The Edge of Forever

Everything happened for a reason.?That's what Poppy Matthews told herself over and over again after she lost her husband and nearly her own life in a terrible accident. And after everything was taken from her, she let the darkness in, let it swallow her whole.?She embraced it.?But she was tired of the loneliness. She was ready to be happy again, move on, experience life. That's what living was about.?And as the years passed, as her heart healed and the future looked brighter, she still kept herself guarded.
It was safer that way, easier to not let herself get hurt again.?Deciding to move to Blithe, Alaska was supposed to be a fresh new start, a change of scenery, and to hopefully find comfort and friendship with Blake Ellis, the brother of the husband she lost. He knew what she was going through.?They both lost the same person who meant the world to them.?It started as two people needing comfort, seeking refuge from the torment of emotions.
They connected, their friendship a safe haven in a wild storm of pain.?But as that friendship started to change into something more, Poppy realized coming to Blithe may very well have altered the course of her life in a way she never anticipated.?Poppy and Blake couldn't stop the inferno that was threatening to burn them both alive, because it felt too. right.?It was forbidden to be with each other, wrong in the eyes of so many, but they couldn't stop, not when for the first time in years they both saw and felt more than just darkness, and that was in each other's arms.?Reader note: This story was previously published under the same title.
It has since been re-edited and revised. Material may be sensitive to some readers.