Page 74 of Unforgettable
She tucked her hands underneath her legs and gazed out the passenger’s-side window. “My mom is buried there.”
Fuck me.
I was a dick, bastard, asshole, and the list went on, but I wasn’t one to shove death in someone’s face. I pulled off into a gas station. “I wasn’t thinking. I’ll take you back.”
She reached over the leather console and touched my thigh. “Don’t. I told you at the church you could talk to me. It’s hard to go through one death, let alone four. So if you need me to hold your hand, I’m your friend. I haven’t been to my mom’s grave in a while. I’m due anyway. You know, two birds, one stone, and all.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded. “I am. But I don’t understand why you wanted me to come along.”
In part, I didn’t either. “Lucas has been my rock. But he needs a break.” He’d been by my side every minute of the day. The man was made of steel, but he needed to let loose and not worry about my ass. “I need someone to hold my hand. I like your hand.”
She squeezed my thigh. “So that was what you said to Lucas when you both looked at me?”
“Yeah.” I probably should’ve asked her instead of dragging her out of the hotel, although she hadn’t protested. But I was finding the woman was making me do crazy things.
I got back on the road. As we made our way through town, passing quaint shops and restaurants, silence followed us, but she kept her hand on me.
I swore if she took it away, I might cry.
Within fifteen minutes, I was flicking on my blinker as I pulled into Lakemont Cemetery and parked not far from where my family was buried. The funeral director had set up the gravestones earlier that day. Since I’d had football practice and then the fundraiser meeting, I couldn’t get away. In part, I’d been procrastinating. I hadn’t been able to muster up the courage. That was another reason why I hadn’t been thinking when I’d dragged Haven out of the hotel.
Dread sat heavy in my stomach and only increased when I got out of the car.
Haven joined me, propping her hip against the car. “I’ll give you a minute.”
I closed my hand over hers. “No way.” I’d brought her there to hold me up.
She didn’t object and instead gripped my hand as though she were trying to say, “I got you.”
I prayed like hell she did because the moment I laid eyes on the headstones, my pulse banged in my ears like a drummer doing a solo performance.
Mom was buried on one end and Dad on the other, with my brother and sister in between. Each headstone was inscribed with their names, their dates of birth and death, and their epitaphs, which Aunt Kari and I had collaborated on.
As I stared at my mom’s stone, I covered my mouth with my free hand.
Mom’s epitaph read,“Flowers are your sunshine.”My mom had loved gardening, and she’d had a thing for colorful flowers.
Then I read Dad’s.“Taking chances is the only way to succeed.”
Randal’s was next.“Your laughter was always infectious.”My brother had laughed all the time at just about anything. If I’d been having a sucky day, he would make me forget why.
I saved Leigh’s for last. I knew once I read hers, the tears would come. Hers read,“You were always the rainbow in the storm.”
I blew out an audible breath.
Haven let go of me and hooked her arm in mine. “It’s okay to let it out. No judgment.”
I wasn’t worried about her judging me. I was worried about having a heart attack.
As I stared at Leigh’s headstone, I dropped to my knees. How had my life come to this? Why were they taken from me? I wanted to scream my lungs out or punch the oak tree behind us.
Then Haven began rubbing my back. “Let it go, Ryker,” she said in her angelic voice. “I got you.”
Fuck if that didn’t trigger the waterworks. One tear rolled down my face, then another. I couldn’t even think of the last time I’d cried. But the more I thought about Leigh and Randal and my parents, the more the tears started flowing. I inhaled deeply, smelling the myriad of flowers that surrounded the headstones, or maybe it was Haven’s lilac scent. Either way, the sweet aroma did nothing to ease the pain or the tears.
“That’s it.” Haven’s voice was just a whisper as she continued to rub my back. The more she did, the more the tears poured out, like a rushing waterfall after a hard rain.
