Page 161 of Heartless
Chapter Forty—Goodbyes
Jake
I stepped into the kitchen, and it went quiet.
Sienna’s loveliness shone through her soft gaze.“I’ve only just realized everyone had met your father before the accident, and I was asking about him.”
I took the seat at the head of the table beside her.“He would have turned you into a hiker like he did with Bianc.”
Gasping, she twisted to face Bianc.“Were you not scared of bears?”
Bianc laughed.“No, for me it was snakes, so James told me to stomp my feet.I looked like a right idiot military-marching through the woods before he took pity on me and told me he’d never seen one.”
Cam grinned and pushed her chair back.“I remember that day.Jake, beer?”
“Yes, please.”
“Can I get one, too, Cam?”Sile asked.
“Sure.”
Sienna’s glass of wine was half full, so was Bianc’s.
After Cam had returned to the table with a bottle of wine and our beers, I lifted mine in a cheer.“To James Adrian Rhodes.”
While more memories of my dad were shared, Sienna curled her fingers around the stem of her glass.“He sounds awesome.”
Cam nodded.“He was.He didn’t visit often, but when he did, it was fun.”Her gaze dropped to her bottle.“But anyone who met him could sense the deep loneliness inside him.He never said anything but sometimes he would just be kind of faraway and sad.”
Sienna’s hand found my wrist, and she slid her fingers between mine.
While I kissed the back of her hand, Cam’s eyes lifted to mine.“I’m sorry, Jake.You probably don’t want to—”
“I’m good, Cam.And you’re right.He was sad.”
Sienna’s hand tightened, and my chest expanded.The kitchen fell into a bittersweet commemorative silence.
With my eyes on my beer, I said, “He moved before he died.I was holding his hand, and his fingers clenched.”
When they all turned to me, I took a swig of my beer.“It was just a physical reaction.The last jerk of his dying body.”
Cutting through the heavy stillness, Sienna’s voice was soft.“Or maybe he was saying goodbye.”
