It wasn’t hard to figure out who the “she” was in this conversation. Rebekah had told me about Alicia not long after that first night we watched movies at her house. I know that she was a big part of my sweet girl’s life, and she wasn’t the same after her murder.
I had never been more furious, knowing that someone brought harm to Rebekah, not only by killing her sister, but also by trying to kill her as well. Rebekah had told me about how she fought to stay alive long enough to make a call for someone to find her.
It was a long and hard road to recovery, not only physically, but mentally as well. Nothing was harder than trying to grieve the only family you had left when laid up in a hospital bed, fighting for your life.
That was a pain that I knew all too well and never wished on anyone, but especially not my girl. Rebekah was strong, though. She was a fighter, and that was apparent in the way she continued to wake up every morning.
It was mind-blowing that they had never found the killer. Rebekah’s description didn’t lead me to believe that it was a coincidence, though. Everything about the hit screamed that it was done by someone who was trained to tie up loose ends. Which was why my girl was even stronger than she knew, because she fought not to be a loose end.
“She should be graduating in a few months, Daddy. Alicia should be looking at colleges to attend. She should be going tohigh school parties, finding love, stepping into this strange thing we call adulthood.”
I didn’t say anything. There was nothing I could say to make this situation easier for her. No words would take away the pain and anguish that Rebekah was feeling right now. Instead, I just lay down, wrapping her up in my arms, and let her feel all the emotions running through her mind.
“Daddy, why did she have to be taken so soon? Why her? Why couldn’t I have died that day, too? It would be so much easier than continuing to live in a world that will never get to know her sparkle.”
“I wish I had the answers for you, my sweet girl. I wish I could fix this for you and ease all the pain away. Sadly, my Daddy superpowers can’t fix this. They can hold you while you cry, though, and they can help you process all the feelings you are experiencing. Do I hate that you have had to face all this on your own for the last three years? Absolutely, but if you had died that day, too, I wouldn’t know you. That might make me a little selfish, but my life has color and light in the scary places because I have you.”
Silence fell in the room as she processed the words I had laid out for her. If not knowing her meant that all her pain would be gone, I would take that in every lifetime. “What did you usually do to celebrate her life, before you moved here to Shadow Heights?”
Rebekah let out a sniffle, replying, “I would go and buy a cupcake and matching candles. Pack up her blanket and go sit at her side for a little while. I would tell her about everything she had missed since her last birthday. Once we were done talking, I would light her candles, and she never failed to send a breeze to blow them out. That’s how I knew that she was there, because she always blew out her candles.”
I mentally ran through what I had to do in the office today; nothing was important enough that it couldn’t wait. Rebekah’s hometown wasn’t far from here, about three or four hours depending on traffic. I thought a day with her sister was exactly what she needed, and I was the one who was going to help her have that.
“Okay, this is what we are going to do. I want you to go and take a long, hot shower and get ready. Then we are going to load up in the truck and do exactly what you would normally do.”
“We don’t have to do that, Daddy. She would understand if we didn’t”
“That might be true, but I think this is something that will help you, and it’s within my Daddy superpowers. So that’s what we are going to do.”
“Okay, Daddy. Can we just lie here for a few more minutes, though?”
“Whatever you need, Sweets.”
CHAPTER 18
REBEKAH
The driveto Red Hill was quiet and heavy. I knew that Daddy was trying his best to help, but there really wasn’t anything that could fix this situation. I was grateful that he wanted to make my birthday plans with Alicia happen, though.
Once I was showered and dressed in Alicia’s favorite color, I twisted my hair into the braid that she always helped me do and grabbed her blanket from the house. This year, though, I brought two blankets. I didn’t want to leave behind the one I had stolen from Daddy, so it was folded neatly in my lap along with Alicia’s and Ophelia.
We stopped at the local bakery and bought cupcakes, one for me, Daddy, and Alicia. Mrs. Betty spotted me as soon as I walked into the store, flying around the counter to wrap me up in a big hug.
It hadn’t been that long since I had left here, but she always felt like the mother I never had. Sadly, Alicia and I were raised by our grandparents because our mom was a drug addict, and we never knew our dad. For all we knew, he was her dealer or some random man she found on a Saturday night after her high crashed.
I never let Alicia feel the pain that I did, though. I wanted her to grow up feeling loved, never knowing what it meant to not have a regular mom. I just hoped that when she died, she knew that I loved her more than any mother ever could. She was my baby, even if I didn’t give birth to her.
“Alicia would be eighteen today,” Mrs. Betty said as she wrapped up our cupcakes in pretty packaging, the kind that you paid extra for. She had been doing that since the first time I came in here to buy Alicia’s birthday cupcakes. “I didn’t know if you would be here today, but I made sure to have a cupcake ready for her anyway.”
The tears I had finally managed to stop started flowing once more. I had forgotten just how much people here cared. Alicia was obsessed with Mrs. Betty’s carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. The only time of the year when those cupcakes could be found on her shelves was during Easter.
I’ll never forget that first year when I came in here to purchase what I needed. I was ready to get whatever was available since Alicia’s birthday was in the middle of fall, and I knew that her favorite flavor wouldn’t be available.
Nothing could have prepared me for that moment when I sat at her grave and pulled out the cupcakes, only to realize that Mrs. Betty had baked a special carrot cupcake just for today. I never asked her to do that, but she knew how much Alicia loved them.
From then on, she always made sure to have one twice a year, during Easter and on Alicia’s birthday. I heard Daddy tell Mrs. Betty that he would take whatever I would be having and insist on paying, even though I could have told him that the argument was dumb to try and have.
If anyone could beat Abuela in the stubbornness department, it was Mrs. Betty. Daddy decides to just slip a hefty tip intoher jar. “Are you going to tell me who this handsome man is, Bekah?”
