Prologue: You're Going to Miss Him

JUNE 2048

I extended my hand to the elegant elderly lady in the long black dress and stepped forward to kiss her cheek when she accepted it. Despite being in her seventies, Amy Brown possessed all the poise, grace, and beauty of a woman at least half her age. She drew me in for a hug and held me tightly.

I hugged her tightly until she tapped my shoulder and we parted. I held her hands, looked into her eyes and smiled.

“It was a beautiful service,” I said. “Will would’ve approved.”

She smiled back and nodded, tears welling in her eyes. “He loved you,” she said. “You were the son he never had.”

I didn’t reply immediately. I didn’t need to. Amy knew that Will had been like a father to me since I lost my real father.

But more than that—more than being my mentor, my teacher, and then my business partner—he was also my friend. His death wasn’t unexpected. He’d been ill for over six months. But that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.

“I loved him, too,” I said, my voice faltering.

“I know,” she said, still smiling.

I’m a Probate Lawyer. I deal with those left behind by Death every day, but Death has haunted me all my life. Followed me. Taunted me. Death has changed my life and sent it off at a tangent, and made me the man I am today.

“Ready to go, Honey?” my wife asked, putting her hand on my arm and rubbing gently.

I looked into her eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes always seemed as if they were seeing right into my soul, even after all these years together. As I stared, she flashed the stunning smile that had captured my heart in our youth and never let go.

I nodded. “Yeah. Time to go.”

She addressed Amy. “If you need anything, just call. We’re here for you, whatever and whenever.”

Amy smiled in response. “Thank you. See you on Wednesday for coffee as usual?”

My wife nodded. “Of course. It’s a highlight of each week.”

We left Hayloft Barn, and I drove us home to Blackthorpe. We remained silent during the journey. Nothing needed to be said. Upon entering our large house, I closed the door behind us and tossed my keys onto the shelf above the radiator in the hallway.

When I turned round, she wrapped her arms around my neck and tilted her head up to kiss me. A sweet, slow-burning kiss—the kiss of two people still in love despite more than thirty years together.

“I love you,” she said.

“Love you, too.”

“It’s days like today that remind me how much, you know?”

I nodded.

“You’re going to miss him, aren’t you?”

“Of course.”

She removed her arms from around my neck and held my hands instead, then tilted her head towards the stairs. “Come on.” I allowed her to lead me up the stairs and into our bedroom, where she kissed me once more. She undressed me while we kissed, then tipped her head back and sighed as I disrobed her, lavishing kisses on each area of exposed skin until she was naked.

Even at fifty-three, she was magnificent. Her blonde hair cascaded around her shoulders, straight and sleek with no hint of grey. Her eyes were still as vibrantly blue as the day I first met her. And although these days they were edged with crow’s feet concealed by her delicate make-up, they still sparkled with love and desire. Her breasts now hung heavier on her frame than when she was a young woman, but were still irresistible.

She let out a soft moan of pleasure and pulled my head towards her chest. There are some things age cannot diminish. We tumbled onto the bed, and I slid my hand down her torso, tracing her gentle curves towards the source of her femininity. She moaned again, then tugged my head away from her breast by my ears, drawing me in for another long, tender kiss.

“Make love to me, Paul,” she said in a hushed tone, barely above a whisper. “Make love to me.”

As we lay in each other’s arms afterwards, my mind drifted back in time, reflecting on the choices I’d made that led me to her. Death played its part, yes, but it was the choices I made that mattered more.

And the choice that started it all? That August evening thirty-eight years ago, when I chose to step out of the shadows and help an innocent young woman who changed my world.

Chapter 1 »