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“I thought it would be good to just…leave the earth for one moment. Get away from bullets and bombings and assassination attempts and…”
“Trouble.”
The Ferris wheel brought them higher, the lights of the city glittering all around them. The canals caught the colors, reflected them back, and overhead, the moon watched.
“Oh, I know better than that, Iris Marshall.” He turned to her, touched his big hand to her cheek.
“Encroachment,” she said softly.
“You bet it is.” Then, as the basket swung up into the star-strewn endless sky, he definitely encroached.
What Happens Next
He wasn’t ready.
Garrett stood at the window of the waiting room, watching the snow peel from the sky, trying not to let the snarl of emotions in his chest escape out into the room.
“I wonder if the storm will disrupt Thanksgiving. I hope the kids can get in.”
Jenny sat in a chair behind him, having shed her jacket, although she still wore her wool beanie hat, a thick sweater. Lately, she constantly shivered.
“I think it’ll be okay. They’ll get here. Iris called and said she and Hud were in New York, switching planes.”
“Did you see the pictures from Shae and Ned’s wedding? Such great shots. We should have eloped.”
He glanced at her. She gave him a smile. Her skin seemed so sallow, and she’d dropped weight. “Your parents would have murdered me.”
“I don’t know. Think of the money we could have saved.”
“Don’t tell me for a second that you’re not dreaming of Iris’s wedding.” He was trying. Really. But weddings and thanksgiving dinner were the absolutelastthing he wanted to talk about.
“Oh, I hope she and Hud get there.”
And soon. But he didn’t say that, just turned to look again out the window, fighting to hold it all together.
A beat, then Jenny’s hand slipped into his and she stepped up behind him, curling her other hand around his arm, setting her chin on his shoulder. “Breathe.”
He slipped his hand over hers. Fought to clear his thickening throat. “Yep.”
“It’s going to be okay. No matter what the doctor says.” She moved around him, turning him to make him stand in front of her. “I trust God’s plan. No matter what it is. We both know that this is not the end.”
His eyes burned, and he pulled her to himself before she could see him tear up. The last thing she needed was him crumbling. But inside, he already felt shattered.
That’s what happened when you found your beloved wife collapsed on the kitchen floor, her panicked children around her. Didn’t matter that Fraser had fought wars, that Jonas chased storms, that Iris stood up to burly football players, even that Creed had seen way more than he should, way too young. When he’d run into the kitchen and seen Jenny, pale and broken, they’d all become small children in his eyes, watching their beloved mother fade into eternity.
“I beat it once, I can beat it again,” she said, pulling back.
Oh shoot, too soon because moisture rimmed his eyelids. She put her hands to his face and used her thumbs to wipe it away. Smiled.
He nodded, unable to speak. But she seemed more frail every day.
Twenty years ago, she’d been strong, robust, and ready to fight.
Today… He pulled her close, wrapped his arms around her, and simply held her. Thirty-five years.
No, he couldn’t say goodbye. Not yet.
“Jenny, Doctor Brian will see you now.” A nurse stood by the door to the office of Jenny’s oncologist. How Garret never wanted to see the University of Minnesota Cancer Center ever again. Still, he found a smile and followed Jenny in.
