When You Were Young

Rebecca ran in from the doorway to crush Mr. Pryde in a hug. "Oh thank you, sir," she said. "You won't be sorry. Joseph showed me how to use the appliances and I'm sure I can help out with the housekeeping."

Mr. Pryde reluctantly patted Rebecca on the head. "You don't need to worry about that. I don't make no messes." Samantha could see a twinkle in his eye as he spoke. He and Rebecca would get along fine. Samantha only worried what might happen to Rebecca when Mr. Pryde went on a fishing trip. If she really wanted to kill herself she would have done it, Samantha thought. She stepped in to pull Rebecca off Mr. Pryde.

After dinner, Mr. Pryde showed Rebecca to the guest room where she would be staying for as long as she needed. "It ain't nothing fancy, but it should do," he said.

"It's beautiful. I love it," Rebecca said, throwing herself onto the bed. Samantha knew then her friend would survive the loss of Molly.

Samantha told this to Joseph later, who agreed with her. "I think she's going to like it here," he said. "You should have seen her in the kitchen. She was like a kid on Christmas morning. It's hard to believe she could have been depressed."

They settled onto Joseph's bed, wrapping their arms around each other. Samantha felt sleep tugging at her eyelids, but she didn't want to fall asleep and wake up tomorrow in a crib or motel room without him. She wanted to make sure they stayed together forever.

"There's something I need to ask you," Joseph said.

"What is it?"

"The night my mom died there was a woman with her, an older woman." His voice faltered, his eyes flicking down to the mattress as he said, "It was you, wasn't it? You were there."

"Yes," she said.

"I remember you told me Mom went to Heaven. I thought you were an angel back then. Now I know I was right."

He tried to kiss her, but she held him at bay. "Joe, I'm sorry about your mother. It's my fault she died. I could have saved her and I didn't. I failed you."

"No, that's not true. You kept Veronica from killing me. You saved my life that night and-" His voice faltered once again. "And you've saved me again over these last three years by making me the happiest person in the world."

"Your mother-"

"My mother would be glad I have you to watch over me. You're my guardian angel." He smiled at her. "You know, after you left me with Mrs. Schulman, I told myself if I ever saw anyone that beautiful again I would have to marry her."