At the wish that would never be fulfilled.
“I love him, Lenny,” she repeated.
“And I need to know if you’re okay with that… because, you know…”
She sniffed back her tears, wiped at her face again. “If you don’t want me to be with him, if you don’t want him around the kids, he won’t be. I won’t let him. But if you do think he’s perfect for us, just tell me. Send the sign. Do what you always said you’d do. Part a damn cloud. Send a light. Do something. Please!”
There was a moment of silence. Stillness.
Only the sound of the wind moving through the weeping cherry tree, barren of leaves because of the season.
Rylee refocused on the headstone, taking one final look before leaving.
“I just don’t wanna get this wrong, Lenny,” she said low. “Not with you. Not with our babies. So…”
She sighed, walking closer to the headstone and crouching beside it.
She pressed two fingers to her lips, then pressed them to the laser-etched image of Lennox.
“I’ll be listening for you and watching for those clouds and them sun rays.”
She snickered to herself, remembering how annoyed she’d be when he’d recite that line.
Her eyes knowingly moved down to the epitaph that was engraved on his headstone, word for word…
“When the clouds part and the sun’s rays rain down… that’s me. Just remember to say ‘what up, Lenny.’”
It was not only a reminder for her.
It was for others who visited too. A way for Lennox to remain in memoriam for them all.
Rylee was back on her feet again, turning and walking away.
She peeked back at his headstone, a smile wanting to form, but her frown outweighed it all, weighing her lips down.
She wanted a sign… but what she didn’t realize was that it had already arrived.
Quiet.
Gentle.
Growing.
She’d find out, though… sooner than she thought.
eight
XANDER
Xander raiseda finger in the air to get the bartender’s attention, then gestured down at his cognac for a refill.
It was loud in the bar he sat in with his friend and fellow firefighter, Jamal Sterling, but Xander needed the distraction of it all.
“Throwing them back kinda fast tonight, huh?” Jamal teased, smiling over the rim of his glass as he sipped the cognac he’d been nursing. “You might wanna slow down just a little.”
Xander shook his head as he slid the glass closer to the approaching bartender.
“I held my woman last night as she cried over losing a man who she believes was the love of her life,” Xander uttered, watching the brown liquor pour. “I should also add, said man isn’t just some ordinary man. He’s a fucking basketball legend. Trust me, I’mnotthrowing them back fast enough.”
