"Simone!"

She knew that voice... that voice that made her heart race and her cheeks flush like no one else. And the fact that Annabelle was here now meant only one thing... she knew.

She must have seen the headlines: NO CHARGES TO BE FILED IN STUDENT/TEACHER SEX SCANDAL. Of course she'd come.


Annabelle flew down the beach, yelling Simone's name. She was here. She had to be. And there she was, wispy blonde hair flying free in the ocean breeze, sitting on the sand, gazing over the water as they had on spring break. And there she was, turning, face lighting up, opening her arms wide to welcome the love of her life.

Annabelle's arms closed about her immediately. They held each other fiercely, unable to believe their good luck. Simone was sobbing, babbling endearments: "I knew you'd come. Oh dear heart... I love you. I love you now and forever."

All Annabelle could do was cry with her and repeat the words she'd said so many weeks before. "I'm not letting you go. I'm not letting you go. I'm never letting you go again. I love you. Oh God how I love you, now and for always."

They kissed then, kissed as they never had before. Stars exploded behind Simone's eyes... she staggered and almost fell... would have fallen if not for Annabelle's arms... rocked with the total, unconditional love she felt for this girl. How could this... this which felt so right... be wrong? She lost herself in Annabelle's eyes... this girl who had made her whole, whole as she had never been since Amanda's death. And so she clung even tighter. Annabelle had, at last, shattered all her defenses. First, by asking about her painted pictures, and then, after reading Amanda's letter, by refusing to let her go, refusing to let her run away... and then their kiss in the rain, and that beautiful song... and now here, it was all complete. At school she may still be Miss Bradley... but here with Annabelle she could be Simone, just Simone.

All of this she poured into their kiss, and she felt Annabelle start to shake. What a relief it was, to know that it affected Annabelle as much as it did her... that Annabelle's defenses, too, had been shattered, and now she was just... just Annabelle.


Much later they lay on the sand, curled together.

"Simone." Her voice was a caress. "What happened?"

Simone closed her eyes briefly. "After we arrived at the police station, they took me to an interrogation room. They asked me what in the hell I thought I was doing. I couldn't say anything. I knew they expected me to babble out nonsense about how I had taken leave of my senses and regretted everything. But I didn't." Annabelle's arms tightened about her. "I couldn't regret it. You made me whole... you healed me. So I was just sitting there, not saying anything. They kept me in jail for two weeks. My last day in the interrogation room, the phone rang. The police officer sat there, stunned, listening to the person talking on the other end of the line. He hung up and said, 'Miss Bradley, Senator Tillman has asked me to drop all charges. You are free to go.' So I came back here, to stay at the house... got here two days ago. I've been waiting ever since... waiting and hoping that you'd come."

Annabelle held her even tighter. "I came as soon as I found out. I've spent the past two weeks thinking of you... dreaming of you... and hoping you didn't regret it. I didn't. You're... everything."

Simone reached back to take her hand. "I don't know what's going to happen next, mon coeur. But after graduation..."

Annabelle took in a sharp breath. "I'm yours, heart and soul."

"And I am yours, dear heart."

Simone didn't know what would happen next... what would come in a month, in a year, or in a decade. But whatever came, she knew that the girl who now held her was all her dreams come true.