Death Valley

by Karina Halle

I probably won’t only lose Eli. I might lose Aubrey too. If that happens, I won’t make it either.

He watches me with intelligent eyes, sensing something important is happening.

I kiss his nose, tasting of snow, and give him one final pat before stepping back. “Get!” I urge him, giving him a sharp slap on the flank. “Get out of here! Go back to the ranch. Go home!”

He gives me a lopsided grin, the flames from the fire dancing in his eyes. “I should be thanking you. You giving me one last piece of heaven before we meet hell.”

I heard once that whenever you experience your most traumatic event, that’s the age you are forever. Obviously, that’s bullshit, but I think there’s a line of truth to it. I think maybe we get hung up at a certain spot in our lives, never able to move past it unless we face it head-on.”

“You’re mine, through and through.”

“Getting tired of phone calls, Aubrey. Tired of weekends that end too soon.” He reaches out, his calloused fingers brushing a strand of hair from my face with unexpected tenderness. “Tired of pretending I don’t miss you every damn day. That I don’t need you every damn day.”

Above us, the sky stretches endless and blue. Ahead lies a future neither of us could have imagined when I first arrived at Lost Trail Ranch, searching for my sister and finding something else entirely. Not a perfect ending—those don’t exist outside of fairytales. But a good one. A true one.