Between the Lanterns(49)

“Oh! Uh, sorry, Sam,” he said haltingly. “I’m… gonna to ride up to the shop and… see how it looks. I’m just wonderin’ if you were right and if it’s already empty.”

“Well, hold on a minute and I’ll come with you, sweets,” she said, wanting to spend some time with him. “Just let me get my helmet, too.”

August held up his hand to stop her.

“Babe, I kinda just want to go alone,” he said, not making eye contact with his wife. “I’m sorry, babe. I just got a lot on my mind and wanna ride a little bit before checkin’ on the shop. Is that alright with you?”

Sam felt relieved. She wasn’t feeling much like going anywhere at the moment, although she didn’t want to be apart from August either.

“Ok, sweets,” she told him. “But please don’t be gone long. I need you here with me, ok?”

August smiled wide and walked over to embrace her. He held her tight to his chest and breathed in deeply of her long, beautiful hair;, a smell that always made him feel like everything was going to be ok.

“You got it, love,” he murmured. “I’ll be back real soon.”

Once he left, Sam wiped her hands on the apron before taking it off. Doing so, she felt the SameSoul in her pocket and realized she had forgotten once again to give it to August. Right away, she took it out and placed it on the dinner table where he was sure to see it when he came home.





-





August hated lying. He was all about telling the truth as much as possible. But when it came to Samantha, he loved her so much that he would do anything to spare her feelings. August didn’t want to upset her one little bit. The entire bike ride to the shop he felt guilty about lying to his wife, even though it was only to keep her from being worried or hurt. His only consolation was that it would all be ok soon. Just a few more days and she would never have to worry again. No stress, no problems. Credit couldn’t solve everything, but it could make your life easier and more relaxing.

He pulled to a screeching halt in front of the shop and noticed right away that his sign was gone. Samantha was usually right about everything, and it seemed like this time was no exception.

August glanced inside through the shop window and found that it was empty. No merchandise on the shelves at all. But he didn’t care about that. He was here for one reason only: to find the SameSoul. He was sure the last time he had it was here, as he sold the blueprints and copyrights of it to Joshua Stevens. He had never meant to give them the prototype, and Chadwick Sheppard had even insisted that August keep it.

So where was it? Had Mr. Stevens stolen the SameSoul? It was driving August crazy because he needed that little box.

He had plans for it.





Chapter 21





LOST AND FOUND





Samantha was lying in bed when August got home. She heard the door slam shut and quickly got up to see him. He was still visibly upset when she came upon him drinking some water in the kitchen.

“Sweets, what is going on? Why are you so upset? Please talk to me,” Sam pleaded.

August finished gulping down the water and looked down at his feet. Despite the desire to keep her from being hurt or upset, he was going to have to tell her what was going on. Well, some of it at least.

“It’s a bunch of stuff really,” he said, starting off slowly. “I mean… I know that we’re like wealthy now and I should be focusin’ on different cultures, and lyin’ on beaches sippin’ on exotic drinks and all that. But I’m scared. What if somethin’ happens to me? Will you be ok out there on your own? Probably, but…”

Samantha started to protest, but August just held up his hands, wanting to get it all out as quickly as possible, and said, “Hang on, let me finish.”

She rolled her eyes and motioned for him to keep going.

“So, the idea of Woodrow goin’ on this trip started me thinkin’ about stuff,” he continued. “We have the SameSoul, right? I could bring it and use it if somethin’ were to happen to me. That way, I could always be there for you, Sam. You wouldn’t have to be alone. I could still do this trip with you. Wouldn’t you like that?”

Samantha bit her lip, quite harder than she meant to do, and gasped a bit as she tasted the coppery blood hit her tongue.

“Yes, sweets,” she admitted. “I think that using Woodrow as a vessel to contain one of us has always been part of the plan, whether we knew it or not. The SameSoul does take it a step further, and make it so if something bad happened, we could still be together for longer. But what about that has got you so upset?”

Samantha didn’t want to make things worse by telling him her continued reservations about using his tech, and her fear that it would keep one of their souls from entering Heaven.

“I can’t find it, babe,” August said, his voice trembling. “It’s lost. Or maybe Mr. Stevens stole it. I can’t remember ever bringin’ it home. The last time I remember havin’ it in my hands was at the shop. And you were right;. The shop was totally ransacked. They took everything. Even the sign I made was missin’. There’s nothin’ there anymore. It’s just gone... my greatest invention ever is lost.”

August sat at the table and put his head down. Samantha felt terrible about what she was going to do next, but in her opinion, it had to be done. Things had changed, and so she had also changed her mind. Sam reached over and picked up the SameSoul, which was sitting across the table from August, who had not even noticed it in his agitated state of mind.