Erika’s hand was on my back making slow circles.I heard her typing on her phone with her other hand.
“Are you better?”Erika asked.
I forced out, “Fine.”
She put her phone in her jacket pocket.“Is this about the asshole with the aggressive dog at the end of the day?Marty phoned me about it.”
“Nah.There was a lot of shit at work today.It was a lot, just like any other day.We’re going to get fined for some stuff from the inspection.Also, I had a client who will either sue me or take me to the board over her horse dying, even though it wasn’t my fault.Then…here.”
Her hand still made circles on my back.“It wasn’t your fault he died.”
I knew the “he” she referred to wasn’t the horse.It was my brother from so long ago.“He was my responsibility.I lost track of him.”
“You were eleven…no, twelve.That’s only a few years older than Vinny.What if someone asked Vinny to watch a kid who didn’t listen?Would you get mad at him if the kid slipped away and something happened?”
“I know.”I leaned back against the seat.For the hundredth time since I’d parked the truck, my little brother’s dead face flickered in my head.His eyes had been wide open, glazed in death.For the thousandth time I shut it down.At least, I tried.It wasn’t as easy as it sounded.
To distract myself I stared out the windshield and asked, “Where’s Vinny?”
“Knox took him to play games while I hung out with Drew.This didn’t really feel like a date.More like time with a friend.”Softly she added sure and steady, “It wasn’t your fault.”
I steeled myself to look her way.She stared back without a hint of pity.
“Milly was selfish to do that to you,” she said.
“I don’t think she knows about all the stuff from the past that makes me like this.”
“She knows.She wanted to have you here to show off.That’s not what I was talking about, though.”
“I thought I could handle coming here.”God, I was so ashamed I couldn’t walk through the festival.
“She was an asshole forthis.”She dangled the locket from her hand.
I stiffened, mortified.For Erika to know I’d kept it and held it when stressed…
For me to admit to the need to grab it and fist it tight…
She opened my right hand, put the locket into it, and closed my fingers around it.How did she know I needed it?
Hoarsely, I said, “I’m sorry I kept it.I couldn’t?—”
“I want you to have it.”There was no judgment or laughter in her tone.
“It was a gift from your mother.”I gazed out the windshield.“I meant to return it, but then I was off at school.So were you.I found it in the car.”It was one of the hardest things I’d ever done, but I held it out to her.My stomach cramped at the thought of not having it.“After I found it in the car, it kind of gave me good luck in baseball.That day I got hurt I thought I lost it.I didn’t have it on me.”
She pushed my hand away from her.“I told you a long time ago it’s magical.It’s yours now.”
“Thanks.”I fisted it.We sat in silence for a while, at least until my mind settled.
She said, “It was brave of you to try to do the festival for Milly.”
I tried to take a deeper breath, but it was rough, uneven.“I didn’t do it for her.”
My phone dinged to signal an incoming call.I hoped for an animal emergency that would take me far away from here, but it was Marty.I answered.
“Hey, Dr.Hurst, I heard you’re here at the festival.We could really use your help over at the raffle tent.I had a no-show and need someone to sell raffle tickets.”
The tent was on the periphery, away from the rides.Maybe…
