Tristan's Redemption (3 page)

That poor woman.
Maybe he should send them money so they wouldn’t have to work so hard.

“
They would never accept the money. Placing money before faith and family is what caused this problem to begin with.”

David looked at Ehron in shock.
“You read my mind?”

The angel nodded his confirmation.

“Fine.” His shoulders sank in frustration. This was a whole lot to take in at once and David felt overloaded. “Will you let me know how I can help them, so that they would accept it?”

“
When the time is right, you’ll know.”

“
When do we do this?”

“
Now.” Ehron touched David’s shoulder and it was different than before. His skin tingled under Ehron’s hand. The angel was packing some serious power. “Close your eyes, David. This method of transport is a bit tricky.”

David did as he was asked and had a sensation of instant free-fall. The ground was no longer there, and Ehron kept a grip on his shoulder. Wind blew by him at an unbelievable speed. He registered being wrapped in something and felt feathers lightly brush his cheek. Before he could make a sound, they slowed, the ground solidified and Ehron released his shoulder.

“You can open your eyes now.”

It took him a moment to calm. Ehron
’s method of transport was scary as hell and it was all he could do not to kiss the floor, grateful for the solid contact. After a few moments, David took in his surroundings. The room was solid white, floors, walls, and furniture, save for a silver laptop on the desk. The sounds of the ocean came in through the open windows and David walked over to look out.

“
Oh wow.” The voice was different, startling him away from his observations. It was deeper with none of his southern drawl
.

Tristan
’s voice.

Had the transformation happened already? He looked at his hands, which were darker, leaner with longer fingers—including a bare ring finger. His hands shook for a brief moment as he felt profound sadness at the absence of a wedding ring.

“The famed Santorini coast line. Welcome to Greece.”

He looked away from his hands and took in the sight before him.
“It’s beautiful. Is this Tristan’s house?”

Ehron nodded.
“It’s yours now. Take a look around.”

David went to the desk first. The surface was clear of clutter, unlike his desk in Atlanta. The computer was spotless. No smudges, or prints. A view from the window beside the desk gave an enviable view of the Mediterranean. The sun reflected
off the waves brilliantly and birds flew lazily along the horizon. There was no TV, nor did he need one with this view. He wandered until he found the bedroom. The wooden bed was painted black and sat on a large area rug the same color of the ocean. The walls were a very light blue and a large window provided another picturesque view of the sea. The bedding was white and plush. David ran his fingers along the material and thought that Abby would have approved. Then he remembered his earlier conversation with Ehron. He turned to go ask the angel only to find him standing inside the doorway. “Did Tristan die here? In this bed?”

“
No. He was on the chaise lounge outside on the patio. He wanted to see the sunrise...and had an epiphany.”

“
About what?”

“
How he lived. He bought this house from a man who later went on to commit suicide after his company folded. Tristan was the kind of man who took advantage of very bad situations and made them shine for himself.”

He shook his head.
“Sounds like a really nice guy.”

“
Now you see why he was willing to cross over a little early. After his epiphany, he was ready to walk away from his remaining time on earth. He felt tainted. He
was
tainted.”

“
And now that honor belongs to me, I suppose.”

Ehron nodded and looked at David sympathetically.
“It does. Now, let’s get you to a mirror so you can see yourself.”

David was five foot eleven. However, Ehron was at least a foot taller than David. Walking by his side to the large en suite bathroom, David came up at Ehron
’s jaw, in bare feet. The height difference would take some getting used to.

Ehron waved an arm in front of a mirror.
“Take a look.”

David stepped forward and stared, openmouthed, at the sight before him. As long as he could remember, his hair was brown, his eyes were blue and there was a dimple when he smiled. Just how in the hell would he look at the mirror without being surprised? Tristan Ramirez had jet black hair, eyes almost the same shade and darker skin that David
’s. He ran his fingers over his face, feeling the differences. Tristan’s nose was straight as opposed to David’s button nose. David had a cleft chin, Tristan did not. David’s lips were fuller than Tristan’s but his teeth were perfectly straight, whereas David’s remained slightly out of place from not wearing his retainer properly as a teenager. David’s hair was close-cropped and Tristan’s was a good two inches longer than what was considered appropriate in a boardroom.

“
What do you think?”

“
It’s going to take some getting used to. I won’t be able to look in the mirror and recognize myself for a while.”

“
True. This will take practice and breaking of old habits. For instance, I will be calling you Tristan from now on.”

“
That’s probably necessary, since no one else will be calling me David.”

Ehron nodded.
“Exactly. We need to get a bit of practice in before we head back to Atlanta.”

“
Besides Abby, why are we going back there?”

“
Tristan’s corporate headquarters are there as well.”

David remembered a large building near the 17th Street Business Center with Ramirez over the door. Tristan must have been extremely wealthy. Now he was curious about how a CEO would go about meeting his wife.
“How am I going to meet Abby?”

“
At a support group for young widows and widowers.”

Pain sliced through him at the reminder of Abby being alone.
“Did Tristan lose someone?”

“
His wife.”

“
Tristan lost his wife too? Did they have children?”

“
No. They were alone.”

As much as it freaked him out earlier, he wanted to do that instant transport stuff again and go right to Abby. The word
alone
resonated too clearly. “I’m sorry for his loss.”

Ehron arched an eyebrow.
“You are the last person who should be apologizing.”

“
Why do you say that?”

“
Tristan’s wife was the drunk driver who hit you. She’s the reason you died.”

Abby was ready to leave. This was not what she would call a good day. During the early morning hours, she had nightmares about the day David died. She was in the doorway of his office, watching David and his secretary having sex while her wedding album lay open on the floor, engulfed by flames. She woke up in a cold sweat, struggling to catch her breath, eventually curling up into fetal position and sobbing. How could he have slept with someone else? Even now, five months later, the betrayal stung just as hard as his death. Abby would
never
have such blatant disrespect for their vows. David was her rock. During their months of infertility treatment, with every negative pregnancy test, David was the first person she called because he made everything better. Until the last day.

She knew David loved her, which confused her even more. She saw the love in his eyes every time he looked at her, when they made love, and with every glance over their shared bowl of popcorn during a weekend Monty Python marathon. With each touch, she felt treasured. Yet despite that, he cheated. How was she supposed to forgive him?

She went to the mall after lunch. Everywhere she looked, there were pregnant women accompanied by partners, husbands, lovers. She watched a smiling couple admiring baby clothes, the man had his arm around the woman and she placed her hand protectively over her belly. Abby put her items down and promptly left.

After that dose of salt in the wound, the Greater Atlanta Support Group for Young Widows and Widowers was the last place she wanted to be, especially sitting next to a woman who kept trying to touch Abby
’s belly.

“
I loved being pregnant. All five times, I was so happy. Even with both sets of twins.”

Dear God, give this woman her own reality show and get her out of here.
“That’s wonderful.”

“
It most certainly is. Babies are a blessing—”

Abby tuned her out as the door opened. Maybe Julie, the group leader, was finally here and they could begin.

“Is this seat taken?”

Abby looked up into a set of eyes so dark, they were almost black. The man
’s smile was faint but genuine and he bent so she could hear him.

“
No, you can sit there.”

“
Thank you.” The man was NBA player-tall, but he folded himself elegantly into the cramped plastic chair, stretched out his legs and crossed them at the ankles. They went on for miles, it seemed...And why was she even looking? She had no interest in men.

But something nagged at her, making her glance over at the new arrival periodically. He was the kind of attractive that could make a girl
’s self-esteem plummet. Not that that sort of thing ever mattered to her. Abby looked first at a person’s personality and if they were physically attractive, that was a bonus.

Abby clinched her hands into fists.
What the hell are you doing? Acting like a hormonal teenager over this man while still wearing your wedding ring!

“
My name is Tristan.” He stuck out his hand and leaned forward with a smile.

“
Abby.” She shook his hand and couldn’t help returning his smile in kind.

“
It’s nice to meet you, Abby.”

“
Thank you. I would say the same, but I guess none of us are actually happy about being here.”

“
That’s true. Though it is preferable to sitting at home watching reality TV.”

Abby bit back a chuckle.
“I don’t know. I do enjoy
Dancing with the Stars
.”

“
I see. But there’s a challenge in learning the cha-cha or the tango in a week, which I can appreciate. But the shows that involve a cameraman following a celebrity around all day?” Tristan winced and shook his head. “I just want to poke my eyes out with sharp sticks after ten minutes.”

Abby laughed.

“You have a lovely laugh.”

Abby turned, shocked at the compliment. David used to say the same thing.
“Thank you.”

Tristan inclined his head and sat back in the seat. Julie walked in and began the meeting and Abby did her best to ignore Tristan. But it was impossible with him sitting
right there
. Julie asked if anyone had something to share and Tristan stood, the movements just as elegant as when he sat.

He introduced himself and everyone welcomed him to the group.
“I’m new to this and may not say very much, but I appreciate the support.”

Julie smiled and clasped her hands together.
“It’s important to have a good support system in place to help you through. How long has it been since your wife died?”

“
Less than a year.” People started commenting about how long it had been for them. When it was Abby’s turn, she cleared her throat.

“
I lost David last December, a few days before Christmas.” She took a deep breath before continuing. “The day I found out I was pregnant.”

Tristan reached over and squeezed her hand but then released it and listened intently while everyone else shared their stories. She looked down at her hand, bewildered by her acceptance of his touch. Minutes before, she was tempted to run before that woman could touch her belly. And she was fine with Tristan holding her hand?

Weird.

At the conclusion of the meeting, instead of staying afterward for coffee or cookies, Tristan excused himself and left. Abby watched him walk out the door and felt
a surge of warmth when he looked over his shoulder and smiled. She waved goodbye and wondered if he would be back next week.

Abby and Julie talked a bit and were the last to leave. If David were still alive, he would have read her the riot act for walking out to her car, at night, without him there. She could practically hear his exasperated,
“Abigail Marie, what would I do if something happened to you?” Maybe he was looking down on her and could see that at least Julie was with her. She smiled at that.

On the way out to the car, she felt someone watching her, but when she turned around, the lot was empty except for Julie
’s car.

That was odd
.

It almost felt like David was there.