“I think that’s how it goes.” Decker smiled into her smoke-tinged curls.
Laurie gingerly got to his feet, wincing and trying out a tiny smile. “I haven’t performed a wedding yet, but you have it right.”
Safine untangled herself from Decker and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “So now the real problem,” she murmured, peering into the gaping hole. “How’d the bastard rise from the dead?”
“The dead don’t normally rise here, I assume,” Laurie said.
Fast learner.
Decker’s light tone didn’t betray the worry settling in him. “Hope he wasn’t the second coming of Christ.” The two empty graves next to Thomas Haven may not have been taken by grave-robbers. But he had yet to see them stalking around town, blowing smoke and claiming to be prophets. “We have plenty to rebuild. Let’s worry about what we can fix.”
As they left the ruined chapel behind them and reunited with their town—their family—Decker didn’t think he’d ever worry about another thing in his longlife.
His home was here. His happiness was here, begging to be taken.
Ender’s Blessing returned. Dazed and forgotten, the people of Ridgewater wandered back to their homes, sure to concoct some story about how the river froze and they tried to fight their neighbors with horns and wings—ridiculous notions, really. The neighbors, with their horns and wings and hands—hand, in Sister Inez’s case—tended to each other with the care of a tight-knit family.
Gibson and his own family returned to their ranch; he and Callie became distant when the Blessing returned. The two close-knit kids remained sharp, letting themselves behind the bar to jostle each other for shots of whiskey for the road.
Ender’s Calling wasn't restricted only to the town, it seemed. The taller of the two Gibson kids, eyes twinkling under a mass of dark curls barely contained under a handkerchief, asked him for a job. Decker said he’d consider it. He had a feeling Safine wasn’t going to stick around behind the bar long.
Sister Inez couldn’t understand what happened to her hand—with the Blessing, her stern brows softened and forgetfulness clouded her mind, no matter how many times Safine told her,yes, those wereher very ownwhite boots and shehadgone dancing with them at the hall on many occasions. The Blessing couldn’t remove a deeper bond for long, and Safine pushed asecond bed next to hers so she could change Sister’s bandage in the night.
Her arm would heal—though Sister Inez was less than pleased with the idea of bed rest, and less so with Willa insisting on it.
Victory was bittersweet. Always had been and would continue to be as long as Decker was alive.
Laurie was also bittersweet.