"Where have you been?" Ruth asked her husband when he returned to the house with the those who'd been in the cave. Everyone else continued down the stairs towards the kitchen and the family room, but Reuben, Mr. Simms and Aaron joined Ruth in the living room, up a half-flight of stairs.

"Down in the shaft in Greg's cave," Reuben told her truthfully. "It is fascinating to me that such a thing could be under his property."

"Don't you mean beside his house?" Ruth asked.

Reuben thought for a moment. "No, I don't think so, Ruth. The vertical shaft where we went is north of the cottage. It slopes slightly westward beneath the hill, so I don't think it is very close to the house."

Ruth looked at her husband curiously. "What are you talking about, Reuben?"

"He's trying to tell you about this big hole in the ground connected to Grandpa's cave, Grandma," Aaron told her. "It drops pretty much straight down, but it has this spiral shaped ledge you can walk on. It's pretty cool."

"What were you doing there?" Ruth asked curiously.

"Helping Greg and Neil with the gas detector," Reuben explained.

"It will make things safer them tomorrow, Ruth," Mr. Simms said.

"Are you going with them?" Ruth asked Mr. Simms in surprise.

"No, but I expect to be making things to help them," Mr. Simms explained.

"What sorts of things?" Ruth asked.

"Ladders ... sets of stairs," Mr. Simms said. He shrugged slightly. "I help where I can."

"Why?" Ruth asked him.

"I enjoy it. Also ... I'm beginning to suspect it's what I'm here to do," Mr. Simms told her seriously. "If that is true, then it is a thing I must do."

"Is it really that important?" Ruth wondered.

"For my soul and yours ... yes, it is. Also, if we truly care about these people, it is what we need to do. Greg, Susan ... even Jessie I suspect ... they are on their last life. They will have no other chances after this," Mr. Simms struggled to explain.

"I don't see what that has to do with us ... or this cave Reuben is talking about," Ruth said with a frown.

"Greg believes going into it will help him remember something critical from a past life. There is some final lesson it is necessary for him to learn," Mr. Simms said.

"Not only for Greg, Ruth ... but also for me ... and Neil and Shelly and Rosemary too I suspect. I don't think this is our last life as it is for Greg and Susan ... but we too have been at this a long time," Reuben told her.

Mr. Simms regarded the other man thoughtfully. "Greg told me he thought there were other people involved with this memory."

"There are. We first met to talk about this about a year ago. From what we were able to tease out at the time, we believed there were six of us who shared some experience, in a past life ... but we were missing one person. We aren't now," Reuben told him.

Mr. Simms cocked his head. "Six. You mean you, Greg, Susan, Neil, Rosemary, and Shelly."

"Yes," Reuben said. "I understand Shelly is new to this, but I have reason to believe she is the person we've been waiting for."

"If that is true, then perhaps Greg and Susan will finally be able to solve the mystery of this one last dream," Mr. Simms said.

"I hope they do," Reuben said seriously, just as Shelly came upstairs, temporarily interrupting their conversation.

"I wanted to say goodbye," she told them. "My family and I are getting ready to go home."

"Already?" Reuben said in surprise.

"We'll be back early tomorrow ... at least the kids and I will be. I'm not sure Kevin will come ... but maybe that's okay," Shelly said. "He's seen the cave. I don't know how he knows, but he does understand this is important to me."

Reuben nodded. "Your husband is a good man, Shelly. I'm not sure many husbands could understand that sort of thing."

"Or wives," Shelly said pointedly as she looked towards Ruth. "It's been lovely to see you again ... both of you. And to meet you too, Mr. Simms."

"My pleasure, Shelly. Good night," Mr. Simms said.

Shelly smiled and turned to go. To his surprise, instead of leaving in the direction of the front door as Reuben, Ruth, and Mr. Simms expected her to, she walked back down to the library. Mr. Simms got up and looked down the stairs in time to see the bookcase close behind the Goodmans, Greg, and Susan.

"They came in that way," Ruth explained. "They probably left something in the cottage they need to retrieve."

"Of course," Mr. Simms said. He sighed. "I suppose we should find out what everyone else is doing?"

"Probably a good idea if people are starting to leave," Reuben agreed.

"Cool," Aaron said, and he led the way down the stairs, followed by Ruth, Reuben and Mr. Simms.

c

Mrs. Abernathy was sitting at the kitchen table drinking a cup of tea and talking with Jenny when Ruth came into the room.

"Would you like a piece of pie?" Mrs. Abernathy offered.

"No, thank you," Ruth told her. "We thought perhaps we should visit with some of the rest of Greg and Susan's company before anyone else decides to go home."

"Aside from Rosemary's parents, I don't think anyone else is planning to leave ... at least not today," Mrs. Abernathy said. "Rosemary and Neil have taken Cathy and Leo down to the garden for a walk."

"That looks like a very good idea," Reuben commented. "Ruth, Bob, care to join me?"

"I don't mind if I do," Mr. Simms said.

"I'll come," Ruth agreed.

The three of them went out onto the balcony and slowly began to make their way down the stairs. Mrs. Abernathy watched them go. By the time they got to the bottom, Greg and Susan were back from seeing their guests out through the cottage front door.

"Where is everyone?" Susan asked.

"Zack and the other boys are in his room. Jessie and the girls are in her room. Some of the men are still watching football, as you can see, and everyone else has gone down to the garden for a walk," Mrs. Abernathy said.

"That sounds like a very good idea," Greg said. He turned to his wife and asked, "Care to join me?"

"Oh, I don't know. I hate to leave Mom and Jenny sitting here by themselves," Susan said.

"Maybe we could come too," Jenny suggested. "What do you say, Mildred? It is lovely outside ... so very different from the way it was last year."

"It was raining last year," Mrs. Abernathy recalled. "I remember Dick saying what a blessing it was, because he didn't want anyone to know he couldn't keep up if we were to go for a walk like we usually do."

"Would you prefer to stay indoors, Mom?" Susan wondered.

Mrs. Abernathy considered the lengthening shadows of the late afternoon. Normally a walk would be a very good idea ... but she couldn't help wondering if she had the energy for one today. She'd kept herself busy these past few days, first preparing for the funeral, then her husband's wake, and then Thanksgiving. Now that all those things were over, there was nothing left to busy herself with except to gather Dick's things and prepare to go home.

"No thank you," she told her daughter, feeling suddenly tired. "I think I'd rather sit here and drink my tea."

Susan nodded. "Okay. We won't be long," she promised and she followed Greg out the door.

Greg took Susan's hand and together they walked down the balcony stairs. Susan didn't say anything ... she didn't have to. Greg knew her well enough to know she was worried.

"What are you thinking?" he asked when they got to the bottom.

"About Mom. She usually enjoys an evening walk after a busy day. It's not like her to shut herself in the house this way," Susan said. She furrowed her brow as they walked along the path beside the pool.

"She's kept herself busy every day since we returned from New York. I understand why that is. I did the same thing when Madeline died," Greg said.

"I remember," Susan said.

"Sometimes it's easier to keep yourself so busy with life you don't have time to mourn. But she needs to, Susan," Greg said. "It's going to be difficult ... as you and I both know. Being the one left behind when your soulmate dies is always a painful thing. We feel their loss so acutely, it is hard to go on. But it's something everyone has to do ... eventually. It's how life continues on."

"I know that's what health professionals always tell people ... but I also know that sometimes people don't. Sometimes even those who are comparatively healthy when their spouse dies, don't last long. I don't know what it is exactly ... maybe it's because their will to continue on alone leaves them ... then they too are gone," Susan told him. "I don't want that to happen to Mom ..."

"But you fear it may," Greg realized.

Susan nodded. "I can't put my finger on it exactly ... but there is something that tells me it may happen that way for Mom and Dad ... just as we know Melody will also leave us someday. This feels like the beginning of a long series of goodbyes to me."

"Try not to think of it that way," Greg urged. "I think sometimes you and I know things from our many experiences with the end of life that others don't have. But I don't know as it is particularly helpful to dwell on such things in the here and now."

"You're probably right ... still ..."

Susan didn't have the opportunity to say anything more about it. They encountered the Zimmermans when they reached the bottom of the switchbacks that led them into the garden.

Cathy smiled and called to them from a short distance away.

"Hello! Your gardens are lovely, Susan," Cathy remarked.

"Thank you," Susan said automatically.

"Rosemary has been showing us around the outside of your lovely home. Your grounds are quite spread out, and yet this place doesn't feel like a mansion," Leo commented.

"I don't believe it qualifies as a mansion, Leo," Greg said. "The house is comfortably large however it has half the square footage of my former home in Beverly Hills."

"Yes, but this is a country house, Greg. It has a different feel entirely than that place," Cathy told him. "Your guest rooms feel quite separate instead of being part of the main house. Your view is spectacular. You can see both the city in the distance, and the ocean spread out in front of you ... and yet you have wildlife in your back yard. That is something you definitely never had in Beverly Hills."

"Very true," Greg told her. "It represents a change, Cathy. I got used to doing with far less than I had before, during those years comprising our journey. What I have now is plenty ... in fact, in some ways I feel far richer now than I have ever been."

"If you measure riches by the love and devotion of your family, then I'd say you are correct," Leo commented.

"Do you think so?" Greg asked the other man curiously.

"Yes. Very few men could open their homes so completely to not only the family they had with their former wives, but also the women themselves. Ruth and Reuben seem quite at home here ... and yet, Cathy and I can fully remember you and Ruth and your home together in Los Angeles, when Julie and Alan were young," Leo said.

"That was many years ago, Leo," Greg told the other man. "I have learned a great deal since then ... I believe Ruth has too."

"Is that what you attribute this to?" Ruth asked as she, Reuben and Mr. Simms joined them, approaching them from another direction from a different path.

"Have you another explanation?" Greg asked his ex-wife.

Ruth studied him for a moment. "Perhaps," she said finally.

"Yes?" Greg asked.

Ruth didn't answer immediately, but when she did she was speaking to Leo instead of Greg while they walked.

"Greg and I have known each other since childhood, Leo," Ruth said. "We grew up together ... something we finished doing while we were raising children ourselves. We were far too young to get married or to become parents when we did ... but we didn't know better. We also didn't handle it very well when we learned that was true."

"No, we didn't," Greg agreed.

"There were a lot of hard feelings because we found ourselves doing something we'd never been prepared to do. It was hard on everybody ... not only Greg and me, but also on our children ... the entire reason we were together to begin with. Now though ... we've had time to heal. Everyone has matured. Those difficult times are behind us. Also, we've weathered more than a few troubles of a different sort," Ruth said.

"How do you mean?" Leo asked.

"I saw firsthand what it did to my children to lose their father. No matter what I thought of Greg before that, or how tense things got between us, I also knew I never wanted him dead. Losing my life-long friend hurt. I might not have been married to him anymore, but he and I have been friends since the second grade, and I grieved a long time when he died. I found myself wishing I'd had the wisdom after our marriage ended, to reignite the friendship we once had," Ruth explained.

"Then he came back," Cathy said.

"Yes, he did. But he was hardly the same man. The bitterness and resentment I'd seen in him for all those years was gone ... despite the hardships he'd seen, he was a better man. Greg became a better version of himself when he came back than he was when he disappeared. It was easier to forget, to push the hard feelings aside, and to begin to feel the friendship we once had, start anew," Ruth said.

"That is definitely true," Reuben said.

"It's like it was in the movie," Cathy realized.

"How do you mean?" Leo asked.

"The character Albert changed over the course of the movie. So did Greg," Cathy reminded her husband.

"Anyone going through that would be changed," Leo agreed. "The physical hardships were extreme."

"That much is true," Greg agreed.

"But it's more than that, Leo. He changed because of Susan," Cathy said.

"That is your opinion, Cathy," Leo told his wife. "They didn't actually come out and say that in the movie."

"We didn't, but it does happen to be true," Greg told the other man. "Things changed considerably once we went from being two individuals experiencing adversity at the same time to two people experiencing adversity together."

"How do you mean?" Mr. Simms asked.

"We became friends," Susan told the old man. "I didn't know Greg before the crash. Despite our dreams ..., which at the time I regarded as pure fantasy, I considered him a stranger. In my mind, I woke up injured and alone. I knew Greg was a celebrity ... I'd seen his movies. However, that gave me absolutely no idea what kind of person he might be in real life. After living with him for six months, first on our island, then sailing the Oyster, I knew him much better. Slowly after that, we became friends."

"Did it really take that long?" Reuben asked in surprise.

"Yes," Susan said.

Greg considered his wife for a time, thinking back to that time. "I agree," he said at last.

"Why? You were soulmates. There was nobody there to interfere ... what took so long?" Reuben asked.

"Remember, when I first encountered Susan, she was injured ... much more grievously than we showed in our movie. Furthermore, she was unconscious for more than a day ... something we also down played significantly. I'd watch two others of our fellow passengers die before she awoke. When she did, my priority was our survival," Greg explained.

"I was hallucinating due to my injuries, Reuben. I wasn't sure I could trust what I was seeing," Susan added.

"So what you are saying is, you didn't fall into each other's arms and become lovers immediately," Leo said.

"No," Susan said.

"Definitely not," Greg agreed. "We might have been on that island on our own, but neither of us was truly alone. Madeline died only hours before I met Susan. Susan had a husband and children at home. Those people were continually on our minds. For us, romance took a long time."

"Years," Susan agreed.

"Years?" Rosemary said unexpectedly.

"It took us more than a year to arrive in St. Augustine's," Greg reminded her. "It was another year before we could leave."

"That was like, ten minutes in your movie!" Rosemary protested. "There was your arrival, giving up the baby, fishing, the rice kitchen, saving money, dancing, then you were leaving."

"Living there was very monotonous. There wasn't much that happened to us that varied," Greg said. "But it wasn't quick. It took Susan and I a long time to move on from there."

"Were you a couple by the time you left?" Reuben asked. "That part wasn't clear in the movie."

"It wasn't because it wasn't clear to us," Susan said. "For example, my husband remarried during the time Greg and I were in St. Augustine's, but Michael and I had never divorced. He didn't know I was alive. Greg and I did start dancing to fill our time in the evenings, but we were worried about doing something wrong ... so I don't think either of us was thinking in those terms by the time we left ... at least not openly."

"We weren't," Greg agreed. "We knew it was what we needed to do. Which is why I say Reuben, that process took years."

"Then it's not something to be rushed," Cathy said with a glance at her daughter. Neil was walking with them too, but so far, he hadn't contributed to the conversation.

"I don't think we're rushing, Mother," Rosemary insisted.

"You've only known each other a year," Leo told her.

"Dad, I've known Neil since I was six. We were at Hebrew School at the same time," Rosemary reminded him.

"But that was before either of you were of age," Leo told her.

Neil shrugged. "That may be true ... but I do know her, Mr. Zimmerman. Rosie and I have dreams too ... like the ones Greg put in his movie. We know this is what the Lord has planned for us. It's what we need to do. Besides, we're not getting married until next June."

Leo arched a brow. "So you have dreams of my daughter, swimming naked in a pond?"

"They are different dreams," Neil said. "But they're of the same kind. For us, our most persistent one has to do with a cave."

"What happened to you in a cave?" Cathy asked curiously.

"A lot of things ... however, we were married in one ... once upon a time," Neil said.

"We were too ... the first time," Susan said.

"The sages in the cave by the underground stream?" Neil asked. "It was one of the scenes Greg put in the movie."

"Yes," Susan said.

"Is that one of your nightmares, Susan?" Rosemary asked.

"No ... not specifically. It was a bit frightening at the time, but now it's one of my good dreams," Susan tried to explain.

"Is it?" Greg asked.

"Yes. It was a step of faith, being married like that, trusting that you and the Lord would take care of me. It felt like the first step along a very long path," Susan said.

"It has been that," Greg said.

"Perhaps that's what our journey into your cave should be like tomorrow," Neil said.

"Oh?" Susan asked.

"A step of faith ... for us all."

"Who all, Neil?" Cathy asked.

"Everyone who is going. From what I understand, we will have a fairly large group," Neil said.

"We will," Susan said. She turned to the west, noticing how low the sun was growing in the sky. "If you'll excuse me, I think it might be time for me to head back to the house to check on my family. I suspect the children are growing hungry, and I don't want to leave Melody with Mom too long."

"Actually, we should probably be going," Cathy remarked.

"What time is it?" Leo asked.

"Five-thirty," Cathy told her husband.

"Yes, we should. We can just make services at Temple if we leave now," Leo said.

"Are they holding services tonight?" Greg asked in surprise.

"It's a special service," Leo explained. "However we intended to go."

"Then let's see what we can do to ensure you are not late," Greg said.

"That sounds like a good idea," Reuben said. "Don't wait for us. We'll walk back with Bob."

Greg and Susan nodded to show they'd heard. Then they and the Zimmermans set out at a much faster pace, headed back to the house.

c

Ruth, Reuben and Mr. Simms weren't very far behind, and they found they'd arrived just in time to join the Abernathys in saying goodbye to Cathy and Leo. To their surprise, it wasn't only the Zimmermans who were leaving, Julie and her family were talking about going home too. Ruth found her daughter in the kitchen, packaging up leftovers from their Thanksgiving dinner to take with them.

"You're leaving?" Ruth asked Julie in surprise.

"We thought we would. Dad and Susan are very crowded at the moment with so many of us here, and they've got that excursion planned for tomorrow. I don't really want the boys to go with them, and we'd probably be in the way if we stayed. Besides, the boys both have things going on at home. Elliot and I do too," Julie struggled to explain.

"Yeah, Grandma. I have this project for school I'm supposed to be working on," Aaron explained.

"What sort of project, Aaron?" Ruth asked.

"It's a geology project for my science class. I'm going to write a report about Grandpa's cave," Aaron explained. "Uncle Neil told me stuff about it when we were down there today. It sounds really interesting, and it's due on Monday, so that's what I'm going to write about."

Reuben exchanged a look with his wife. "It sounds like they have a good reason to get home."

"We do," Elliot agreed. "Have we got everything, Julie?"

"Just about," Julie said. "I just need to say goodbye to everybody."

"Give me the food. I'll put it in the car," Elliot said.

Julie handed him the package and she set about trying to find all the family in order to say goodbye. Most who weren't in the family room or the kitchen had migrated up to the living room, making it relatively easy. She even found Melody up there, cruising along the furniture under Cindy's watchful eye.

Julie arched her brow when she saw her sister-in-law watching the baby so attentively.

"What? You know Alan and I can hardly wait," Cindy said.

"I know that ... but you do know Melody is special," Julie said. "Cruising doesn't typically last that long for most babies."

"No, it doesn't," Ruth said. She'd followed her daughter to the living room to say goodbye. "Most children Melody's age are already walking."

"She will," Cindy said. "I know you all say her development is slow ... and maybe it is, but she can stand by herself now, if she lets go."

"Have you seen her do that?" Julie asked.

"Just watch," Cindy said. She turned to Melody and said. "Melody ... look what I have." She extended her hand towards the baby with a favorite toy.

Melody studied her for a moment, looking across the gap from the sofa where she was currently holding onto a cushion, to where Cindy was sitting on the sofa facing it. She turned, then let go with both hands in order to reach for the toy. She didn't move her feet, but she managed to balance there a full minute before sitting back and crawling to Cindy instead.

"I see what you mean," Julie said. "Maybe she will be walking by the end of the year."

"Maybe Mom ... but look at her. Does she look kind 'a blue to you?" Aaron asked.

"Oh but it didn't last long," Cindy said.

Julie frowned as she studied Melody's color. It was better once she resorted to crawling again, but Aaron was right ... she was a bit bluer than was normal for her while trying to stand on her own.

"I wonder if Susan has seen that," she said half to herself.

"We'll show her," Cindy promised getting up. "You're leaving?"

"Yes," Elliot said as he came back inside through the front door. "The boys both have school projects they're supposed to be working on, so we should."

Slowly a few more people gathered to say goodbye, then Julie and her family were gone. The sun was now going down and it was clear that their Thanksgiving Day was done.

c