Kevin arrived home to the plantation on cloud nine, ready to set the plans in motion that he had been preparing for months.
The florist had already been to the house earlier in the day, placing one hundred crystal vases of long stemmed peach roses all over the house, the soft fragrance carrying clear up to the master suite where a carpet of fresh petals awaited Lily’s return.
Digging through his dresser drawer Kevin came up with the tiny black velvet box, which he flipped, open. Inside was the gleaming Marquis diamond offset by diamond and ruby baguettes two of Lily’s favorite stones. Snapping the box shut Kevin placed it in he center of the king sized bed with a smile.
Tomorrow was the day he would ask Lily to be his bride and then all of the pieces of the puzzle would finally be in place.
Tomorrow was the day.
* * *
He’d fallen asleep on the chaise lounge on the deck, the warm St. Thomas wind whipping through his hair, the ocean lapping on the shore reminding him of Florida.
The phone rang once, stopped and then began ringing again shaking Kevin from a most beautiful dream.
Rubbing his eyes he sat up and made his way slowly inside to he nightstand, the clock read 3:00 a.m.
"Hello." Sitting down on the bed Kevin dropped his head, his free hand running through his short spiky hair as he waited for the voice on the other end.
"Mr. Richardson?"
"Yes."
"This is Dr. Emery, Kayden’s doctor." Kevin’s head raised slightly. "I’m afraid that something has happened to Kayden-" Throwing down the phone Kevin grabbed for his jeans and car keys, running down the stairs he left the front door wide open as he raced towards his Jeep and climbed inside.
He didn’t remember how he had gotten to the hospital, visions of Lily and his newborn son slamming around in his head as he jumped out of the car, which he left running at the curb.
Taking the stairs two at a time he made his way down the hall to the nursery wing where he was greeted by a sad faced nurse and Dr. Emery.
"Kevin," Dr. Emery placed a hand on Kevin’s shoulder, stopping him in his tracks before he could advance any further down the hall.
"Kevin." Dr. Emery said he young man’s name again until Kevin finally looked at him, unblinking.
"Kayden stopped breathing in the middle of the night, we tried everything we could to resuscitate him……there was nothing we could do."
* * *
There was no funeral, only a small graveside dedication attended by Lily, Kevin and a pastor from the local church where they worshiped.
Time seemed to move in slow motion, the pastor speaking of everlasting love and angels as the tiny casket, a peach colored rose on top, was lowered into to the ground…..their son inside.
In the weeks following Kayden’s death the days were long and the nights even longer as Lily spiraled into a deep depression that consumed her whole.
Her family sent over the most well respected therapists in St. Thomas who counseled her, putting her on the best medications available but nothing seemed to help.
Her heart was broken.
After nearly two month of silence between them Kevin became desperate, begging Lily to talk to him, to let him share in the grief of losing their beloved son. She told him to go away, to go to Florida for awhile and give her some space.
And so that is what he had done.
A.J. met him at the airport, pulling Kevin into a warm hug that spoke of friendship, understanding and love. He had never seen Kevin so defeated and it broke his heart.
* * *
For a month Kevin laid around A.J.’s Florida home, twirling the small black velvet box in his hands. There had been no proposal and now it looked like there never would be. He’d made hundreds of calls to St. Thomas, pleading with Lily’s family to let him talk to her but they turned him away.
One afternoon, after being harassed by A.J. into getting out and getting some fresh air and something to eat, Kevin ran into Kris.
She looked beautiful and happy as she approached his table a smile on her face. She had learned only a few months before that Kevin and his new girlfriend had a baby on the way but she was completely unaware that the child had been born and had since passed away.
"How is Lily?" She asked, surprising Kevin that she even knew Lily’s name. But he guessed it wasn’t that odd considering that they still shared some mutual friends in the year or so since their official breakup.
"She’s,…..she’s okay." As Kevin said the words tears welled up in his eyes.
"Obviously things aren’t okay Kevin." Kris pulled up a chair, sitting and talking with Kevin listening as he spilled his heart out to her about Lily and Kayden and the death that had rocked them both to their cores.
And then, somewhere between the tears and pain of a life lost Kevin found himself falling into the old familiar pattern with Kris that had bound them so close in the past.
Leaving they coffee shop drained and dried of tears Kris wrapped her long arms around Kevin’s neck and whispered in his ear "I wish you buckets of gold at the end of your rainbows Kevin."
Watching her get in her car and drive away Kevin was as confused as he had always been when Kris said something completely goofy that didn’t make any sense to anybody but herself.
"I wish you buckets of gold at the end of your rainbows Kevin…………."
Looking up he saw Kris tossing him a wave out her car window before turning out of sight and for the first time since Kayden’s death Kevin found himself smiling.
* * *
Three few weeks later Kevin traveled back to St. Thomas, determined to see Lily and find out if there was anything left of their relationship to salvage. He knew she was staying with her parents so he stopped at their home, pounding on the front door until her father finally opened it, an annoyed look on his face.
After a lot of back and forth Lily’s father finally went upstairs to talk to her, returning to tell Kevin that she had agreed to meet him that evening at the plantation house to talk.
Kevin walked away from the house with some hope in his heart that everything would end up the way it should.
* * *
That night a terrible storm swept through St. Thomas, rain streaming down in sheets as the wind whipped the ocean into frenzy. Kevin sat in the study window waiting for Lily’s arrival wondering what he would say to her as a car pulled up the drive.
Through the rain Kevin could make out Lily’s petite figure stepping from the driver’s side of the car. He waited for her to walk up the front drive but instead she just stood beside her car, letting the rain engulf her.
Standing he walked to the front door and outside, the wind pushing him from behind as he made his way down the front lawn to the driveway where Lily stood staring up at the black stormy sky.
"Lily what are you doing, come inside." Kevin had to shout to be heard over the wind.
"You’ve been seeing her again haven’t you?" She asked, still looking up her eyes never blinking as the rain pounded down.
"Seeing who?" Kevin had never been good at playing dumb.
"Kristin."
Kevin paused for a split second before answering.
"Yes."
In fact the truth was he had been more then seeing Kris. Three days after their chance meeting at the coffee shop Kris called Kevin, asking him to come to her house for dinner and a movie. After an evening of too many drinks and not enough caution he and Kris wound up in bed together. And they had been together almost every second since, until he had made the decision to fly back to St. Thomas to try and repair what was left of his relationship with Lily.
"You slept with her?"
"Yes."
"More then once?"
"Yes."
"Do you love her Kevin?"
"I don’t know?" He answered truthfully wiping the rain from his eyes.
"I want you to go Kevin, I want you to leave St. Thomas and don’t ever come back." Lowering her head Lily leveled her gaze at Kevin. "What we had we can never have again."
The tears began to flow freely as Kevin’s heart pounded in his chest. He thought of his precious baby son and the love that he and Lily had shared and he couldn’t help thinking what if?
"It’s fate Bri….."
The words he had spoken to Brian so many months before rang through his head as the wind howled all around him.
"Lily I’m so sorry." He took two steps forward reaching out a hand to her. "Please, please forgive me." But she only turned and walked back towards her car, stopping for an instant before climbing inside, her voice barely audible over the wind and rain as she said the words
"Don’t worry Kevin……..all is forgiven."