The Gift

The following is an exclusive, unpublished excerpt from the novel Soulmates: A Metaphysical Love Story.

Zachary balanced the piece of wood on his knee, the carving knife gripped tightly in his calloused fingers. He took slow, rhythmic breaths, lulled into a state of calm focus by his work.

The Aspen bent easily to his will, his vision slowly emerging from the wood like a great creature rising out of the sea. It was meant to be a Spring Squill flower. The delicate petals took shape little by little, and with them, a memory took shape in his mind.

It was nearly six years ago. He was walking down the street in downtown Covina, his steps sure even though his mind was elsewhere. He was thinking about Audrey, a beautiful girl with red hair and bright green eyes who he liked to call “Cherry Bomb.” Despite having only known her a few weeks, there was seldom anything he thought about these days apart from her face.

He was remembering the way she threw her head back and laughed when she tried to replace the pump on an over-filled container of cherry syrup. The sticky substance flew in every direction as she hastily shoved the new pump in the glass bottle, splashing the counter as well as Audrey. A rush of heat ran through Zachary as he recalled how her eyes squinted shut in laughter, bits of bright red liquid splattering the side of her face.

He paused as the sun glinted off something in a nearby shop window, catching his eye. He approached the window and peered inside. In the display was a necklace made of delicate, pale blue glass on a silver chain. It was in the shape of a flower he didn’t recognize. Six outer petals framed six smaller, pointed ones that each came to a rounded tip.

Something stirred in Zachary at the sight of the necklace, and though he was usually thinking of Audrey, the delicate flower brought her so vividly to mind he could almost smell her. He was overcome with the urge to buy her the necklace as a gift, but the short amount of time he’d known her gave him pause. She would surely think him odd if he showed up at work bearing jewelry. So despite the strong tug he felt in his chest from the tiny flower, he continued walking.

That was before he knew he loved Audrey, back when he still believed his obsession with the charming young redhead that dropped into his life one day was a symptom of her beauty alone. He vividly remembered the moment he realized it was more—that he was hopelessly in love with everything about her.

He’d only known her for two months. He came into Windmills, the coffee shop where they worked together, early in the morning that day. Upon clocking in and seeing her name on the schedule, his stomach flipped wildly. He was already beginning to miss her on his days off.

A couple of hours later she came in to relieve Kelly, who had opened the shop.

“Cherry Bomb!” he said when she walked in—his usually greeting. She smiled at him warmly, but it didn’t meet her eyes, and her feet seemed to drag when she walked.

Zachary’s chest tightened, recognizing that something was wrong, and he realized with sudden clarity that he would do anything to fix it, whatever it was.

Several hours passed normally, the two of them busy with a steady line of customers before a quiet lull. Audrey was restocking, her brow furrowed with whatever thoughts plagued her.

“What’s on your mind?” Zachary asked.

Audrey looked up, her worried expression nearly dissolving under a forced smile. “Oh, nothing,” she said. “Just kind of spacing out.”

Zachary sidled over to her and gave her a gentle nudge.

“Come on. I’m an excellent listener. I won’t judge you, and I won’t try and give you advice if you don’t want it.” He crossed his arms, leaning back against the counter to take her in. “No pressure. But talking about it might make you feel better.”

Audrey considered him for a moment before sighing, her shoulders dropping as she did.

“I guess I’m a bit stressed out,” she admitted.

Zachary nodded silently, waiting for her to continue.

“Do you know anything about the book of Deuteronomy?”

Zachary blinked. That was not at all what he expected her to say.

“I’m afraid not. But if you want to tell me about it, I’m all ears.”

Audrey’s eyes lit up.

“Really?”

Zachary nodded eagerly, smiling at her excitement.

Audrey spent the next hour between tasks talking excitedly about the ancient text, moving back and forth from wonder to confusion as she voiced her concerns out loud. Zachary listened intently to her musings about ancient translations and modern interpretations, asking questions when she referenced something he didn’t understand and nodding emphatically when she questioned the sanity of trying to apply something so many thousands of years old to her life today.

By the time she finished she was back to her normal self, her body language lighter, as if the conversation had shed literal weight from her shoulders.

It was then that Zachary knew he loved her, and that he wanted nothing more than to have long conversations about obscure topics with her until the day he died.

The next day before work he headed straight to the store with the necklace in the window. He knew it was still too soon, and it might be weird to buy her a gift, but he couldn’t help himself—timelines be damned.

But when he got there, the necklace was gone. The empty bust in the window seemed to mock him, laughing at the ridiculous gesture he almost made to someone he still barely knew. So he walked to work empty-handed, telling himself to forget about the idea entirely.

But he never stopped thinking about that necklace.

Now here he was, years later, recreating the flower from the window though he knew it was much too late. Whether he would ever be able to give the flower to the girl of his dreams, he didn’t know, but the project was a labor of hope as well as one of love.

There were some regrets he couldn’t fix, but this was one he could at least get out of his system.

So his hands worked diligently, patiently, willing the image from his memory to come to life in the wood. Timelines be damned.