I smile. “I think I’ll keep–” I’m cut off when I trip over a headstone, falling on my face. My cheek cracks against the dirt, and I wince at the impact, though instead of feeling terror like I would have an hour ago, I start to laugh.
I’m safe now.
They can’t hurt me anymore.
Cam kicks at the soles of my Chucks, laughing freely. “You’re meant to walk on those, you know.” Her hand wraps around my bicep, trying to help me to my feet, only I freeze, slackening back down when my eyes lock onto the headstone in front of me.
A delicate cursive writing stares back at me, and all it takes is the name and the two names beneath it to know exactly who’s resting place I’ve stumbled right onto.
Summer Graves
I shiver, goosebumps rising to the surface of my skin as I reach forward and run my hand over the deep etching of Harlen’s name on what is his mother’s headstone. The words at the bottom read…
Fly high with the angels, Our Angel.
Cameryn exhales slowly behind me, though she doesn’t say anything.
I push to my knees, edging myself a little closer, then I wipe the single tear that rolls down my cheek before it catches on my top lip.
I lay the last rose over the woman who gave my man his precious life.
The woman who battled the way I had.
The woman who fought for her life.
“You were so brave.”
I push a kiss to my fingers before placing it on the top of her headstone. Slowly rising to my feet, my knees crack as I straighten.
Stepping back in line with Cameryn, I wrap my arms around her waist and smile. We both stand, staring at the vibrant rose. “I guess she knew what she wanted,” I whisper.
“What do you mean?” Cameryn asks curiously, rubbing her palm up and down my arm in comfort.
I think back to the flower mug Rusty gave me the night he told me about Summer and my mother, and I smile wider.
“She always did love roses.”
Rusty had told me that himself.
Five Hours Later
One Life - Dermot Kennedy
The sun's oblique rays are a combination of warm honey, fiery scarlet, deep cherry, and gemmy violet as it laid its final shadow over the still lake in the distance.
Everyone was here, except Keaton.
Music filters through the speakers, laughter filling the space around us, and the air feels light as it twirls its way down my throat, dancing and settling across my chest.
Harlen, Rusty, and Tyler are perched over the grill. Harmony and Cameryn are inside, with Chase and Asher putting together drinks, and I’m at the railing, my elbows resting on the warm timber, my chin in the palm of my hand as a hand slaps down on my ass,hard.
“Fuck!” I screech, spinning around at lightning speed. Both of my hands catch my weight on the railing behind me as Harlen’s find my ass, lifting me onto the ledge with little to no effort at all. I drape my elbows over his shoulders, my fingers threading into their favorite place among the golden tones ofHarlen’s curls when I push my forehead against him, the tip of my nose feathering the end of his.
He smirks as he rolls his bottom lip beneath his top teeth and flicks his nose over mine playfully.
I chuckle. I love when he does that.
My hair’s like a blanket that envelops us, and the fierce, yet charming blue of Harlen’s icy eyes are all I can see among the cherry waves.
