I extended my hand forward, but she swatted it away, and I was pulled into my own hug that caught me off guard. “Theo, it is so good to meet you.” She pulled back to look up at me with kind, dark brown eyes. “Anyone that has been making my girl this happy is good in my book.” The words slammed into my heart and dissolved all of my previous notions about Charlotte. She towed us into the warmth of her house, leaving all of my fear out on the porch.
Her home was full of warmth that seemed to leech into the room directly from Charlotte herself. Conversation flowed easily between the three of us, and by the end of the night, my stomach only hurt from the amount of laughter. Charlotte busied herself in the kitchen packing us both food to take back with us when Lennon excused herself to the restroom before we left. She scanned the hall before coming to sit next to me. I was alone with the mother of my maybe girlfriend’s dead husband and I thought this may be the oddest pairing of people someone could come up with.
She leaned in, placing her hands on top of mine. “Theo, I cannot thank you enough for what you have done for Lennon,” she said in a voice just above a whisper and glanced up if someone would overhear her words. She wasn’t telling me anything that she wouldn’t say to Lennon, I was sure of it, but she wanted these words to be for me only.
“I haven’t done anything.” I tried to fend off her compliment, unworthy of her praise. I loved Lennon, and sometimes I think it’s so clear that even strangers on the street could see it. But it wasn’t so other people could witness it, or to be thanked.
I loved her because she made mefeellike I had a place in the world. I loved her because when I was with her I didn’tfeellike I had to run, that I could finally rest.
Lennon once told me that loving Camden was the easiest thing she’s ever done, and I finally understood what she meant.
“Oh, but my dear, yes, you have. After my son passed, Lennon was lost for a long time. Everything he loved about her—her smile, her spark—died along with him, I’m afraid.” This wasn’t new information, but for some reason, hearing it from another perspective made it more real. “And then came her trip, and it was like a switch was flipped. Slowly, the Lennon we all knew, the Lennon we longed for, started to return, and we have you to thank.” Her eyes shone with the tears that gathered in her waterline.
I shifted in my seat, trying to shake off the insecurity that her words doused me in. I never thought to look at what I had with Lennon from an outside perspective. I knew I would do anything to help her, but I never realized that the people around her wouldnotice or even care. “I don’t know what you believe in, Theo, but I know that you were sent to her by my son. Even in death, he would want to take care of her, and you are exactly the person she needs. I just ask that you keep her happy. She deserves the very best.”
“I would do anything for her,” I said, letting my honest desperation slip its way through the words.
“I can tell, dear.” She patted my cheek in response as Lennon appeared back in the kitchen. We left just as the moon took its place in the sky. Her hand stayed clasped in mine during the drive back to her house, and my mind wandered back to Charlotte’s last words to me. In case she was right, I sent a silent promise to the man who loved her before me that I would do whatever it took to keep her safe and to keep her happy.
My parents’ new house was on the outskirts of Fairvale, tucked away in the trees on about an acre of property. Vastly different from the small home I grew up in, a large two story that was smack dab in the middle of a cookie cutter neighborhood. The automatic gate swung open and I crept along the driveway up to the house.
It was a quaint house, with a full wrap-around porch that allowed my mom to watch the sun rise and set. With it being only the two of them, I wasn’t sure what they would do with anything bigger. My mom appeared in the front door and waved from the porch while I parked and got out of my car.
I turned in a circle to survey the plot of land, the trees towering around the perimeter of the area, and it seemed to be an endless amount of space. It was exactly perfect for them. It was also the type of place I imagined myself buying, if given the chance. My mother waited for me to make my way over, her hand firmly planted on her hips, and a towel thrown over her shoulder and her apron covered in flour.
“Oh my boy, I’m so happy to see you,” she said, while pulling me in for a hug. I would normally slink out of her arms quickly, but today I took the time to hug her back.It’d been two weeks since my dinner with Lennon when we saw her mom. I called my own mother almost immediately after, just to remind her that I loved her when she invited me for dinner.
As much as I wanted to be here, my stomach had been in knots for hours. For two weeks, I had been with Lennon more than I had not been with her. Then suddenly today, it was like a ghost town. I heard from her yesterday briefly; she mentioned she was busy today but didn’t say with what. No problem, it was just that she hadn’t replied back to any of my messages. Calling her to check in seemed a little over the top. We were both entitled to our own lives, but something about this was off.
I pushed down the panic that was slowly setting in for the next couple of hours as I took the time to spend with both my parents. By the end of the night, I was stuffed so full of food I could barely move. I leaned back in my chair and honestly contemplated unbuttoning my pants when my dad asked how my work was going. “It’s good. I’ve gone to a few places out here already. I’ll beat Castello Di Amorosa in a couple of weeks. Oh, and I’ll be in the Tacoma area in about another month or so.” He nodded his head to let me know he was listening, but I was pretty sure he was close to falling asleep.
The sun had started to set, and I’d been glancing at my phone every minute. Still nothing from Lennon. “So, Theo, have you been spending time with anyone in particular since you’ve been back?” Generally, my mom was not the type to beat around the bush. She’d come out and say whatever was on her mind. So, when I looked at her and saw her eyes shining back at me in amusement, there was no point in lying and omitting any part of the truth—she already knew.
“Who have you been talking to, Mother?” I shot back at her playfully.
“You know this town and how it works. I was informed that you have been spending quite a lot of time with Lennon Faulkner again.”
“It’s Arden. She was married, Mom.”
“Oh, yes, poor girl. Terrible what happened. I can’t imagine what it would be like to lose your husband. And at such a young age.” She made a tsk sound with her mouth and shook her head as her hand unconsciously reached out for my father’s. “But it’s nice that you two have reconnected.” I nodded my head in agreement and dodged dany further questions she tried to pin me with.
She walked me to the porch and, as always, she pulled me in for a hug before telling me she loved me. I held her a little tighter oncemore. “I love you, too, Mom, and thank you for everything.” She let me go and looked up at me a little misty eyed.
You forget while you’re growing up that your parents are growing older alongside you. I looked down at this woman that brought me life, and for the first time, noticed how much she’d aged and my heart seemed to constrict.
“Next time, I’ll bring Lennon with me. How does that sound, Ma?”
“Wonderful,” she replied. I placed one last kiss on her cheek and jogged back to my car.
The second I was alone, the knots continued to tie themselves tighter. My phone was still blank.
No call.
No texts.
Something wasn’t right. I could feel it.
I debated for a few seconds before I called Abby, who answered quickly. “Hey Abby. I haven’t heard from Lennon all day. I’ve tried checking in with her, but I get nothing back. Is she alright, have you heard from her?”
