Free Everafter (Kissed by an Angel) by Elizabeth Chandler

doesn’t answer. I still miss him. A lot. Do you?”
    Ivy’s throat felt tight, keeping her from answering right away.
    Philip sat straight up and turned to look at her. “You don’t?”
    “Every day I’m not with him, I miss him,” Ivy said.
    “Why did God take him away?”
    “God didn’t,” she replied firmly. “Gregory did.”
    “Then why did God let it happen?”
    “I don’t know, Philip.”
    “Neither does Dad.”
    They were three-quarters of the way across the harbor—so close, Tristan could have come out on the deck and waved to them. It would help Tristan to see Philip. And Philip had always been able to keep her secrets when they were living in the same house as Gregory.
    “Did you tell Dad that you think Tristan came to our house?”
    Philip shook his head. “Some things you can’t say to other people. Dad would probably freak out if I told him Lacey likes to sit in his recliner. After she leaves, I always have to push it back in.”
    Ivy laughed out loud, but tears were in her eyes.
    “Lacey said you’re friends with that guy from the hospital.”
    “Luke,” Ivy responded. “What else did Lacey say?”
    “That he’s hiding from the police, but he didn’t really hurt anybody. Is she right?”
    Ivy heard the trace of worry in her brother’s voice. “Absolutely right. I’m trying to help him.”
    “Why?”
    “Because I care about him.”
    Philip frowned. “More than you care about Will?”
    “ Different than the way I care about Will.”
    “Different than the way you care about Tristan ?”
    This kid didn’t miss much. “More like the way I care about Tristan.”
    Philip looked over his shoulder at her, appraising her with a long, surprisingly adult gaze. All that he had been through had made him wiser than his years, Ivy thought. Her heart rather than her head made the decision: She paddled toward the opposite shoreline.
    “Where we going?” Philip asked.
    “To see a friend.”
    “Luke?”
    “That’s right.” She’d leave it to Tristan to tell Philip who he was.
    Philip was silent while they towed the kayak onto the narrow strip of sandy shore and walked a roundabout route to the house. When they were ten feet from the front door, hidden from the street by a cluster of bushes, Ivy whistled a melody from Carousel. Philip listened as she whistled the song twice, his eyes wide with curiosity. A brass latch turned, operated from the inside, and the main door fell inward about an inch.
    Ivy glanced toward the street, then whispered to Philip, “Walk like we come here all the time.”
    She entered first and Tristan’s arms encircled her.
    “I’ve brought someone to see you, Luke,” Ivy said, letting Tristan know she hadn’t revealed his identity.
    Tristan let go of her. His face lit up. “Philip!”
    Philip looked him up and down, his lips pressed together—measuring “Luke” against two very high standards, the Tristan he had known and Will.
    Tristan smiled at him. “Do you remember me? From the hospital.”
    “Yes.” Philip’s answer was clipped.
    Tristan reached into his jeans pocket, then stretched out his hand. In his palm lay Philip’s angel coin. “You gave me this. I’m never without it.”
    Philip’s eyes dropped to the gold coin. “I thought you needed it.”
    “You were right.”
    Philip began to reach for it, then withdrew his hand.
    After a long silence, Tristan asked uncertainly, “Do you want it back?”
    “I want Ivy to have it.”
    Ivy saw the flicker of hurt pass over Tristan’s face, though he covered it up quickly. She wanted to tell him that Philip saw him as an intruder taking Tristan’s place in her heart. “Philip and I were just talking about Tristan,” she said, “how much he misses him, how he still talks to him even though Tristan doesn’t answer.”
    Tristan nodded, then handed Ivy the coin.
    “Let’s sit down,” she said. “You still have that great movie in the VCR?”
    “Oh, yeah,” Tristan replied, his eyes still