Page 43 of Parrish

“I love you, Junior.”

My hand falls from the stone and a lone tear slides down my cheek as I turn and make my way back down the hill. All eyes lift to mine as I reach my bike and brush away the tears from my eyes. Blackie walks over to me and drapes an arm around my shoulders.

“You know I’ll be here every Saturday, right? He’ll never be alone. Lacey and I won’t allow that.”

Emotion clogs my throat rendering me speechless. I wrap my arms around my son-in-law and pat his back, silently thanking him for his loyalty. That’s when I notice Wolf running towards us with his phone pressed against his ear.

“Parrish,” he calls.

It’s not the way that he calls my name that has my heart clenching. It’s the look on his face. The dreadful expression I’ve seen far too many times, like when he told me Junior was gone and never coming back. As he draws closer, I know for certain whatever he’s going to tell me is something I don’t want to hear.

Pulling away from Blackie, I close the distance between Wolf and me.

“What is it?” I ask, glancing at the phone pressed to his ear.

“There was an accident,” he replies roughly. “It’s Reina and Danny.”

Wolf’s voice fades.

Reality slips from my grasp and the cemetery disappears.

Suddenly, I’m standing in the street in front of my house staring at the dead crow.

It wasn’t Junior following me all these years.

It was death.

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