“Okay then.Call if you need anything,” Kelly says, then I watch as she wanders over to Frankie, who sat watching our entire rehearsal.It’s their last night together, too, and I’m glad they will be able to spend it together uninterrupted.
Max gives me a stern look.“Don’t do anything stupid.”
“I won’t.Enjoy your night off,” I tell him.I walk over to find Chase putting his guitar in its case, and I reach over to touch his arm.He’s wearing a plaid blue and white shirt, and it brings out the blue of his eyes.He smells deliciously woody, and I want to snuggle into him.
But I resist the urge.We have a lot to talk about, and he deserves to know a few things.
“Hey.”He straightens and gazes at me.I could lose myself in that gaze.What would it be like to see it every day?
“Can we go somewhere?”I ask.My hand is still on his arm, and I’m not in any hurry to drop it.
“Sure.Where do you wanna go?”
“You’ll see.”
He squints at me before slinging his guitar over his shoulder and following me out.We chat about the show as he leads me to his car and opens the passenger door for me.I slide in and wait as he places his instrument in the backseat and settles in behind the steering wheel.
“Now where?”he asks.
I suck in a breath before asking, “Can you please take me to Harper’s grave?”
He nods and starts the car without question.That’s one of the things I love about him.He knows when to ask questions, and when not to.
The drive is a short one through residential streets and we pull up at the entrance to the cemetery at dusk.I climb out of the car and look around.The last time I was here, I was at my sister’s funeral.I don’t remember much about it.I was still in shock and deep in grief.
Chase comes to stand next to me, and I look up at him.“I don’t know where she is.”
“I do.”He reaches his hand to the small of my back.“I’ll take you there.”
We walk quietly through the rows of gravestones, his hand remaining in place.I take in the flower bouquets and gifts left on the majority of newer graves as we pass.It is a peaceful spot, surrounded by trees and flowering bushes.
Chase stops and points to a simple grass plot with a stone headstone.A fresh bouquet of colorful flowers sits in a jar next to it.
I walk closer and feel Chase’s hand slip away.I’m grateful for the moment alone he is giving me to be with my sister.
I sit on my knees on the grass covering her and read the gravestone.
Harper Elizabeth Gilmore
Beloved daughter and sister
Forever singing in the angel choir.
I can’t hold back the tears any longer, and they flow quietly down my cheeks.Memories of Harper flow through my mind like a disjointed movie as I let her in.I run my hand over the smooth marble and the inscription—so simple and yet so perfect.She will be singing with the angels—there is no doubt in my mind.Her voice was God-given and so has been returned.
“Hi sis,” I whisper down at the grass in front of me.“I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner.I bet you know everything that’s happened in the last eighteen years.It’s been quite the journey here without you.”I glance at the flowers again.They look fresh, and the gravestone is well maintained.I wonder how often my mother comes here.Daily perhaps?Prolonging her grief and misery, when that isn’t what Harper would have wanted.What she’s doing isn’t healthy—but it’s nothing in comparison to the way I’ve ruined my life.
“You would hate me for all the mistakes and bad choices I’ve made.They just seemed to snowball.And the more mistakes I made, the more I needed to drown the pain in drugs and alcohol.I needed to numb myself from it.I know that now and I won’t do it anymore.”I sniff through my tears.“I promise you, Harper, I will make you proud of me.I will bring our song to the world and share it the way we would have shared it together.I have so many other ideas now, and I know you have a hand in that.”
“She will always be with you, Bayleigh.Love like that never dies,” Chase says from behind me.
I look up at him.“No, it doesn’t.”My love for him is still there, stronger than ever in this moment when the three of us are together in the only way we can be now.“We were with her at the end, and she will be with us at our end.”
“Which will not be for a very, very long time.”He kneels down beside me and strokes his hand down my cheek, wiping my tears away.
“It was my fault,” I whisper.“I should have been concentrating more.”Fresh tears sting my eyes, and he gathers me against him.
“It was an accident.A terrible, tragic accident.”He tangles his fingers in my hair and kisses the top of my head.
