Reunion by Karen Kingsbury

back at the Bloomington station the following week.
    “Do we have a wedding date?” Ashley’s father raised his eyebrows, his tone hopeful.
    “Not yet.” Landon paused and Ashley heard the pain in his voice. He would’ve married her that afternoon, but Ashley wanted to wait. He looked from Ashley to the others. “We’re waiting to see what Ashley’s new doctor says, what kind of treatment she should have.” His smile was marked by determination and unshakable faith. “Sometime this summer, we hope.”
    Several weeks had passed since then, and Landon had asked several times about her test results. They weren’t being rushed this time, and the doctor had said it could take longer because the blood panel was more detailed.
    In the meantime, she and Landon and Cole had been inseparable. She was still working at Sunset Hills Adult Care Home, and Landon had started back with the Bloomington Fire Depart
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    ment. Cole was in preschool four days a week and took his afternoon naps with his grandma at the old Baxter house.
    But every day Ashley would get off work well before dinner, pick up Cole, and stop by the station to see Landon. If he wasn’t working, they’d head for the park or down to the lake or back to Ashley’s house. Landon would wrestle with Cole, push him on the backyard swings, or chase him around the yard wearing a football helmet five sizes too small.
    At night, they’d read books with Cole and tuck him im Sometimes Cole asked a question about the wedding—when it would happen, where it would be, whether Landon would move in with them that day or not. Landon usually pulled him into a hug and rocked him for a while, instead of answering right away. Then he’d say something like, “As soon as we have a plan, you’ll be the first to know, okay bucko?”
    Cole would be satisfied with that. The. three of them would share another round of hugs and say good night.
    The most challenging times had been after Cole was asleep. Ashley had figured that with no sad goodbyes looming over them, they’d have an easier time sticking to a reasonable curfew and avoiding temptation. But the passion and desire that had marked their visits those past few years had only intensified.
    They’d start watching a movie or playing a card game and that would lead to talking—deep conversations about how lonely he’d felt in New York or how he’d wanted to stick it out because that’s what his buddy Jalen would’ve done if he’d lived. As they’d move next to each other on the couch, holding hands, leaning against each other. And then the conversations
    grew more intimate, about the way he thought of her contstantly after she left New York or about Ashley’s inability to let go no matter how often she’d tried to.
    They also talked about the wedding, how Ashley wanted it to be at the family’s church and have a big reception, somewhere with a dance floor large enough for all the guests.
    , But no matter what they talked about, eventually their eyes 44
    REUNION
    would find each other and the conversation would stall. It had been that way yesterday, hours after she’d gotten the strange test results. Cole had been in bed, and they were sitting side by side talking about something at the fire station. “
    “So I went into the supply room and—” Landon stopped midsentence.
    Ashley turned so she could see him better. “Into the supply room and.., and what?”
    A chuckle sounded in his throat. “I can’t do this, Ashley.”
    She pressed her shoulder into the sofa back and grinned, amused at the pained look on his face. “Can’t do what?”
    “Supply rooms?” He moaned and let his head fall against hers. “How can I be telling a story about supply rooms when all I want to do is kiss you?”
    She laughed and even as she was still catching her breath, he placed his hands on her face, eased her closer to him, and kissed her. It lasted a long time, and was colored by a longing that was greater than either of