Page 69 of Dreams
“Tay?” her dad asked from the doorway.
She pushed her computer away as he sat next to her on the bed.
“You okay up here?”
She thought about his simple question for a long moment before speaking. “Can I ask you something?”
“Shoot.”
“You think we can love more than one person?”
“Honey, you can love as many people as you choose to open yourself up to.” He nudged her, and she laid her head on his shoulder.
“Are you okay with me and Josh?”
“Before the past year happened, I’d have said no. Now I just want to see you smile. My turn to ask a question.”
“Shoot.” She smiled at the way she turned his word back towards him.
“Are you okay with you and Josh?” He gestured to the video folder that was still up on the screen and gave her a concerned look.
“Oh… this… I’m just trying to figure out what to do.”
“That didn’t answer my question.”
“Okay,” she said slowly. “How’s this—Yes. Josh is what I want. What I need.”
“Then he’s what I want for you too.” He gave her a short side hug, kissing the top of her head, and left her to her thoughts.
She sent a quick message to Josh.
I could really use some French fries tonight.
He responded quickly.
You and your weird naked fries.
Wish you were here,she typed.
Me too. I want to kiss you so hard right now.
See you soon,she sent back before putting her phone down. She had a mission tonight. Something she needed to do before going to sleep.
She had two USB drives that she’d wiped clean. Plugging the first one into her computer, she copied all the videos onto it before pulling it out and dropping into the envelope she’d already addressed and stamped.
Danny left home when he was fifteen to play for the Winterhawks. After that, his family only saw him for holidays and part of the summer. It was something they regretted. She knew that because they’d cornered her at the funeral, wanting to know more about their son. She hadn’t been kind. In fact, she’d been pretty horrible to them. A year later, at the memorial service, she’d avoided them altogether.
Taylor had a lot of these videos. Videos that could say everything she hadn’t been able to tell them.
When the second USB was loaded, she went to her closet and pulled out the box she hadn’t opened in a year. It was full of Danny’s things and gifts he’d gotten her. It was stuff she couldn’t throw away. She dropped the USB into the box and shut her closet.
Then she did the only thing that was left. Slowly, she highlighted all the videos. Her finger hovered over the Delete button for a moment before finally pressing it down. She didn’t need the videos to remember. They only held her back. It was time.
Shutting her laptop, she put it on her desk before switching off the light and crawling into bed, falling asleep with only one boy on her mind. One who was very much alive.
