A chuckle escaped through her tears.
“Seeing you just now. I . . . remember the last time you were this happy. The man you were looking at the way you looked at Nick. Life goes on. That’s the way it should be. Just . . . it makes me miss him, you know?”
“Makes it feel as though he’s not coming back. Why do you think I fought you guys for so long? But yes, life goes on. As much as we try to fight it.”
Paige’s lips twitched before she pulled me in for a hug.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to see me upset. This was a great day.” She pulled back and kissed my forehead. “Thank you for letting me be a part of it.”
“I love you as much as your cousin did. He left me with instructions for you, too.” I raised a brow at Paige as I squeezed both her hands.
“Oh really? What? To make sure I don’t get into trouble.” She rolled her eyes at the ceiling.
“He’d be proud of you, Paige. Heisproud. The best way to honor him is to live the best life we can, right?”
“Right.” Her tears slowed as her lips curved into a smile. “I better go; you have a big day tomorrow.”
“EJ, I’m leaving!” Kate yelled from my doorway. “Call me after the wedding I’m not invited to.”
Kate met my nasty glare and raised her hands in defeat.
“Kidding, baby sister.” She blew me a kiss before heading down my front steps. “Love you guys.”
“I better go, too.” Marilyn shrugged on her jacket and kissed her brother’s cheek. “Good luck tomorrow.”
“I don’t need any luck,” Nick answered while smiling at me.
“I’ll follow you all out. I have a couple of things to do.” I grabbed my purse when Nick stopped me at the door.
“Where are you going?” He cocked his head as he wrapped his arms around my waist.
“I have errands to run. Girl stuff.” I put my hand on my hip. “Technically, you aren’t supposed to be here. The groom isn’t supposed to spend the night with the bride before the wedding.”
Nick shrugged. “He’s probably not supposed to get her pregnant before the wedding either, yet here we are. If we broke one rule, we may as well break them all.” He pulled me flush to his chest. “I’ve spent enough time away from you. No more.”
I fought a smile before slipping my arms into my sweater. “Well, you can’t be inside me past midnight.”
Nick gaped at me as I kissed his lips.
“Do what you have to do and come right back.” I yelped as he smacked me on my ass. “We’re having an early dinner.”
“HEY, BABE.”
My hand drifted along the smooth marble, my fingers gliding into the grooves of the engraved letters.
Jack Anthony Taylor
Beloved husband, father, and son
He was so much more, but there wasn’t enough room on the stone.
I laid a blanket over the stiff yellow leaves and sat with my legs crossed. When he first passed away, I came here two to three times per week to sit and talk to the lump of granite for hours. Fellow mourners eyed me as if I’d lost my mind, but I didn’t move or shut up. Jack was a talker, and always had to have the last word. My mouth kept moving as my sad heart pressed for responses I knew I wouldn’t get—but I kept trying anyway.
My visits lessened to once per week, then once per month. When I started bringing my son along, my one-way conversations with Jack’s headstone halted. I hadn't been here in a long time, but I had to come today; too much needed to be said.
“Jack and I are having a good start to the school year. My ‘rugrats’ as you liked to call them are nice kids—at least so far. Our son has made such a turnaround since last year. He loves Scouts and helovesnature. He went fishing twice this summer. Sorry, his T-ball career was only one season. We all tried. Poor Evan stood on that field in the heat watching Jack pick grass instead of running the bases. But I know you don’t care. You’d probably brag your boy was the best groundskeeper in history.”
My nose burned as I took a deep breath. The deluge of tears was coming, and I hoped I could get out what I needed to tell him.
