The Spark

While I was relieved, I still couldn’t breathe very well. “What happened?”

“He was snide and thought I was wearing a wire trying to record him admitting to something—pretty much what I expected. But I didn’t go there to get anything from him. I went for myself, because I needed to say some things to him.” She shook her head. “I don’t even remember everything I said, but I wanted him to know he’d ruined many years of my life and made me not trust anyone or myself, how much damage he had done—not that I think he cares. But I needed to look him in the eyes and call him a rapist.” She smiled. “I also told him to rot in hell, which, surprisingly, felt more cathartic than the rest of the stuff I said.”

I smiled. She’d been carrying the weight of other people’s choices on her shoulders for too long, and I was damn proud of her for unloading it. “Good for you.”

“His face was a mess. You fucked him up good.” The corners of her lips twitched up, but she quickly looked down again. “I hate violence. Not only because of what happened to me, but also because of all the kids I work with. It never solves anything. It just makes new problems.”

“I know. And I made a shitload of new ones. I’m sorry, Autumn. I really am.”

She leaned closer and lowered her voice. “Can I tell you another secret?”

I nodded. “Of course.”

“I’m not that sorry, so you shouldn’t be either.”

My heart leaped, but I was still afraid to get my hopes up. “Really?”

She nodded. This time, it was her who squeezed my hand. “I’m sorry I pushed you away. I just needed some time to work through things. Actually, that sounds like I’m saying I’ve finished working through them. I’m sure I haven’t, but I think I’ve finally started. I can’t promise you that getting closer won’t scare me, or that I won’t do something stupid like run away again. But if you’ll have me, I’d like to try.”

“If I’ll have you?” I reached over and yanked her out of her seat and onto my lap. “Sweetheart, just try to get rid of me.”

She smiled. “Did you mean what you said in your voicemail?”

“What did I say?”

Autumn bit down on her lip. “That you love me.”

“Would it freak you out if I did?”

“No.” She leaned closer so we were nose to nose. “You know why?”

“Why?”

“Because I love you, too.”

The biggest, dumbest smile took over my face. “I fucking love you.”

She giggled. “Fucking love, huh? Is that equivalent to a lot?”

I took her cheeks into my hands and smashed my lips with hers. When we came up for air, I smiled. “Totally enough.”

Her brows dipped. “Enough? You don’t want more kisses?”

I gri

She nodded. “For a month or until I delete them, why?”

“You can watch it later and figure out what I meant by enough.”

I went to kiss her again, and then it hit me that I hadn’t just professed my love to her on that doorbell video and told her she was enough. I’d come back drunk and belligerent. Shit. “Actually, can I borrow your phone a second? I need to see that app…”

 

***

 

That afternoon I’d run out to get us some di

“I was getting concerned.” Autumn looked up from her laptop when I finally returned. She was sitting bare legged with her feet up on the couch. “You’ve been gone almost two and a half hours.”

I set the takeout bag on the kitchen counter and walked over to kiss her. “Sorry.”

She closed her laptop. “I thought talking to plants was an old wives’ tale. It’s an actual thing.”

I smiled. “Deep dive on talking to plants while I was gone?”

She shrugged. “I thought you were making it up.”

I walked back to the kitchen and unpacked the cardboard containers of food. “Nope. But I admit, when Bud first told me he talked to them, I thought he was nuts. I looked it up myself.”

Autumn came into the kitchen. She took a seat at the island across from me. “I watched an entire episode of Mythbusters about it. They set up a bunch of greenhouses next to each other. The silent greenhouses actually showed the least amount of plant growth.”

“Oh yeah?”

She nodded and took an eggroll out of a bag. “I’m starving.”

I laughed. “I could tell. You didn’t even wait for me to get plates or utensils.”

She gri

“I’m teasing. Let’s just eat out of the cartons and share.”

“Okay.” She finished chewing and extended the eggroll to me. “So what took you so long, anyway?”

I shrugged. “Had to get something fixed.”

Her brows drew together. “Vague much? And take a bite and give me back that eggroll.”

“Wow, you’re bossy when you’re hungry.”

She held out her hand. “Bite or give it back.”

I took a bite and handed it off.

“What did you get fixed?”

I pointed to my left arm. “A tattoo.”

She laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”

I pushed up my sleeve and showed her the bandage. A piece of gauze was stretched over the area, followed by a clear plastic covering. “Nope.”

“You just randomly decided to get a tattoo fixed on the way to pick up our Chinese food? What tattoo?”

“The bird.”

“The one in the cage that you got when you were sixteen? I love that one. It was so meaningful, and I could relate to what you were feeling at the time you got it.”

“I could, too. But things change.”

“I don’t understand.”

I slowly peeled the plastic back from my forearm, then lifted the gauze. The original tattoo was a single, small, black bird alone in its cage. Jimmy at Dark Ink had done a few of my tattoos over the years, so I knew what I wanted would be an easy fix. He’d modified one of the bars and turned it into a door, and now the cage was open. I’d also had him add a second bird just outside the door.

“It’s in color!” Autumn smiled. “I thought you said you didn’t think anything was important enough to put in color.”

“It wasn’t. Until now.”

“Wow. Well, it’s beautiful. Before it was so lonely, one bird locked in a cage. But now it almost looks like the little red bird is leading the other one out.”

I smiled. “She is.”

“She? The red bird is a she?”

I nodded. “She’s you, Red.”

I watched Autumn’s face as she stared down at my arm. She’d been smiling and teasing, and her face suddenly fell. I wondered if maybe it was too soon and I’d freaked her out. When her eyes filled with tears, I thought I might’ve really fucked up. But then she got up and walked around the counter.

Autumn leaned down and kissed just above the top of the bandage that was still partially in place. “I love it.” She looked into my eyes. “And I love you, Donovan.”

My head dropped as I let out a loud rush of air. “Jesus. Thank God. I thought I’d upset you.”

“Upset me? God, no.” She placed her hand over her heart. “I just got a little overwhelmed with emotion, that’s all. I love it, and I love what it represents to you, though I think you have it backwards, Donovan. You’re the red bird who helped open my cage and set me free, not the other way around.”

I leaned my forehead against hers. “This was meant to be, Red. You know what else I realized earlier?”

“What?”

“You have to sign a release form when you get a tattoo—at least in the legal places I go to now. I had no idea what the date was, so I asked the guy behind the desk. Today is September thirtieth. It was one year ago today that you stole my luggage.”