But not all things were hers to reveal.
“Yeah,” she said. “At Dell’s.”
When her friends finally left to visit the beach, Mae pushed Vik and Jackson out the door to go with them.
When it came time to flip the sign on the door toClosed, to count her day’s earnings for the first time, Bay Books was quiet.
Mae took out her phone.
Went better than I even dreamed, she texted.
And, after only a moment’s hesitation, a statement equally as true:I miss you
And then she took a deep breath. And eventually, after the numbers were tallied, she locked the safe. Turned off the computers, the heat, the lights. Until she was ready to step through the back door and head home.
So it went in a small town, as in a city: some highs and some lows, until the day was done, and you tried again.
* * *
Jodi and Felix left before it was fully dark, as promised.
Vik and Jackson slept again in the ADU; Ben and Alexei took the guest room, previously only ever occupied by Liv. Theo and Ozzy had a rental cottage reserved just south of town; they left at ten. “All these bitches assured me there’d be room in this place to sleep on the floor or whatever.” Theo kissed her cheek before they left. “But I’m too old for that shit.”
Love.
Even in Dell’s absence. Even in the forever absence of Jesus and Steve. Mae was surrounded by love.
No limits.
twenty-nine
On the lastSaturday of November, Georgia McCleary was released from the hospital.
She still had regular occupational therapy, a full schedule of appointments to follow through on. Dell installed a grab bar in her shower, helped move her bed from her upstairs bedroom to the living room, a temporary situation until the doctors signed off on Georgia navigating stairs on her own.
A temporary situation until Dell convinced her to move to Oregon.
“You know,” he said as he put together, upon Georgia’s request, the artificial Christmas tree she’d been using for years, “this could easily fit in the corner of the ADU. Although this one looks like it’s seen better days anyway. We can get you a new one.”
Georgia watched Dell fit it into its stand.
“More to the right,” she instructed from the bed.
Georgia, for better or worse for Dell, had almost full speech capability again.
“Do you get yourself a tree?” she asked. “Out there in your new house. Do you put up decorations?”
Dell shrugged, adjusting some of the wire branches.
“I haven’t gotten a tree the last few years. But I normally put up a few things. The things you’ve given me, mostly.”
Georgia frowned.
“You should get yourself a tree, Dell. Don’t they have lots of trees in Oregon? I bet you Mae loves a Christmas tree.”
Before he could stop himself, Dell snorted. He could only imagine the kind of Christmas decorations Mae Kellerman loved most. Likely the ones most covered in glitter.
“When are you getting back to her?”
