“Putting this together, Cathy thought Daniel was making contact with you through his dog because he—"
“Pinky swore that he’d stick around as a ghost and keep me company until I died.”
They walked in silence.
“Yeah,” Gabriel said, “it’s a stretch. You didn’t know my brother, though. It’s his sense of humor. I would have bet cash money that it was him. And even under this scenario, I’m not convinced that my brother didn’t have a hand in it.”
“Want to hear something that might freak you out just a little bit?” Sommer asked in hushed tones that barely drifted up to Gabriel.
Did he?
“No.” Gabriel took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s hear it.”
“A couple of weeks before Whiskey started singing outside my house, I saw a funeral from my bedroom window. It was the first funeral I’ve seen over at the church. Not clearly, it was kind of around the bend, but I knew it was happening. They had a military honor guard, and they fired the rifles off.”
“That was my brother Daniel’s funeral. He’s the only one who’s been buried in their graveyard in quite a while. We have a family plot there, my grandparents and my parents’ generationof Atworth siblings. Daniel starts the third generation of burials.”
“It must be comforting to have everyone together—one place to visit and reminisce. I have no idea where my family members are buried. They’re in other states. But what I was going to tell you is that after the funeral, I was thinking about life and how people need to lean into the things that speak to their souls.”
“Shit,” Gabriel murmured.
“Yeah. And I thought I used to love singing opera, but people around me didn’t like listening, so I gave it up. Since I’d always lived in an apartment until I bought my own place, it felt mean to force people to listen to me. But now that I can’t bother anyone in my little cottage in the woods, I thought I could indulge.”
“But that thought came to you during the funeral?”
“After everyone had gone. But yes, it was right after the last car drove away.”
“Shit.”
“Spooky.”
“Like I said, I couldn’t hear you at all. Bend in the road? Distance? I don’t know, I didn’t hear you.”
“That’s right, you figured it out Tuesday. How did you figure it out?”
Gabriel stopped and turned to her when Sommer released his hand. “Someone recognized Whiskey and me in one of your viral videos. I went over to your place this morning to ask you to take it down. That’s when I met your sister.”
“You came pretty far to have that conversation,” Sommer said softly, her face pink. Was that embarrassment?
She leaned over and put her hands on her knees.
“You okay? You’ve been pushing pretty hard. Do you need to rest?”
She picked a hand off her knee and reached forward.
He caught her hand and stepped closer, lifting her and tucking her against his chest. “You’re okay. I’ve got you. You’re shaking. You must be desperate for your friends and your sister. But we’ll take this one step at a time. Breathe. Shhh-shhh-shhh. I’ve got you. Breathe.”
“I’m sorry.” She flicked her hands at her tears. “It’s a lot.”
“You’ve been through it for days now. Emotions are normal.”
Whiskey wandered back and pressed against Sommer’s leg until Sommer squatted down to rub Whiskey’s soft ears.
Dog medicine.
“It’s time for Whiskey to take her break,” Gabriel said, moving over to sit by a tree. “Rest a bit, Sommer.”
They were quiet.
