“It’s good!” a voice I didn’t recognize called.
“Are you all here?” Grace asked.
“No!” three voices responded.
She sighed and grabbed my hand.
I felt like I was watching all of it through a screen. Nothing felt real. Why wasn’t she angrier? She seemed ... okay?
We walked into a small living room. This house had a similar charm to Grace’s.
“There. Now we can talk. I have a feeling whatever happened shouldn’t be overheard by my friends, even if they’re well-meaning.”
“Everyone’s gonna know anyway.” I shook my head. “Don’t worry about it.”
“They don’t tell the Facebook group anything.”
“Not them. I was ... in town earlier. I ran into Kerry.”
“Oh no.” She bit her lip. “I should have left a note too. Or texted. I’msosorry.”
“It’s fine.”
“I know you hate running into people in the town. Especially when they’re hunting for a story.”
“Running into them wasn’t fun, but it wasn’t the end of the world. Kerry helped in the end. She deduced where you were.”
“Not the end of the world?” she repeated. “Who are you?”
I shook my head. “I’m figuring that out. But you should know I don’t wanna be the kind of guy who lets you wake up alone. I owe you an explanation.”
I gestured for her to sit and I did the same. It gave me just a second to think about what to say. This wouldn’t be elegant or perfect, but I needed to say it.
“You remember that my dad died?”
“Wow, we’re going right into it?”
I only shrugged. “Why delay?”
“That’s fair, and I do remember that. I’d never forget.”
Talking about this wasn’t comfortable. For so long, I’d avoided things like this. “I was young when he died, and I didn’t realize how much I treated it like a fact, not something that changed me. I thought all of my issues with attachment came from that girl in high school, but even then, I was still scared. I just didn’t know why. And yesterday, I felt the same way.” She opened her mouth to say something, but I shook my head. “It was nothing you did, don’t worry.”
“You know me so well.”
“I do. And I want to know you more. I don’t have a lot of memories of my dad, but I do remember how he always seemed to know what Mom was thinking. She both loved and hated it.”
“That sounds amazing.”
“And it was. And then it ended.” I looked down and forced myself to continue. “I’ve never seen Mom like that. She was broken. She begged for it to be a dream and—” My voice cracked and Grace’s hand landed on my shoulder.
“It wasn’t one.”
“Mom and Dad were the pinnacle of love to me. But not how they feltduringit.”
“It was the end you remembered.” Her voice was soft.
“I’ve tried not to think of that night ever since it happened, but when I finally faced what Ithoughtwas my fear and asked you out, it reared its ugly head.” My heart hammered and I couldn’t look at her, but I spoke anyway. “I had a nightmare about that night. But instead of burying Dad, I buried you.”