Page 34 of Dreams
Chapter Eight
The team’s plane got in late from Detroit where they’d beaten the Red Wings in overtime. Mack had his third career hat trick, so the media scrum after the game was insane. Other than that, it was your average game. The odd thing about Detroit is that they never failed to sell out their games, but the arena never felt full. Josh found he missed the energy of the Jackets’ arena when they traveled that short distance north.
Throwing his bag on the ground near the door, he pulled his phone out before heading straight for his room to get some much needed sleep. The screen lit up, and the phone chimed to alert him to a new voicemail.
“Son,” his dad’s message started. “I’m sorry to miss you. You probably have a game right now.” There was a note of pride in the man’s voice. He’d always bragged about his professional athlete son. “I have a triple bypass to perform, so I’ll be quick. I’m going to be in Columbus in a couple of weeks to do a talk at The Ohio State University. I’ve already checked your game schedule and you’ll be home, so I’d like to catch a game. I’ll have one of the girls send over the information for you.”
Josh winced. ‘One of the girls’ meant one of the two receptionists that worked for him and were rumored affairs of his father’s. It was why he loved the man, but couldn’t respect him. The rest of the world didn’t agree as they stumbled over themselves to get the great surgeon to do lectures at their universities.
“I’ll see you soon, Josh.”
The message ended as a tired grin stretched across Josh’s face. He plugged the phone in and kicked off his shoes before collapsing onto his bed. It would be good to see his dad. In contrast to the rest of his family, the man was free with his affections and easy to please. He didn’t have disapproval streaming from his pores like Josh’s mother.
As excited as he was for his dad to see him play, exhaustion won over and Josh fell into a dreamless sleep.
* * *
“Hey, Mom!” Taylor called as she burst through the front door and ran up the stairs.
Her mom yelled something back, but Taylor didn’t hear her as she reached her room. She didn’t know what possessed her to come, but talking to Josh suddenly made her realize she had it all wrong. She hadn’t been able to bring herself to draw since Danny’s death. He’d loved watching her, and he’d been her favorite subject. It hadn’t felt right to just carry on doing what she loved when he didn’t get to. But, that’s not what he would’ve wanted.
She’d had a dream once. He’d been a part of it, but he hadn’t been the whole dream.
It’s okay to move on.
Josh wasn’t the first person to say that to her. Her parents had been saying the same thing for over a year, but she hadn’t wanted to listen. She didn’t understand why it suddenly made sense. She’d spent the last couple days trying to figure it out. Then she realized why she couldn’t.
Her sketches were how she’d always made sense of the world. With the charcoal in her hand, her mind would clear.Peace.It was that peace Josh had talked about. It gave her the space to think, to create her own reality. It wasn’t going to be easy, but it was time. Time to try to make sense of a world that didn’t have Danny in it. Time to find something in it other than the cruelty of death.
But it wasn’t there. Taylor started rifling through the piles on her desk. She opened each drawer, throwing notebooks and papers out onto the floor to continue her search. The last drawer came up empty.
“Damn it,” she grunted, slamming the drawer shut with her foot.
Looking around the room, trying to figure out where to look next, Taylor noticed her mom watching her from the doorway.
“Are you okay, Taylor?” she asked, concern drawing down the corners of her mouth.
“Yes,” Taylor barked in frustration. “Please don’t ask me that. It’s been a year with nothing but that damn question.”
Her brow furrowed as she regarded her daughter. “I’m going to let that tone slide because you’re obviously upset.”
Taylor leaned back in her desk chair and breathed deeply, trying to calm herself down. She didn’t know why she was so upset, but the sketchbook she’d never wanted to see again suddenly felt like a lifeline and she had to find it.
“Sorry, Mom,” she said quietly. One nod acknowledged the apology. “Do you know where my sketchbook is?”
Her mom’s lips tilted up, a new hope in her eyes. She walked forward slowly and bent down to fold her arms around Taylor. She sighed and squeezed tighter.
“Uh,” Taylor said after a long moment. “Mom.”
“Right.” She released her and straightened up, wiping a tear from her eye. “I caught your sister with it last week, so it’s hidden in your father’s desk downstairs.”
“Thanks.”
She found the spiral-bound book on the bookshelf in her dad’s office. Pulling it down slowly, she ran a palm over the smooth blue cover and closed her eyes, remembering.
When she walked out into the living room, Evie was standing close to the TV asThe Lion Kingplayed for the millionth time. Her little feet moved quickly, dancing to the music. Taylor laughed at the sight and sat down on the couch, flipping open her sketchbook as she did.
Evie stopped dancing and ran to the couch, jumping onto it face first and then wiggling up next to her sister. “Who’s that?” she asked as Taylor stilled. Danny’s face smiled back at her. She touched a single finger to his cheek, drawing it down to that patented goofy smile. She’d always been able to draw that so perfectly because it was burned into her mind.
