Chapter 96

Sam watched Evie survey the last few kids out and about. He was just about to turn off the lights and call it a night. Time for one last interlude with the woman he loved. Her song had haunted his mind all day. Likely it would the rest of his life.
He saw the young teen walking alone and heard the car come around the corner far too fast. In the moonlight, his heart lurched as he saw Evie start to run.
Sam vaulted the porch rail and nearly caught up to her just as she shoved the kid out of the path of the car.
He was just close enough to see it strike her, to see her beautiful face as she screamed and fell.
The car screeched to a halt and the driver burst out of the door as Sam frantically searched for Evie, calling her name.
But all trace of her was gone. No blood marred the pavement.
The kid picked himself up off the grass and turned. "What the fuck?" Eyes wide, he looked up at Sam. "Dude, you saved my life. But I could have sworn it was a chick."
Sam swallowed hard. He remembered Evie telling him what would happen if she died. She'd vanish, she'd said, as if she'd never been born.
And so she had.
Assuring the driver and the kid that he was fine, Sam waved off the neighbors and went inside, turning off his porch light before anyone could see him cry.
He didn't know how much later it was when he finished his second Scotch. Time had stopped really meaning anything. He sat in his office, with her song playing on an endless loop, pictures of Evie scrolling across his screen and her coral-colored hair ribbon tangled in his hands as he wept.
He'd go on with his life. He'd promised her that. But he'd never forget her. And he'd never love anyone the way he'd loved a ghost named Evangeline Bonnell.
His cell phone rang and he almost ignored it, but if he didn't answer, his parents might just show up. So he answered and thanked them for the birthday wishes.
"Hope you're having fun with your Evie," his mother said. "Summer told us all about her."
"She's...gone." He heard himself sob, didn't care.
"Oh darling, I'm so sorry. Do you want us to come over?" His mom understood how much it took to make Sam cry.
"No. Not tonight." Tonight he needed to be alone. "Tomorrow, maybe."
"We'll be there at noon," she vowed. "We love you, Sam. Take care, son."
"Love you too, Mom." With that, he disconnected and poured himself another double.
Not sure he could face sleeping his bed, Sam eventually fell asleep on the sofa, with the TV blaring, shortly before midnight. He'd left Ghengis loose, and not even complained when the pup hopped up on the couch and curled up on Sam's feet. The warmth was as much comfort as he was liable to get. His cheeks were still damp when he finally dozed.
He woke when Ghengis gave a happy yip and leapt off the sofa. The grandfather clock in the corner had just struck midnight, and Sam heard a soft laugh as Gengis' claws skittered on the hardwood floor.
"Down, boy." There was a pregnant pause then, "Hello, Sam."
It was her soft, sexy voice. He was dreaming.
That was fine. Sam could go with that. Dreaming of Evie was better than nothing.
"Open your eyes." In his dream, she padded on bare feet up to the sofa and laid her hand on his shoulder. "I'm truly here, Sam. In the flesh."
"But it's after midnight." He didn't want to argue, even in the dream. He wanted to hold her.
She shook him, hard. "Wake up."
Sam opened his eyes, again, this time hard enough to be sure he was awake and sat upright.
Evie stood before him, fully materialized, in nothing but the nightgown he'd bought her.
"H-how..." he stuttered, reaching out to take her hands and drag her down onto his lap. He knew he shouldn't question the miracle.
"It's a gift, Sam. Since I gave up my chance of the afterlife to save a child and because of the strong bond of love between the two of us, we've been rewarded." She hiccupped herself, as if still not believing it and dropped a stack of papers to the couch beside them. "I even have identification - school records, everything. I've been given a second chance at life."
Sam held one hand and flipped through the papers with another. Birth certificate, social security card, passport, an online degree in child development and a diploma equivalent showing she was home-schooled. There was no driver's license, but there was a state-issued identification card.
"I don't know how to drive," she said when he commented on that. "Will you teach me?"
"Of course. Anything. Everything." He at her and swallowed hard. "You're not going to die on me again? You're really alive this time? Not a ghost?"
"I'm going to die again, Sam, but hopefully not for many, many years." She squeezed his shoulder. "No, I'm not a ghost. This is a true second chance. A miracle."
"You're the miracle, Evie." Sam thrust her off his lap so hard her eyes flew open. He knelt before her on the floor. "Will you marry me? I know you have other options now, but you said you loved me. I love you with all my heart. Please don't make me give you up again."
Evie smiled and threw her arms around his neck. "Of course I love you. And I can't wait to be your bride. I love you, Sam. Forever."

Epilogue

Shortly after New Year's, the company day care at the Holiday Card company officially opened. Dawn, Noel and Shelby's daughter was the first enrollee, to the delight of her adoring Aunt Evie, the center's director. Summer's son would be joining his cousin later in the year, and Star and Theo had just announced an impending arrival of their own. Val and Cora were waiting a bit longer, as were Sam and Evie. Evie was only twenty-five now and there was so much of life Sam wanted to show her before they had kids. Someday though. He smiled as Evie looked around her new domain, their toddler niece in her arms. The whole Holiday clan had gathered to welcome her to the business as well as to the family, which had embraced her with all the love Sam knew they had. Hell, they adored her almost as much as he did.
When the others left, Evie gazed at their retreating backs and beamed at Sam.
"Thank you," she said. "Your family - they're wonderful. It's no wonder you turned out to be a miracle man." She set Dawn down amid a pile of age-appropriate toys and kissed Sam lightly on the lips.
"It's our family, Mrs. Holiday. And you're the miracle, sweetheart. If we weren't being watched by the squirt there, I'd show you how much."
Her laugh was still the sweetest sound in the world. "Tonight, beloved." Then her expression softened. "But it's your love that brought me back. So like it or not, you're my miracle."
He held her for just a moment, one eye still on his niece, but his senses soaking in the wonder that was Evie. "I can live with that - as long as I get to live with you."
"For the rest of my life," she promised, something she repeated almost every day, but Sam never got tired of hearing.
Sam answered as he always did, with a chuckle. "As if we'd let a little thing like death get in the way."