I nodded slowly.
“Oh, sweetheart. Is this what he wanted?”
I nodded again.
“Then that’s what we need to do. Why are you hesitant?”
I shrugged, cleared my throat, and finally found the words to speak. “I was torn this morning between two truths. I vowed to myself when you agreed to be mine that I wouldn’t put anything before you the way that I did with Tracy. You wanted to ride in this vehicle when I got it restored, and I couldn’t think of a single person I wanted to call and say that I had completed it besides my father. You were the only one who came to mind.
“Then there was his request. He had told my mama and us, since we were boys, that when he passed, he wanted his remains spread in the ocean from Scenic Bluff. Although they weren’t together, my parents were still friends. My mama reminded me of that when he passed.
“The weekend before he died, I remember we were working on this car. He said that if he died before we finished, he wanted me to drive the car with his remains up here and spread them out while Al Green’s “Love and Happiness” played from the eight-track.”
Delaney stared at me with tears in her eyes. “That is the most beautiful way I could think of to say goodbye. Where has he been all this time?”
“In my garage watching over this old car. My brother said that I could keep the remains. We were both close to my dad, but he was closer to my mom, and I was closer to my dad. It was Dad and I who were working on the car at the time, and it was me who found him.”
“Do you think that Brandon would want to be here when you spread his ashes?”
“No. He told me once before that whenever I decided to do it, he was good on all that. He told me that he had said his goodbyes, and he wouldn’t be able to do it a second time, unless I needed him.”
“Do you need him?”
“I have you.”
“Always,” she replied, pushing up on her tiptoes to cradle my face and kiss me. “Now let’s go give your father the proper goodbye that he deserves.”
I turned on the car, popped the 8-track tape in, and let Big Al do his thing. Delaney grabbed my free hand and led me to the edge of Scenic Bluff.
“This was supposed to be a day with my woman, chilling and taking it easy. A day of love.”
“I can’t think of anything more loving than what you’re doing: You’re honoring your father, and you’re allowing me to share his precious moment with you.”
I nodded and unscrewed the top on the urn. We walked through clumps of sea thrift, or sea pinks as they were most commonly known in our area, to the barrier of the cliff. I picked a spot where the wind was to our backs. The gentle waves lapped at the shore, and the ocean’s mild breeze whipped over us.
“This is heaven right here,” Delaney professed with a sigh.
She took the urn top from my hand, and I wrapped my arms around the urn.
“Ole man, this ain’t goodbye. This is me telling you to soar on the ocean, become one with God’s creation, and keep watch over me until I see you again. Love you, Pops.”
I lifted the urn, pressed my lips against it in a kiss, and then Delaney took the urn from my arms and held it up. She poured the ashes into my hand slowly, and I released them over the cliff, watching as the wind took them down and away from us. We continued with that until they were all gone.
When I was finished, she took the top and screwed it back on the urn before she set it down between our feet. She reached up and kissed away the teardrop that trailed down my cheek from my left eye before she pulled me into her embrace. I wrapped her tightly and closed my eyes while I made peace with the fact that my dad was truly gone.
We walked back to the car and placed the urn inside of the trunk. I grabbed her hand and led her down the rickety stairs to the beach. We walked along it for a while, holding hands.
It was several moments before either of us spoke.
“Do you want to know what my biggest fear was after my divorce?”
“What was it?”
“That I would never fall in love again, marry, or have children.”
“You only needed to be patient and know those things would come in time, be patient and have faith. We both know that I’m your future husband.”
She smiled and laughed. “Don’t you find it odd that something like what we share could happen between us, and you’re the one who fought on the other side of my divorce?”
