “But I don’t understand how he can be dead…when he made me feel so alive.”
“Destiny,” his mother said, “may I ask you a rather personal question?” I nodded, giving her permission. “Were you and my son only friends…or were the two of you something more?”
I glanced out to the pickup truck. Tasha and Topher were out of earshot, but they were watching my every move, waiting. I knew they were hoping Dominic would appear at any second and they could watch our reunion, like something out of a movie. Later, they were hoping for similar moments to occur with Juliet and Pablo.
And then it hit me.
If Dominic was dead, Juliet and Pablo probably were as well.
We’ve fallen in love with ghosts.
The purpose of Wonderland—and the reason Tasha, Topher, and I had been invited there—was becoming clearer to me by the second. In my mind, I started to replay all of my conversations with Adrianna.
This is my moment to do something for you. To give you a chance at true love.
What exactly was she offering us? A love affair with someone who’d already died? Why?
I tried to piece it together in my mind—the truth about Wonderland. Somehow people who had recently died ended up there. My great-aunt played matchmaker by inviting people who were alive to a dinner party they’d never forget. Adrianna took it upon herself to make the initial introductions. But now what? Sometime soon, I’d be given a choice, most likely to change the fate of someone and bring them back.
From the dead.
“How did he die?” I asked.
“A car accident,” she explained. “Head-on collision with a tree. He was trying to take a shortcut not far from here. Made it halfway across the field before he lost control of the car.”
“Lost control?” I repeated.
“It was raining real bad that night,” she said, “and he was in an awful hurry.”
“A hurry to get where?”
“To the hospital.”
“To see you?” I asked.
“No,” a throaty voice said from behind us. We both turned in unison toward the screen door. An older woman with a round face was standing in the doorway of the house with one hand across her heart as if she were pledging her allegiance to something or someone. She was solid and broad and looked tough. I assumed she was Native American. Her thick black hair was parted in the middle and pulled back into a long braid. She was wearing a pair of old blue jeans, a baggy black T-shirt, and a pair of tattered sneakers. “He was coming to see me,” she explained. “He was on his way to the hospital when the accident happened.”
She moved toward us. Before I realized it, she was sitting next to me. I was bookended by two brokenhearted women who clearly loved Dominic very much. Their sorrow felt suffocating. It permeated the air. I felt like all sense of hope and happiness was being choked out of me. I covered my mouth, coughed.
“This here’s Valerie.” The older woman’s voice was commanding, but her words were weighed down with a sense of sadness that sounded permanent. It was a chore just for her to speak. “You can call me Mama June.”
“Mama June,” I repeated. I like that. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Destiny.”
“Yeah, I know,” she said. “I had a…feeling you were coming to see us today.”
Does everyone in South Carolina have the ability to see into the future? Maybe she’s a distant cousin of Bettina’s.
“How did you know Dominic?” I asked.
She gave a nervous glance to Valerie, took a breath, and said, “Dominic was Valerie’s biological son, but we both raised him.”
“Oh,” I said, not really understanding what she meant. Were they sisters? Was this woman a nanny of some kind? A neighbor who lent a helping hand?
She could tell I was clueless. “He had two moms,” she clarified for me. “Val and I have been together for over fifteen years.”
I turned to Valerie, and back to Mama June.
Oh, I get it now.
“Well, he was very lucky, then,” I said. “I only had one mom. And she’s gone now.”
Valerie lifted her eyes up to the summer sky and said, “I wonder if your mother knows my son.”
I nodded, blinking back tears. “I’m sure she does.”
“We weren’t a typical family but we loved Dominic very much,” Mama June said. “He was everything to us.”
“I’m so sorry…for your loss,” I said. “I know what it feels like to lose someone you love.”
“We never expected something like this to happen,” Valerie explained. “Not to him. My boy was so young.”
“Nothing for us will ever be the same,” Mama June told me. Her voice cracked with heavy emotions. “We’re not sure what to do now.”
“Do you get to Avalon Cove very often?” I asked.
“Not as much as we used to,” Valerie said. “We used to take Dominic there when he was little, to the beach. He loved the water. I bought him this sketchbook once. He used to sit there in the sand painting and drawing little pictures of the sailboats in the harbor. Sometimes we’d take him to the playground there. Or have a picnic lunch in the park. Those were good times.”
“It’s a nice place,” Mama June said, “but it’s a little too busy for our taste. We’re country girls at heart. We’re happy here in Harmonville.”
“I have two uncles,” I said, blurting the words out. “They’ve been together for years. They love each other a whole lot. I live with them now. My mom gave them legal guardianship. So…we’re a family, too.”
“Wow,” Valerie said with a faint smile, “you and Dominic had a lot in common.”
Did we? Or, do we? We’ve spent all of five minutes together. I know next to nothing about him. And now I want to know even more.
“We hadn’t known each other for very long,” I said. “So, there’s still a lot I don’t know about Dominic. But we definitely had a connection.”
“I have no manners,” Valerie said, standing up. “Would you and your friends like to come inside? I just made some iced tea. You could come in…and cool off…and talk. I have some photo albums if you wanna see ’em.”
I was tempted. I wanted nothing more than to delve deeper into Dominic’s world. I wanted to see where he grew up, the table he ate dinner at with this two moms, the bed he slept in, the grade school photos, all the other one-of-a-kind things that had made him who he had been.
I looked to Tasha and Topher, who appeared to be melting inside the truck. They would’ve appreciated something cool to drink, but I had to tell them the truth about Juliet and Pablo. I owed it to them. And the sooner, the better.
I tried to ignore the hope in Valerie’s gentle eyes. I was a connection to her lost son. It was clear she didn’t want me to leave.
We’ll swing through a drive-thru on the way back to the island and get something to drink. I can come back here another time. Right now, it’s really important to tell your new BFF’s that our soul mates are no longer living.
“That’s very sweet,” I said to Valerie, “but we have to get back on the road soon. I have to go back to work. My uncles are probably wondering where I am.”
“Maybe you’ll come back then…another time?” Valerie said, holding my gaze.
“She will,” Mama June assured us both. She shifted her attention solely to me. “I want you to know something.”
I waited for her to continue, hoping she was going to tell me this entire scenario was one big cruel joke—and then Dominic would burst out of the house, bound down the steps, and throw his arms around me, declaring to the world, This is the woman of my dreams. He would spin us around in a grand, sweeping circle and my feet would be lifted off the ground. I would feel weightless and breathless. Mama June and Valerie would watch us with love shining in their eyes, for each other and for the fact they knew Dominic and I would be together forever.
We’d go inside. Valerie would make us something to eat. Mama June would share funny stories about the crazy things Dominic did as a child. He and I would sit together, hold hands, occasionally look into each other’s eyes. Later, the four of us would sit around the dinner table. We would laugh until we cried. We would be a family. And we would be happy.
“Dominic died trying to get to me,” Mama June said. She lowered her dark eyes to the cracked and peeling floor of the porch. “Doctors said there was no hope for me. I wasn’t going to make it. Stage 4 cancer. Inoperable. That’s what they said.”
“It’s true,” Valerie echoed. “And it happened so fast. It was just a matter of weeks.”
“It’s real hard for me not to feel responsible,” Mama June said.
“You know it’s not your fault,” Valerie reminded her. “You can’t keep blaming yourself. It was an accident.”
“If I wouldn’t have gotten sick…”
“I called Dominic because the doctors told me to. They said there wasn’t much more time,” Valerie explained. “I knew he’d want to be with his Mama June. He was crazy about her.”
“He was racing to be by my side,” Mama June said. “Because that’s the kind of man he was. But it was starting to rain. So he decided to cut through the field to save some time.”
“Around the same time Dominic collided with the tree, my beautiful June regained consciousness.”
“The newspaper called it a miracle,” Mama June said. “Even the doctors couldn’t figure it out. They said I was lucky. They said I beat the odds. I thought I had. I asked where my boy was because it seemed strange he wasn’t there. And that’s when the lady deputy came into the hospital room to tell us what happened to Dominic.”
“Do you believe it was a miracle?” I asked. “That you survived?”
Mama June shook her head. “I believe it was magic,” she said. “I believe Dominic must’ve made a deal with God.”
Or with my great-aunt Adrianna. Somehow he found his way to Wonderland and saved his Mama June.
“No one can tell me how I survived,” she said. “A full recovery. I’m cancer-free.”
“My mother died of cancer,” I said. “Two weeks ago. It happened really fast. I was busy with school and stuff when she first got sick. I guess maybe I didn’t pay much attention to what was going on with her because a part of me believed she would get better…but…she didn’t.”
“I’m very sorry to hear that,” Mama June said. “I’m sure she was a fine lady.”
“Yes, she was,” I said. “Maybe I didn’t realize it before this…before she died.”
I stood up. I walked down the steps and returned to the graveled road. I turned back to my new friends on the porch. “My mother was a dancer,” I said. “And she was beautiful. She grew up in Avalon Cove. I live there now.”
“I hope you got to say good-bye,” Valerie said.
“We never got that chance to tell Dominic what he meant to us,” Mama June said.
Don’t worry. I’ll figure out a way to bring him back home.
*
I didn’t know what to say to Tasha or Topher moments later when I climbed back into the old pickup truck. I avoided their curious eyes. “Let’s go,” were the only words I could get out.
Tasha waited until we were back on the two-lane highway before she asked me, “So, what happened? We couldn’t hear a thing.”
“It wasn’t what I expected,” I replied.
“That bad?” Tasha said. “Does he have a wife and kids?”
“No,” I said, “but he has two moms who loved him very much.”
“Two moms?” Topher repeated. “That’s so cool.”
“Yeah, how come I didn’t get two moms?” Tasha said with a grin. “Or two uncles? I feel cheated.”
“Are you gonna see him again?” Topher asked. “Did you leave a number so he can call you? Maybe he can come and meet us somewhere.”
“I have a feeling he’ll be at Wonderland,” I said. “And so will Juliet and Pablo. Something tells me we’ll each be seeing them again soon.”
Tasha tightened her grip on the steering wheel. “What makes you so sure?”
“Let’s go to the playground and I’ll tell you,” I suggested.
Tasha shook her head. “No, thank you. It’s a hundred degrees outside.”
“Yeah, it’s too hot for the playground,” Topher agreed.
“Then let’s find a place with some air-conditioning,” I said. “I have to tell you guys something.”
“This sounds serious,” Tasha noted. “Do you have bad news or good news for us?”
“That depends,” I said.
“On what?”
“On whether or not the two of you really believe in magic.”
*
Dominic was in my dream that night. I wasn’t sure if it was him at first. I was in Chicago. It was a spring day. I was standing on an outdoor platform, waiting for an “L” train to arrive. I don’t know where I was headed or why I was wearing a white cashmere sweater, a black miniskirt, and really uncomfortable high heels, but it felt like I was supposed to be there. It was where I belonged.
I took a step closer to the edge, looked both ways, but there was no train in sight. I stepped back into the crowd of passengers. Most of them were men dressed for work in suits and ties. My eyes drifted over to the opposite platform, across the tracks.
And that’s when I saw him.
He was alone, also waiting for a train. He had on blue jeans, a white tee, and a charcoal gray pea coat. He slid his hands into the pockets of the coat. Even though the sun was out, I was worried Dominic was cold.
Our eyes met. Neither one of us could look away. His mouth lifted into a beautiful smile. “Destiny?” he said just barely loud enough for me to hear him above the floating conversations of the crowd. There was a slight hint of desperation in his voice, mixed with a tinge of hope.
Maybe he’s fallen in love with me, too. Maybe this dream is somehow real.
In the distance, I could see and hear Dominic’s train approaching. I knew I only had a matter of seconds before he was gone. I had no choice: I had to get to him.
I turned. I ran. I pushed and shoved my way through the crowd of executives, hurried down the wooden steps to the station below, darted across to the opposite staircase, and rushed up to the platform.
Once I reached the top step, there was a sudden shift and everything began to move in slow motion, even me.
I saw him.
I saw the train arrive.
“Don’t go,” I pleaded. My voice was muddled.
“My train is here,” he said. His words sounded like they were rolling through a tunnel to reach me.
I was trying to get to him, but there were so many people in my way. I maneuvered around them the best I could.
Finally…
I reached out to him, to touch his face.
He looked into my eyes and said, “I love you, Destiny. I’ve never met a girl like you, but I’ve always wanted to. You are, without a doubt, everything I’ve ever dreamed of.”
With that, he turned away from me and stepped onto the train. I watched the doors close. He looked back and stared at me through the glass.
“I love you, too!” I shouted.
The train started to pull away. I ran beside it, desperate and frightened.
“Don’t leave,” I begged. “Dominic!”
*
Someone was touching me. I could feel a hand on my shoulder, shaking me gently. I opened my eyes and stared up at Clark. He was standing over me with a cordless telephone in his hand.
“Destiny,” he said, “I’m so sorry to wake you. Tasha’s on the phone for you. She says it’s important.”
It took me a few seconds to comprehend what he was saying to me. The dream of Dominic had been intense. I was hot, sweaty. My heart was racing. I threw off the comforter and sat up in my bed.
What day is it? What time is it? Where am I? And why is everything still so pink?
I took the phone form Clark and said, “Thank you.”
“If you’re up to it, I made some coffee and some oatmeal raisin cookies. They’re downstairs waiting for you,” he said. “You slept through dinner. I could warm you up a plate, if you’d like.”
“Sounds great,” I said. “I’ll be down in a sec.”
I waited until Clark had pulled my bedroom door closed before I put the phone to my ear.
“Tasha?”
“It’s so sad how they died,” she said.
“Tasha, are you crying?” I asked. “What’s the matter?”
“We found them,” she said. “Topher and me. It took a while, but we finally found them.”
“Juliet and Pablo? Where? Are they okay? Are they alive?”
“No,” she said. “They’re dead, too. Just like Dominic. You were right.”
“How?” I asked.
“Pablo was a foreign exchange student from Spain. He was here for a year, living with a family in Charleston. His plane never made it back home.”
“He died in a plane crash?” I said. “That’s awful.”
“And Juliet…she was a couple of years older than us. She already graduated from high school. She was also living in Charleston. She was a concert pianist. She had a full scholarship to Juilliard. They even wrote about her in the news. Everyone thought she was going to become famous.”
“Wow,” I said. “She must’ve been really talented.”
“She was,” Tasha said. “But she died trying to save a little boy who couldn’t swim. She worked as a camp counselor during the summers. I guess he fell into the water somehow. She went in after him. Only she wasn’t strong enough to swim against the current.”
“That’s so sad.”
“She was a hero. That’s what all of the newspapers wrote about her. It’s even online.”
“At least you know…how it happened,” I said.
“I don’t get it, Destiny.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“All three of them seem like they were really good people. They didn’t do anything wrong to anyone,” she said. “So why did they have to die?”
“I completely agree,” I said. “I’ve been thinking about that since I met Dominic’s moms.”
“Why them? Why not the Neanderthals? No one would even miss those guys.”
“Bettina might miss Boyd,” I reminded her. “Since he is her brother.”
Tasha took a deep breath before she spoke. “Topher and I’ve decided…when we go to Wonderland, we want to bring them back. It’s the right thing to do. Who knows what Pablo and Juliet can still become…if we give ’em the chance.”
“I figured that’s what you guys would decide.”
“I don’t know how it works,” she said. “But I’m sure Adrianna will explain it to us.”
“I’m sure she will,” I said. “And I hope it happens soon. For all of us.”
“What about you?” she asked. “Are you going to bring Dominic back?”