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We talked for hours, savoring the gift of a shared present after so much time spent apart. And when Logan's eyes finally drifted shut, I held him as he slept, keeping vigil over the man I loved.
It was how I wanted to spend eternity—quiet moments woven together in a tapestry of love. As long as Logan was by my side, every minute was magical.
Epilogue - Logan
Five years later, I stood in an art gallery. A distinctive buzz filled the air. Everywhere I looked, I saw pieces of art that were uniquely Ben—straddling the line between the human and spectral worlds. I beamed with pride as he stood beside me.
People roamed from artwork to artwork, eyes wide, whispering interpretations. It was a beautiful gallery and a perfect setting for Ben’s show.
He guided a small group to a specific painting. “Over here, we have Spectral Touch.” I heard the excitement in his voice as he described it for the set of admirers. The canvas depicted the silhouette of a figure barely touching a luminous orb. You could almost hear the sizzling energy bridging the gap.
I caught snippets of conversation as I navigated the room. "It's like stepping into another world," someone remarked. "No, two worlds," corrected another.
"And now, for the main event," Ben announced, his voice ringing through the gallery. The crowd quieted as he took the stage near a covered canvas, and I stood to the side, eager to see the reaction.
With a flourish, he whisked off the cloth, unveiling a masterpiece. It was us, standing hand in hand, our auras melting into each other like watercolors on a rainy day. The atmosphere in the room shifted. A collective sigh seemed to lift and fill the air, hovering like a new spectral presence.
Love Across Realms, Ben declared, his eyes meeting mine. My chest tightened. Damn, he'd captured us perfectly. He’d trapped our essence in a timeless, visible form. Even our eyes in the painting seemed to flicker, challenging anyone who dared say our love couldn't exist.
Lucy chose that moment to make her entrance. She moved effortlessly through the crowd, her eyes shining bright. As she hugged us, she shared news. Our love story was her next writing project. "Your tale will offer hope to so many," she insisted.
While an art critic pulled Ben away, eager to hear about his inspiration, I was left to circulate. That's when Jane and Mark approached.
Jane and Mark seemed like an average couple at first glance, but when they began to speak, their words and energy exuded a subtle, rare intensity. They took a moment to admire one of Ben's other works—a celestial scene painted in shades of midnight blue and yellow starlight—before turning back to me.
"We're in what you'd call a 'normal' relationship," Jane said, placing quotes around the word normal with her fingers as if she were hesitant to even use the term.
"Yeah, but our normal involves long-distance," Mark added. "I work in Australia six months out of the year. It's not different realms or anything, but it feels like a world apart sometimes."
Jane nodded, her eyes meeting Mark's. "We've tried everything—video calls, texting, but it's not the same as being in the same physical space, you know? It's why this piece," she pointed to Ben's painting, Love Across Realms, “hit us differently."
I looked over at Ben, who was in the middle of a brief TV interview, talking animatedly with his hands as he always did when he was excited. "I get it," I said, turning back to Jane and Mark. "Love that defies space and boundaries—that's a unique kind of magic, too."
Mark chuckled. "Right? So when we see you guys, and what you've navigated to be together, it gives us hope. It makes our six-month stints apart seem like small potatoes."
Jane grabbed Mark's hand, and for a moment, I could almost see the invisible thread of connection that held them tight, not unlike the ghostly cords that connected Ben and me each year he had to return to the ghostly realm.
"Your story tells us that no matter the distance, whether it's worlds or just continents apart, love can bridge it," Jane said, her voice soft but firm.
"And stay tuned, because our friend Lucy is about to make our story into her next book," I told them, my eyes twinkling with a secret joy. "Maybe it'll give you two some tips on transcending the distance.”
They laughed, their eyes lighting up in unison. "We'll be the first in line to read it," Mark declared.
At that moment, Ben rejoined us, his face flushed from the excitement and maybe a little from the wine. "Hey, you two, enjoying the show?"
"Absolutely," Jane smiled. "It's more than a show, Ben. It's a revelation."
"A revelation," Ben pondered the word as if tasting it. "Well, I couldn't ask for higher praise."
As Jane and Mark moved on to explore other artworks, I grabbed Ben's hand, squeezing it tightly. Our love had not only conquered the gap between realms; it was now inspiring others to bridge their own divides.
Yeah, it didn't get better than that.
A few days later, we visited Café Lumière. We settled into our favorite corner booth, and I watched Ben's eyes light up as he glanced at the chalkboard menu. "They added a new autumn blend," he noted.
"Yeah, pumpkin spice invasion," I joked, catching the eye of Carla, the barista who knew our regular orders by heart. She sent a wink our way.
"Hey, don't knock it till you try it," Ben retorted, grinning. "Besides, after decades of gazing at all this deliciousness with no way to taste it, I'm still making up for lost time."
