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He’d been quiet for a while when he said, “The last time my father and I spoke, he told me he loved me and was proud of me. That wasn’t something that happened very often.”
Turning around to look at him, I said, “You almost wonder if his soul could sense something.”
He tightened his grip around me. “Yeah. It’s weird.”
“And beautiful at the same time.”
“The only reason I called him was because of my conversation with Ollie.”
“That’s right. I remember you saying that.”
“So, I’m grateful to Ollie for putting that suggestion about movies in my head, because otherwise I wouldn’t have spoken to Dad, would never have had that last moment with him.”
“I’m so glad you did.” After a moment, I said, “Ollie’s been worried about you.”
“Shit. Really?” He scooted up a bit. “Can I call him? Is it too late?”
“Not at all.” I reached for my phone on the coffee table. “He doesn’t go to bed for another hour.”
I dialed my home number and put it on speakerphone.
Camille answered, “Hey! How’s it going?”
“It was a long day. I have Ryder with me. You’re on speakerphone—just letting you know.”
“Thank you for the warning.” She laughed. “I might have said something stupid.” Her tone softened. “Very sorry for your loss, Ryder.”
“Thank you, Camille. I appreciate that. And thank you for taking care of Ollie so I could have Eden here with me.”
“My pleasure.”
“Where’s the big man now?” Ryder asked.
“He’s in his room, but I’ll hand him the phone. Hang on.”
You could hear the muffled sounds of Camille talking to Ollie before my brother came on the line.
“Ryder?”
“Hey, buddy.”
“Are you okay?” Ollie asked.
“Yes. That’s why I’m calling. I wanted you to know you don’t have to worry about me. I’m gonna be okay.” Ryder glanced over at me and smiled before he said, “Thank you for letting me borrow your sister for a couple of days. Having her here has really helped.”
“Eh, no problem. I haven’t even missed her that much.”
I chuckled. “Thanks a lot, Ollie.”
“Okay, maybe I miss you a little.”
“I know you miss me, silly. I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon, okay? Be a good boy for Camille.”
“Ryder?” Ollie said.
“Yeah?”
“Maybe your parents can meet my mom now.”
Ryder smiled. “That would be really nice, wouldn’t it?”
“You believe in Heaven, right?”
Ryder took a deep breath in, seeming to ponder Ollie’s question. “I believe our loved ones are still with us after they pass. I don’t know if there’s another place that they all hang out together, or if they become a part of us in some other way, but I do believe there’s more than this life, that they’re still around. In fact, I’ve talked to my dad a lot in the past couple days.”
“Has he talked back?”
Ryder closed his eyes and grinned. “No. But I feel like he can hear me.”
“Cool. I’m gonna try talking to my mom.”
“You should. I bet she’d like to hear from you.”
“Thanks for the tip, Ryder.”
“You’re welcome, buddy. We’ll talk soon, okay?”
“Okay.”
After he hung up, Ryder lay back down and said, “It was nice to hear his voice.”
“I know he’s been dying to talk to you.”
Ryder brought me in close to his body again. “What time is your flight tomorrow?”
“Noon.”
“We’ll have breakfast together before I take you to the airport.”
“Okay. That’ll be nice.”
We lay in silence for a while longer before he said, “I saw you talking to Benny at the restaurant.”
I licked my lips. “Yeah. I introduced myself. He didn’t know who I was, didn’t realize you were dating anyone.” I couldn’t help admitting that.
“I’m sorry I never had a chance to tell him about us.”
“That’s okay. I can understand why you might be a little ashamed of how we met.”
“Whoa.” Ryder turned me around to face him. “That’s not it at all. I am not ashamed of you, Eden. Fuck. Don’t ever think that.” He tightened his grip on me. “Benny is very cynical and a smartass. I didn’t feel like dealing with the tasteless jokes that would inevitably come if I told him the full story. And I didn’t want to lie to him about how we met, either. So, I was figuring out how to handle it. He’s an old friend, but he can be a bit of an idiot sometimes. I put off telling him only because I wanted to do it justice. Honestly, the main reason he doesn’t know is that we haven’t been speaking all that often the past few months. He’s been off doing his own thing. I feel really shitty that you thought I was ashamed.”
I felt ridiculous for having let it upset me. After all, he’d introduced me to Mallory as his girlfriend, and his housekeeper, Lorena, had known right away who I was. I guess I was just being sensitive.
“It’s okay. I get it. I told him we met online.”
