I roll my eyes. “Pestering some other poor soul?”
“Likely.” He grins. “Listen, I wanna thank you for closing my case. I’m sure my mother will be more at peace knowing I didn’t harm myself. For that, I’ll always be grateful.”
“I’m happy to have helped. Truly. You deserve peace and so does she.”
I take a deep breath, preparing to ask the one question I’ve been waiting to have answered.
“Billy, before you go, can you tell me anything about Garrett? Where he is or how he’s doing?”
He sighs. “He’s someplace better.” His one eye closes while the opposite eyebrow lifts into his hairline. “He told Harry, who told me to tell you that even if he could, he refused to be involved in anything cliché like the movies you used to force him to watch.”
I burst into laughter, recalling movies we’ve watched over the years and how it always irked him and Ava that those people got to see their loved ones when nobody else gets to. It was entirely ridiculous, but just one of those things, and it brings a smile to my face.
“We wouldn’t want that.” I smile, but inside I’m crushed I don’t get to say goodbye to him.
“Don’t do that,” Billy chastises, pointing a finger at me.
I catch a tear falling from my eye.
“He was never here to begin with, Alyssa. He was pulling strings with the help of someone big upstairs. He didn’t choose not to see you. He lived a life without regrets and for that, he never got stuck here.”
“Why? His accident wasn’t solved just like yours. Why did you get stuck, and he didn’t?”
He shrugs. “Maybe Garrett was a better man than me. Look at it as my punishment for a life that was less than straight.”
I hiccup, wiping away more tears. Nick pulls me in to his side, offering me comfort I desperately need.
“Now you’ve gone and messed up your makeup. Nick will not be impressed.” Billy grins. “You two look good together. Don’t fuck it up.”
I pull a face, glancing up at Nick. He smiles down at me, not seeming to give one iota about my smeared appearance.
“I’ll miss you, Billy.”
“Me too, Karen. Me too.”
My arm lifts and I give the command. “You’re free to move on.”
He offers me one last smile and makes his way to the afterlife.
Justice
TWO WEEKS LATER
“OH MY GOD.Look at this one,” Lanie says, holding a 4x6 photo in the air. “What’s happening here?”
I make my way to Lanie, who’s sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of a box of old photos she found in the bottom drawer of Garrett’s desk.
We’ve been working for three hours to clear out the office. Corinne and Nina left twenty minutes ago to take one carload of items to donate to the local shelter. One more trip and all the boxes will be gone.
Going through Garrett’s things hasn’t been as hard as I’d thought it would be. It’s the memories I have of our life together that mean more than a holey pair of jeans and trophies from high school he planned to throw out but never got around to.
It helps that I had my village here to keep me focused on the good times that each of the items I’m parting with were part of.
“Lemme see,” I say, grabbing the picture and inspecting every aspect. “Ugh. That was the road trip from hell. We were visitingGarrett’s aunt in Cincinnati and Ava ended up with the stomach bug. She threw up until we reached the Pennsylvania and New York line.”
“You’re smiling,” Lanie muses, inspecting the photo closer.
“Garrett had made some remark about my insistence on leather seats turning into a lifesaver.” I chuckle. “That’s a smile that reeks ofI told you so.”
