Brody pulls away. “No. No, don’t do that. I love the little fucker.” He gives him another nudge as he wipes his face with his other hand. “Damn. I probably needed that,” he says, laughing sadly.
Raffe pats him on the back. “That’s how she lets you know she’s still here watching over you.”
He nods. “Yeah, yeah. That’s how it works, doesn’t it?”
“It does,” Raffe tells him confidently.
Brody gives us each a hug. “Okay.” He runs his hand over his face one last time. “Fuck.” He shakes his head like a dog. “I’m good.”
He gives the frog one last look before turning to me. “I’m glad you’re here,” he says.
The sliding door shoves open, and Charlotte comes running in. “I’m ready,” she says, sliding to a stop in front of me.
“Ready for what, little miss sassy pants?” Brody teases, his earlier breakdown forgotten.
“Jenny is going to help me hold a spider.”
Petey steps inside. “I’m sorry,” he says, closing the door behind him. “When this girl gets something in her head …”
I bend over so I can look Charlotte in the eye. “If it’s okay with your parents, maybe you guys could come over for supper tonight. Aspen will be here, and I’ll have her bring her spider with her. We’ll see how far we get.”
Charlotte looks to her father to answer.
“Thank you. Yes, count us in,” he says. “Now come on, we’ve got to get you to school.”
Jenny gives her a hug. “Have a good day at school, sweetheart.”
“I hope you have a good day too.” She skips over to Petey, and he mouths a “thank you” again as they walk out.
“That’s real cool of you,” Brody says, giving me one last hug before heading out himself.
Raffe and I watch him leave. “Look at you,” he says, tucking a stray hair behind my ear.
I pat my head. “I know, I must look a mess. I didn’t have time …”
He stops me by pressing his mouth to mine. “You are beautiful.” His eyes dart around my face. “I love every bit of you, but that wasn’t what I was talking about. I meantlookat you. How many people have you helped since you got here? You’re doing so good, baby.”
“Oh! I need to get busy on Kelsie’s dress.” I keep forgetting I have people counting on me.
Raffe chuckles. “I put the sewing stuff upstairs in our room.”
I give him a kiss, guiding him back over to his breakfast. When he sits, I run my fingers through the back of his hair, and he hugs me around the waist.
“Thank you for noticing, but it’s not me. Everyone here is making it so easy,” I say quietly, pulling away from him. “Enjoy your breakfast.”
He stops me before I walk out of the room. “You’re not giving yourself enough credit.”
I look at him over my shoulder and smile. “I love you.”
When I get up to our room, I stare at the wedding dress hanging in front of me. I begin to dig through the plastic totes Raffe brought over from his house. They’re filled with sewing supplies.
The first box is nothing but ribbon. It’s an assortment of blues. I smile because Raffe told me Rachel’s favorite color was blue. There’s a lot of pretty stuff in here but no thread. I push it aside and open the next box. Jackpot. Every color I could possibly need is laid before me.
I’m about to open a new pack of needles when I see one already out. It’s tucked into a spool of blue thread. Perfect. I pick it up to pull the needle from it but pause. There’s a string attached to it. Perhaps from the last thing she sewed.
It hits me suddenly. Am I taking over her life? If she’d been alive, she would be the one altering Lily’s dress. She would be the one comforting her family. It would be her enjoying Raffe’s touch at night.
I don’t know how long I sit staring at that spool of thread in my hands, but eventually I notice my mother sitting next to me in the window seat.
