The next morning Nick wakes up and reaches for Rachel. She's not there. He thinks about the visit she made to him and smiles. "I love you so much." He sits up and sees a piece of paper on the bedside table. He picks it up and realizes it's Dylana's phone number. "This was in my pants pocket. Rachel. Of course." He thinks about Dylana. "Give it a try Nick. You don't have anything to lose." He dials the number.

"Hello?" answers a female voice.

"May I speak with Dylana?" he asks.

"This is Dylana. Who is this?"

"It's Nick." Her heart skips a beat. "I'm sorry to be calling so early."

"It's okay. I was already up."

Nick is quiet for a moment. Finally he says, "Would you like to go hang out somewhere later?"

"Yeah. Sure. Where?"

"You pick the place."

"Why don't we hang out on the beach?"

"Sounds good."

"Do you want to meet somewhere?"

"I live right on the beach so give me directions to your house and I'll pick you up around noon. Would that be okay?"

"Yes, that's fine." She gives him directions. "See you around noon."

"See ya then. Bye."

"Bye." She hangs up, she can't believe what just happened.

At noon Nick rings Dylana's doorbell. She answers the door in a yellow swimsuit and blue wrap, her hair in a ponytail. "Hi." she says.

"Hi. You look great." he tells her.

"So do you." she replies admiring his great body in his white tanktop and green shorts.

"Ready to go?" he asks.

"Yeah. Let's go." He walks her to his truck and opens her door. She sees that he is still wearing his rings and her heart sinks.

They arrive at Nick's and Dylana is fascinated. "Wow! Your house is beautiful." she says getting out of the truck.

"Want a tour?" Nick asks.

"Sure."

He shows her around the whole house. "This was Rae's dream home. I had it built for her."

"She was a lucky woman."

Nick smiles. "I was a lucky man."

His blue eyes are so sad looking. He runs his left hand through his blond locks revealing the rings yet again. Dylana thinks to herself, *"I feel so sorry for him. I think I can help him move on but I can't until he's ready.*"

"Dylana?" Nick's voice brings her out of her trance.

"Yeah."

"You want to go outside now?" She nods and they head out.

They play around in the water. "Want to swim out?" Dylana asks.

"I don't do that too often. I'm really afraid of sharks and you always hear about..."

"Surfers and such getting attacked." she interrupts him.

"Right. I'm most comfortable under the water in SCUBA gear."

"You SCUBA dive too. Maybe we can do that sometime."

"Yeah, that'd be cool."

"I can't believe you're afraid of sharks. I mean you have this." She touches the shark tatoo on his left shoulder.

"It just represents my love for the ocean."

"Nick my back's starting to burn. Would you put some lotion on it for me?"

"Sure."

"I left it inside. I'll be right back."

"I'm thirsty, I'll just go in with you."

He goes to the fridge. "Want something to drink?"

"Some water would be nice."

He gets two bottles of water. He hands the bottle in his left hand to her. They both look at his rings. "I just didn't think about it. I'm so used to them being there that I don't even notice them."

"It's okay." She sees a picture of Nick and Rachel on their wedding day sitting on the mantle. "She was beautiful. Tell me about her."

Nick is surprised. "Really?" She nods, takes his hand, and leads him to the couch. Nick sighs then grows quiet for a moment. Finally he tells her all about meeting Rachel, falling in love with her, their relationship before and after they got married, then about losing her. "I put my head on her chest and listened to her heartbeat slow down. When it stopped I kept hoping there would be some kind of miracle and it would start beating again."

"I can't imagine what you've been through."

He touches her scarred face. "Maybe you can. When she died I compared it to losing a body part."

"You're emotionally scarred but I think in time... It won't completely go away but it'll get better. I didn't know Rachel but I think she wants you to be happy."

"Do you believe in angels?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I'm going to tell you something, I don't want you thinking I'm crazy."

"What is it?"

"Rachel visited me last night." Dylana's eyes grow wide. "Her spirit has been around for a while. I sensed her presence a few times but until last night I never actually saw or heard her. She does want me to be happy, that's why she found you."

"What do you mean she found me?"

"I heard Rachel calling for me to help. I thought it was beyond weird but I followed her voice that's when I saw those guys harassing you."

Dylana thinks back. "I remember feeling like someone was talking to me. I said something aloud to myself then one of the guys said 'Look at the freak talking to herself.'" she says with sad eyes.

"You're not a freak, you're a great girl. Rachel, she told me you had the same look in your eyes that she had before she met me, that's how she knew. She also told me that I shouldn't do this because of her I should do it for myself. Lani let's just take things slow. Okay?"

She smiles. "Lani, that's nice I like it. We'll just take our time." She hugs him and kisses his cheek.

"Thank you Lani. I don't know where I came up with that, it just seemed to fit."

"I said I like it. I saw you boat. Can we take it out?"

"Sure. Let me put some lotion on your back." She hands him the lotion and turns her back. Nick looks at his rings and takes them off. He lays them on the coffee table then rubs the lotion on Dylana.

She enjoys feeling his hands on her. *"Just take things slow."* she reminds herself.