Aiken

Walking back to the car, she was quiet. Not sullen, but reflective, if I was forced to guess. I’d told her I loved her, and I meant it. With all the shit swirling around us and my mom’s ghost still looming, I wasn’t sure we could last forever. Damn, I wished we would or could. I knew I’d never forget this woman. No one else would ever compare.

Her strength unrivaled, her passion untapped, her beauty endless.

“Thank you for that.” She turned toward me when we reached the truck. On her tiptoes, she rubbed her nose against mine, then brushed her lips along mine.

“I meant everything I said. I don’t want you to give up your memories or your house or anything else that’s precious because of Abby. I do want you to know you’re loved, and what happened with your ex will not happen with me,” I promised and hoped I could make it come true. I didn’t mention being at the cemetery before or seeing Abby’s grave. Something about that first meeting with Abby made this whole thing real to me. It was my memory to keep.

“I’m not sure I’ve ever felt so much in one evening.”

Me either.

“My feelings have gone from one end of the spectrum to the other,” she admitted, and I knew it was hard for her.

“I have the cure for that, Goose.”

My lips ran over her forehead, planting a kiss on top of her head before I opened the door to the truck. “In you go.”

“What’s next?” she asked when I settled in the driver’s seat.

“I’m not going to tell, Richards.”

I drove back toward town, through campus, and up toward the football stadium. The arena, quickly repaired after the explosion, loomed in the distance, but I turned well before it. As we pulled into the parking lot of the ice cream parlor, Claire mumbled, “Mary.”

“Yes, Mary tells me this used to be your favorite place. I said you’ve never mentioned it to me.”

“I haven’t been since Abby died. She loved it. We were supposed to come here the day after the explosion. I’d planned to take her to the pool and then here.”

“Come on, then, let’s get some. We’ve already had candy. A little ice cream isn’t going to matter.”

“How long have you and Mary been planning this intervention?”

“Not an intervention, Claire. It’s my way of making sure you know your memories are important to me too. Plus, if you come in wearing a costume tonight, you get a free scoop.”

“Did you know this stuff has so much fat, they can’t sell it in the grocery store?”

“Even better. Come on.” I jumped out my side and ran around to open her door.

She beat me to it, placing her aviators on top of the brim of her hat, marching toward the door.

“What’s your poison?” I asked while we waited in line.

“Chocolate peanut butter,” she said with a smirk.

“I should’ve guessed that one. What did Abby like?”

“Mint. That gross pink peppermint flavor. I couldn’t believe how much she loved it.”

“Well, I’ll tell you after I try it.”

Each of us holding a gigantic cone with a colorful scoop of ice cream on top, we walked outside. It was almost too cold to eat ice cream, but Claire tucked herself into my side and took a long lick of her ice cream.

“Good?”

She elbowed me in my rib cage with her free arm. “I see you thinking dirty thoughts. Let me eat my ice cream cone in peace.”

“I wouldn’t dare.”

“Want to take a walk?”

“Sure, you warm enough?”

“Next to you, always. You’re like a walking, talking furnace.”

“BYOH. Bring your own heater…which way?”

“I haven’t come up here much since that night. I take the long way around, mostly.”

“Do you want to walk past the arena?”

“The university put up a memorial on the first anniversary, and Laurie comes every year on the date it happened. I don’t know what she does. I guess she sits there and wishes she’d arrived earlier, made the girls leave earlier. Who knows?”

“You two both cope the best you can, I’m sure.”

We’d made our way to the intersection in front of the arena. “That’s where I dropped them. They looked so cute.” Claire pointed to the walkway in front of the building. “Their small butts, swinging back and forth. That’s the last thing I remember seeing. Laurie and I tried to see Shelby and Olivia once. We wanted to see how much they’d grown. That they were happy. But their parents said no. Said it would be too painful for them.”

I pulled Claire tight, careful not to crush her ice cream. “It’s been a long night, and I don’t want to end with us being sad. I know you care so much for everyone, but for one moment, I want to care for you. Let’s eat our ice cream and remember Abby’s butt swinging on her way to her first concert. She’d want that.”

“Okay,” she agreed without further rebuttal, reaching up on tiptoes and taking a lick of my ice cream.

“No fair.”

“Here.” She held out her cone.

We stood there for a while, taking turns licking each other’s ice cream.

“Come on, you’re freezing,” I said when I felt her shiver against my flank.

“Now what?”

“Home. My home, if that’s okay? I’d like to be just us tonight, if that feels all right to you. I don’t mean Smitty, he can come. I mean the memories…in case you thought…”

“I knew what you meant. Come on, I’m sure Smitty will love getting dog hair all over your sofa.”

“That’s the beauty of leather. Wipes right off.”

“Hmmm.” He had a point.