Ascension by Bailey Bradford (desktop ebook reader txt) 📕

“Me too, I swear,” Ro said against his lips. Conner didn’t doubt it. He kissed Ro there, under that sky he’d nearly lost himself in, and he knew their souls would always find each other. Neither death nor life would keep them apart.

Epilogue

Ten years later

The small town of McKinton, Texas was getting smaller in some ways, bigger in others. Ro had watched people come and go in the decade since he’d passed away. More had left than arrived, except during a brief oil boom.

The spirit plane was thinning out, too. He and Conner had seen several spirits give up the ghost, so to speak, and float off into the great beyond.

Thinking about doing that made Ro break out in a sweat. Dying once had been hard enough. Taking another step into the unknown? Yeah, he didn’t want to go there.

“What’s with the frown?”

Ro turned to find Conner leaning against a lamppost, arms crossed casually over his broad chest, hip cocked, blond hair tousled—he looked damned sexy and Ro wanted to jump him right then and there.

“Ro?” Conner arched one eyebrow at him.

Ro sighed. He didn’t want to sound like a whiny kid.

Conner was beside him in an instant, tucking two fingers under Ro’s chin and nuzzling Ro’s cheek with his nose. “Hey, come on. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“I’m just in a mood,” Ro muttered, wrapping his arms around Conner. “You’d think things like moods and pouts and whatever would die with the body.”

“Nah, not if they weren’t physical things,” Conner disagreed. “So what’s got you moody? Was it what happened earlier?”

“That, and what happened yesterday—or was it the day before?” Ro shrugged. The days tended to blend together. “We’ve had six of us decide to go up there.” He pointed at the sky. “McKinton’s living population is shrinking, too. Between the drought and the rise and fall of the oil prices, people have left for better jobs, we’ve had two of the farmers up and leave. At least we still have Zeke and Brendon here, but, I mean…” He sighed again. “It’s all changing. What if you or I decide one day that we’re tired of being here?”

“Then we go somewhere else,” Conner said confidently. “And we do it together. We don’t have to stay in McKinton. We can travel, see other places, like Laine and Sev do.”

“I’m just being contrary. I don’t want to leave, not while Dad’s still alive, and I’ve kinda gotten fond of Adela’s kids, and since Martin’s moved back and stopped being a dick, he’s fun to mess with. I’m just…I’m scared,” he admitted, clinging tighter. “I know you said that we wouldn’t just get sucked up out of this plane, but I worry lately. I don’t understand what makes someone want to leave here.”

“Ericka told us she was curious and ready to see what happened next,” Conner said. “The others… Well, I don’t know, but it was their choice. I felt that tug before, and I resisted. They could have, too.”

Ro shook his head. “Maybe not. Maybe they weren’t as strong as you are, Conner. Maybe none of us are.”

Conner kissed him gently. “Wow, you are in a funk, honey. Come on.”

Rather than fly or blink over to wherever Conner had in mind, he took Ro’s hand and started them walking down the sidewalk.

“Look there, at Virginia’s Café. Still the same as it’s always been, and hasn’t changed it at all since I’ve been here.” Conner grinned. “And I’ve been here for a long time.”

“A memory that’s not helping,” Ro griped.

Conner squeezed his hand. “Most of the businesses that were here before the oil boom are still here,” Conner continued. “Sheriff’s department’s the same, just has Matt as sheriff now. And think about that—the couples we know, they’re all still together, and living here. Even Laine and Sev make this their home. They just leave a lot.”

Conner didn’t sound too thrilled about that. “You miss them.”

“Sure,” Conner agreed. “But I want them to have fun and enjoy their lives.”

“They’re getting older while we look the same,” Ro pointed out. “I’m scared of losing them, or Dad, or Adela or Martin. All the sudden, I’m scared of losing everyone. It’s ridiculous. There shouldn’t be this kind of stress in the afterlife!”

“Doesn’t have to be,” Conner said.

“I know. I’m just…I’m just…ugh!” Ro wanted to punch a wall. “I don’t even know. Maybe I’ve got too much time on my hands.”

“And maybe you worry about the people you love. That’s not a bad thing, but yeah, you can’t let it tie you in knots.” Conner stopped them once they reached the park. “You and I both know that life and death happens. All we can hope for is that the living have easy deaths, that they don’t suffer, not in life or death. We can want to keep them here, with us, but that’s selfish. They need to do what’s best for them. We have to let them go, if that’s the decision they make.”

“You’re so wise,” Ro teased, though he meant it, too.

Conner snorted at him. “That’s as deep as this river runs, stud.”

Laughter burst out of Ro before he even knew it was going to happen.

Conner winked and tipped his chin up. “Are you mocking me?” he asked in a deep Southern drawl. “Don’t you know how brilliant and talented I am?”

“Oh, yeah, you are, both of those things,” Ro agreed. “And you’re right, about the rest. I don’t know why I get tied up in knots about it. I just…I love them, you know?”

Conner nodded. “I do know. When I first came here, it was for Laine. I loved him for a long time, and I had to help him. When I first met Sev, when I saw the sparks that him and Laine gave off around each other, God, I was so pissed off. More at me than anyone else. If I hadn’t been stupid and gotten myself killed—and I know,