“Yeah? Like what?”
Colin shrugged off the hand on his shoulder. He needed to stand alone. “I can’t explain it. Not yet. But I will. I need time. I need …”
Once again, the man seemed to find nothing wrong with Colin’s stumbling response. “I hear folks talking about a man’s legacy. I don’t know about things like that. Just the same, it’s good to know my boy’s legacy is there in you.”
“I want it to be. So much.”
The man started to reach out, then let his hand drop. He nodded to Colin and left the chapel, followed down the central aisle by his other three sons, all of them as large as their father.
Only then did Colin realize Mira was there.
She stood by the back row, Alexi on one side, Regina on the other.
Colin did not actually feel himself move down the aisle. One moment he was standing up front, sheltered by Arnold and Sandrine and Celeste. The next, he stood before the three of them, all in black, all of them sharing the same look. They enfolded him in three pairs of arms.
Afterward Mira insisted on walking him back to Sojourn House. For once, she remained silent, subdued. Colin dreaded having her talk about what had just happened. Chatting was Mira’s way of dealing with empty minutes. Instead, she waited until they were approaching the house’s front door to ask, “Do you ever think about us?”
He knew instantly what she meant. “All the time.”
“I don’t mean us as friends. I mean …”
“I know exactly, Mira. Me without my mother, you minus your twin.”
“Sometimes it wakes me up at night. We haven’t talked in forever, and yet you’re still right there. Not in a creepy way. Just, you know …”
“Connected.” He nodded. “You’ve helped me through so much. Even when you weren’t around.”
“I’m sorry I’ve been detached. This past month has become …”
He found an uncommon comfort in the act of finishing her thoughts. “A hard season.”
“You don’t know, you can’t imagine, how hard.” She glanced over. “Then again, maybe you can.”
“Is it Lucas?”
“Can we not talk about that, please?”
“Absolutely.” It actually felt good to know there were topics she was also eager to avoid. “No problem at all. I withdraw the question.”
A woman’s voice called her name. Mira waved at someone Colin could not be bothered to see and turned them back toward the house. She said, “During the service, I felt your sorrow in my bones.”
“Some day I’ll be able to tell you what it meant seeing you here.”
“You don’t ever need to. Not for me, anyway.”
“How did you know?”
“Celeste called. She seems really nice.”
“She is. That and more.”
She breathed in the sorrel-scented air. “It’s strange.”
“What?”
“I told Regina first. Then she came over. And we told Mom.” She shook her head. “Mom and I, we’re soincredibly close, but I needed Regina there. When she walked in, I just started bawling. I didn’t know the guy, your friend. I wasn’t crying for him. It was just …”
“You felt for me.” Colin wiped his eyes.
