Chapter 27
288 Vouchers
Chapter 27
Seven hundred kilometers away in Provence, Alicia was bending down to tie the ribbon of her daughter’s straw hat.
The scent of lavender fields steaming with morning dew dyed the pale yellow skirt into a light purple.
Nolan walked over gently, and purple petals fell on the plain wedding ring on his ring finger.
When he handed Alicia the steaming tea, the platinum ring on his finger collided with the sapphire pendant around her neck, startling a large blue flash butterfly that was sucking nectar from the flowers.
“Mom, look!”
The little girl lightly pointed her finger towards the distant horizon.
Flocks of white doves flew over the waves of lavender flowers, while the silver bells and tassels on Alicia’s wrist swayed in unison, as if telling a never–ending love story.
When Alicia turned around, a gust of wind lifted her shawl, and the faint pink scar on her neck disappeared into Nolan’s warm palm – a mark left by the sparks splashed during the fire.
Now, under the daily care of the ointment, it has faded into a shiny crescent moon color.
Ally, I have a gift for you.
Nolan took Alicia’s hand, his eyes filled with tenderness.
01:58
Chapter 27
288 Vouchers
Alicia threw herself into his arms with surprise, her daughter’s laughter like silver bells. The three of them laughed together, the air filled with a warm and cozy feeling.
At the end of the lavender field, the old church rang its bells.
Alicia’s hot palm clenched the sapphire pendant around her neck as she saw a faint purple smoke rising from the flower field.
Nolan brushed aside her sweaty bangs and pressed his fingertips against the crescent–shaped scar on her neck. “Ally, are you thinking about the fire again?”
Alicia looked at him with a face full of worry and gently shook her head at him.
“Nolan, actually I had already forgotten.”
“Mr. Keith’s dried flowers have arrived! The shout of the florist brought the two back from their yellowed memories.”
The florist handed her a wooden box, and as the air circulated, a faint floral scent wafted through.
Alicia opened the wooden box, where dried tulips were preserved in their curled–up posture from when they were burned, each petal sealing the final breath of the glass flower house.
“Ally, congratulations, you finally walked out of that greenhouse.”
Nolan gently placed his warm hand on her shoulder as she looked down at the tulips in the box. She softly said, “Destruction always accompanies rebirth. Now, I have the courage to let go of the past. I don’t want Callie in heaven to see me sad, so I want to be happy with Nolan.”
31.49%
01:58
Chapter 27
288 Vouchers
“What about me?”
The daughter tiptoed to pull out a branch and stuck it on her straw hat. The charred marks left on the stem brushed against her newly replaced baby teeth, leaving a faint bitter scent of carbonization.
The couple smiled at each other, and Nolan lifted his little daughter onto his shoulders. “Of course, we are happy only when the three of us are together,” he said.
The warm night breeze carried waves of lavender rolling towards the horizon.
Nolan gathered the mother and daughter in his arms, the ring on his ring finger reflecting the starlight.
The starlight from a hundred thousand light years away pierced through burning tulips, discarded silver rings, and melted rosary beads, eventually falling into this purple ocean.
The daughter suddenly pointed at the starry sky and exclaimed, as the dark canvas–like sky fell countless shooting stars with tails, as if three hundred large blue flash butterflies were dancing away together.
Alicia looked up at Nolan, then down at her daughter who was beaming beside her, a smile spreading across her lips.
The three of them were good like this.
