Page 113 of Rough

At some point, I stopped crying. It wasn’t because I didn’t care, or that I stopped grieving. I simply stopped crying.

After the ambulance pulled away, I turned to Tegan and took her in my arms. “What did you tell him? When you put him in the chair?”

“Just reassured him of a promise I made to him,” she said. “But I forgot to tell him last night before we left.”

I stood on the porch with my arm draped over her shoulder, and held her close. It was the same porch I sat on as a kid while I talked to him about everything a boy talks to his father about.

My mother stepped to my other side. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close.

And, as I held the two most important women in the world, I realized I had become the pillar of the family.

The foundation.

I tilted my head back, looked up at the stars, and made my own promise.

I’ll make you proud, Pop.

THIRTY-FIVE

Tegan

Marcus sat with his head buried in his hands. Eventually, he looked up. “I feel sick.”

“We can feel sick together.”

“I liked your words of wisdom from his vault,” he said.

“Maybe I’ll start making up my own.”

“You should write them down,” he said. “Maybe make a book.”

“We’ll see.”

“He was a good man. He really was.”

“I know,” I said. “I’m sure going to miss him.”

“Pee Bee is such a doll,” he said. “I love him, too.”

“Brad? Why do you say that?”

He leaned away from the table and shot me a sour look. “What? I can’t love him, too?”

I laughed, and it felt good. “No, you can, I just. I didn’t know. I wondered where that came from.”

He pressed his hand to his heart. “From the heart, of course.”

“Oh. Okay.”

He leaned against the edge of the table, looked at me and blinked rapidly.

“Did you do something with your eyelashes?”

“No, I was trying to get your attention.”

“Attention got,” I said with a laugh.

“Guess what?”