A taxi pulled up alongside the large gates and idled at the curb as the woman inside paid the fare. She stepped out a minute later, hunching her shoulders against the cold night air. Her mind on the past, she pushed open the gates and slipped inside the cemetery. The moon lighting her way, she hurried along the path she had taken so many times before. Stopping in front of a headstone, she bowed her head.
“Hello Rose,” a voice behind her said.
Startled, Rose spun around. Standing before her was a short man. He had blond hair, piercing blue eyes, and was wearing a black traveling cloak over a navy suit. “H-how do you know my name? Who are you?”
The man removed his hat and bowed. “Sam is the name, and I am your guardian angel. I am here to help you.” He looked up at her. “It has been a year since David died, and every day you come here.”
Rose took a step back. “How do you know these things? Are you spying on me?”
“Do not be afraid,” Sam said. “I wish you no harm. As I said, I am here to help you.”
“How can you help me?” Rose asked.
“Come with me.” Sam took her by the arm and led her deeper into the cemetery.
Rose was about to ask him where they were going when she spotted the door. It was an ordinary door standing there as if invisible walls were supporting it. “I must be dreaming,” she muttered.
“This is real,” Sam stated. “Listen to me. This door will take you back into the past, to the night David died. I am giving you the chance to save him. If you succeed it will be like this past year never happened.”
“What if I don’t succeed?” Rose whispered.
Sam smiled sadly. “Then you will wake up tomorrow morning and all of this will seem like a dream. I must leave you now.”
“Will I ever see you again?” Rose asked.
“No, but I will be watching over you.”
“Wait!” Rose said. “Why are you giving me this chance?”
Putting his hat back on, Sam said, “Let’s just say someone is answering your prayers.”
Before her eyes, Sam was gone, having vanished. Rose moved closer to the door, took a deep breath, opened it and walked through. She found herself in David’s living room. Memories of the two of them together in this room raced through her mind and brought a lump to her throat. Fighting back tears, she closed her eyes and swore she could smell his cologne.
“Rose, are you all right?”
His voice music to her ears, Rose opened her eyes and saw David standing in the doorway of his bedroom. Tears she could not hold back any longer streamed down her face. She ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. “Oh David, I missed you so much.”
“How can you miss me when you see me every day?” David asked. His words only made Rose cry harder. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”
Rose leaned back in his arms and gazed into his eyes. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. Don’t go to New York.”
“Sweetheart, I have to,” David said. “I have a business meeting tomorrow.”
“If you have to go then drive,” Rose said. “We can rent a car and spend a few days’ sights seeing.”
“I’d like that, but let’s do it after I get back,” David told her. “I should really finish packing. I have to be at the airport in an hour.”
Panic swept over Rose. She clutched David, as if he were a lifeline. “I don’t want you to fly. Please don’t get on that plane.”
“I have to,” David said. “Why the sudden fear of me flying?”
“I have a horrible feeling something is going to happen to the plane,” Rose said.
“Everything will be fine.” David dropped a kiss on her upturned face.
“No, it won’t.” Rose cupped his face between her hands. “I won’t lose you.” Not again. “My heart can’t take it. If you love me, you won’t go to New York. Stay with me. Please, I am begging you.”
David searched Rose’s face. “All right. I won’t go.”
Relief flooded through Rose. “I love you.”
“I love you,” David breathed. He kissed her softly on the lips.
Thanks, Sam, Rose thought as she held the man she had loved and lost and found again.
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