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She turns to look at me and then offers me her mug. “You look like you need this more than I do.”
I accept the mug without protest, and as she curls up next to me, her head on my shoulder, I feel myself relax.
“You show up at just the right times,” I murmur to her, dropping a quick kiss on the top of her head.
She smiles. “I call it my Fergus radar. It was tingling.”
Then her smile fades, and she raises her head to study my face. “You look sad today. Reine?”
I swallow and say nothing, and she sighs. “You never talk about her anymore.”
I sip at the hot cocoa, and my voice is heavy, “There’s nothing to say, Agatha. She’s gone. Talking about her just hurts.”
She is silent for a moment and then reaches to pick up the remote. “Tell you what. You don’t have to talk. Let’s put on a movie, and we can stay here like this.”
She doesn’t wait for a response from me, and I feel her settle next to me as she starts the movie.
Back when I had been so grief-stricken and angry over Reine’s loss, it had been Agatha who had been able to drag me out of my state of mind. I never understood how she had managed to do that, but she had become sort of a clingy little sister figure and having her around made it easier for me to breathe.
And right now, as I feel her warm weight leaning on me, I feel my mind empty and I embrace the darkness that crept up on me.
6
Sarah
Seth is in a bad mood.
I wasn’t in any frame of mind to meet up with him for dinner, but I already missed the last two of our weekly dinners, and I didn’t need to give him more cause to be suspicious.
If he finds out that Bryan is missing, he will decide to get involved, and things will become infinitely worse.
I try to tell myself that I just have to get through this one meal without betraying my upset and fears. However, he seems to be rather irritable.
Hoping that his problems will distract me from my huge one, I ask, “Is something bothering you, Seth?”
We are sitting in the new Italian restaurant that just opened up last month near his building. Since he is so busy managing the community center, catching up once a week is something he decided on.
He is like family to me, and I don’t have much family to begin with.
He frowns into his pasta and then raises his head to look at me. “The guy, from this morning, who was he?”
I don’t want to think about Fergus right now.
“He’s a friend,” I say, slowly.
Seth isn’t willing to give up. “You’ve never mentioned him before.”
I purse my lips. “I met him at a bar.”
When he stares at me in a dumbfounded manner, I feel a little self-conscious. “What?”
“What were you doing in a bar?”
That is a good question. Just how am I going to answer that?
“I can go to a bar if I want,” I respond.
Seth sneers at me. “You have the lowest tolerance level for alcohol I have ever seen. Forgive me if I find it a little strange for you to be visiting a bar.”
