Chapter Sixteen
Abby
As I stretched out on the bench in Hunter’s tattoo shop, a sense of peace washed over me. I hadn’t seen the tattoo yet, I’d actually told him that I didn’t want to see it until it was done, but Hunter had quickly shot me down.
“You need to see it,” he’d said. “This is going to be inked on your arm for evermore. What if you hate it?”
But I wouldn’t hate it because he had designed it for me so I would love it by default even if it wasn’t something I necessarily would have chosen for myself.
I held my breath as he reached for the paper that held the design. It was ready to be transferred onto my arm and I couldn’t wait. He turned over the sheet and my breath caught. It was incredible.
At the bottom of the tattoo was a wall of flame and above it a tall, slim, brightly colored bird was beginning to take flight.
“It’s a phoenix, rising from the ashes,” he told me.
The words Carpe Diem were written in a beautiful script above the birds head and the entire tattoo was encased in an infinity symbol which was made up of the words courage and strength. In the bottom left-hand corner, there was a butterfly.
My head snapped up. “I thought you didn’t like to tattoo butterflies,” I said.
He shrugged. “I made an exception because a, you like them and b, this one means something.”
“It does?”
He nodded. “I think the phoenix rising from the ashes is self-explanatory, but I suppose the butterfly is too. It’s something that’s been transformed, just as you have been transformed into a strong, beautiful woman who fought cancer and survived.”
A lump formed in my throat.
“Did you see the waves?” he asked, pointing them out.
I hadn’t, but not they’d he told me about them they were plain to see. Before, I’d thought they were just a swirly design around the infinity symbol.
“What do they represent?” I asked.
“The ocean,” he replied. “When I take you to see those damn swimming pigs.”
I burst into tears.
His face became grave. “Don’t cry, Abby,” he soothed. “If you don’t like it, you don’t have to have it. I can work on something else.”
“I love it!” I sobbed. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Tears streamed down my face, but I could do nothing to stem their flow.
He frowned. “Then why are you crying?”
“Because I’m happy,” I said. “I never thought I’d get to be this happy ever again.”
He pulled me into his arms and held me for the longest time. “I’m always going to make you happy,” he said against my ear.
When the tears finally subsided, I held out my arm and let Hunter give me the tattoo of his choice. And mine.