No amount of wishing had transferred Gray’s warmth into Tara’s broken body.
With the weight of her promise riding heavy on her shoulders, Gray knelt on the floor beside the cot and placed Tara’s hand on the crisp white sheet. “I’m ready, T.” Hating to break their connection, she stroked the delicate blue-tinged skin and dug deep for the courage to continue. “I’m sorry I made you wait. I just…”
With a rattle, Tara’s chest rose and fell, the movement barely discernable. Choking on a sob, Gray raised her eyes to Tara’s battered face. “I just wanted to talk to you one more time.”
Picturing her friend as she once was, full of color, full of life, she felt her heart crack. She sniffed, wiped her nose on her sleeve, and grew a spine. Tara would expect Gray to be strong. It was the agreement they’d made years ago, and it was time for her to uphold her end of the bargain.
Teasing the delicate gold chain Tara always wore from beneath the sheet, Gray placed the small gold cross on the center of her friend’s caved chest.
“I love you, little T,” she whispered. Then lifting her gaze, she brushed Tara’s blond hair aside and pressed a kiss to her forehead. She felt her friend’s next to last breath on her cheek. And despite the tears rolling down her face, Gray sat back and grinned.
Heart pounding, she blurted, “And I’m gonna miss you. Every day. You know that. Right? Every damn day, for the rest of my fucking life.”
Bordering on hysterical, she took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and dried her tears. She had to repeat the procedure, but finally, she had her crap together. With a sharp nod, she steeled herself for what she had to do next. “Okay, T. Let’s do this. Tell God I’m ready. And don’t be mad at him. It’s my fault he didn’t come sooner. I asked him to wait. But it’s okay now. Tell him we’re both ready.”
Gray straightened her spine, grabbed a fresh wad of Kleenex, and blew her nose long and hard. She wiped her hands on her khakis, then once again taking her friend’s hand in hers, she lowered her head, closed her eyes, and started the process of letting Tara Pisani go.
The prayer Tara had forced Gray to memorize came to her in a haze of soft light behind her closed lids. “We beseech Thee, O Lord, in Thy mercy.” She heard Tara’s lungs reaching for air and continued, “To have pity on the soul of Thy handmaid.” With a heavy heart but oddly at peace, Gray’s voice lost its waver. “Do Thou, Who hast freed her from the perils of this mortal life, restore to her the portion of everlasting salvation.”
This is what Tara had asked of her, and in the end, God had let Gray deliver.
“Through Christ our Lord, Amen.”
With a final squeeze of Tara’s fingers, Gray gave her friend to the Lord for safekeeping.
And with a sigh, Tara let go of her life.
Not expectingGray to emerge so soon after Tara’s passing, Grant was still sitting on his keister when she appeared puffy eyed and red nosed. Stepping over his outstretched legs, she put her back against the wall, and Davis scooted over to make room as she slid her butt to the floor between them.
“I’m really sorry, Gray,” Davis said, his voice cracking with emotion he tried hard not to show.
She sniffed and grabbed the kid’s hand. Entwining their fingers, she pulled it into her lap.
“Ma’am,” Drummond said. “May I…pay my last respects?” In a gutsy move, the big man inclined his head toward the open door. Gray studied his weary face before she gave her permission with a sharp nod. He wasted no time disappearing, dust motes swirling behind him in the lazy light slanting through the narrow window at the top of the wall.
Grant wished he had something to say to make this situation better. But as usual, words failed him when it came to the important stuff. So he pulled out all the stops and put his arm around her shoulder.
Accepting his offer of comfort, she sighed and molded herself to his side, letting her head fall against him. He didn’t need to see her face to recognize the bone-deep exhaustion that gripped her. It seeped from her pores.
She’d been to hell and back more than once in the past week. And it wasn’t over. He needed to get her out of Savannah and fast. Mackenzie would insist they leave now. Probably the reason she hadn’t called him yet.
A silence that echoed with the sounds of an empty warehouse wrapped itself around them as the minutes ticked by. When Gray broke it thirty minutes later, only then did he realize he’d been stroking her long hair over her shoulder.
“Grant?” she said.
He had to clear his throat before he could speak. “Yeah?”
“My butt’s numb.”
“Mine too.”
“Davis?” she asked.
“Pins and needles.”
She lifted her head. “Who’s getting up first?”
Grant stretched his arms over his head and groaned. “You two are younger.”
