The Surviving Trace (Surviving Time, #1)

by Calia Read

To someone else, photos of virtual strangers might mean nothing, but I love them. Pictures from the past give me a thrill, make goose bumps appear on my arms, because I believe that relics from the past show what life truly is—they start out so beautifully, but slowly fade with time.

“You think you belong in another time. Belong to another man. But maybe you have it all wrong. Maybe you belong here, with me.”

Love is hoarse cries. It’s anger. It’s sadness. It’s happiness and laughter. It’s everything wrapped into one. Love is one of the heaviest of words to exist.

He brushes his thumbs against my cheeks. “I love you, and I don’t know how to share you with another man, and I don’t want to learn.”

“Right now you don’t have to share me. Right now, I’m yours.” Étienne doesn’t smile back. He cradles my face. “It’s not enough for me, Serene. I want you to stay. Forever.”

“Life can only be understood backward, but it must be lived forward.” ―Søren Kierkegaard

My mom once told me to find a man who gazes at me as though I’m the sun, moon, and stars. But what she failed to tell me was how to move on from a love that spans decades.

I more than loved her. She’s a religion, and I’m a believer. For the rest of my life, I’ll worship every single part of her.

“No matter what happens tomorrow, I love you forever,” I say. Étienne squeezes my hand and kisses the crown of my head. “I know. Nothin’ changes between us. You’re my surviving trace.”