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I have Benson.
When a knock comes to my door, I furrow my brows, but I assume it’s Callie, coming to make sure I haven’t trashed my room yet. I smile to myself as I go to the door, but when I throw it open, it’s not Callie.
It’s Benson. With tears rolling down his face.
My heart stops dead in my chest as I instinctively reach for him, bringing him to me. He wraps his arms around me as he buries his face in my neck. I hold him close, squeezing him as a sob racks his massive body. He doesn’t have to tell me what’s wrong. I know, and my heart shatters for him. For the Adlers. I try to hold him closer, but my arms aren’t long enough, and I whisper, “Benny, I’m sorry.”
“It’s even worse,” he mutters against my neck, taking in a deep breath. I run my thumb along his neck as he slowly pulls back, looking down at me. I reach up, rising onto my tiptoes to wipe his face free of his pain. “She passed last night, but it was late, so they wanted to wait until today to tell us. When Grandpa didn’t come out of his room after eight, when he’s usually up at five, Shea went in to find that he had passed too.”
My breath catches as I cover my mouth. “No.”
He nods, closing his eyes. “They think he had a heart attack in the middle of the night.”
My heart aches for the passing of two incredible people, but my heart breaks for the pain the people I love are left with.
Then again, isn’t grief the gift of life?
Because it stands as a constant reminder of how much you loved a person.
Chapter Forty-Four
Benson
I lean on the counter in the middle of the kitchen of Grandma and Grandpa’s home. Shea and his twin, Grace, grew up in this house. Shea brought Elli here to get to know his parents. They found out Grace’s husband had cancer here. All the grandkids spent many holidays here, and the home is full of different mementos of the love they had for their grandkids. From photos to art to a growth chart on the wall that marked the height of all the kids.
Grandma had a stroke here, and Grandpa died in his sleep here.
This place is a home full of love, and by all the crying, that is more than apparent.
I need a moment. I need to breathe, but even from where I stand, that’s hard. Not when Cameron is buzzing around like a little bee, going to everyone as if they’re a flower she needs to tend. She has cleaned, she has cooked, and she has loved. She’s a sight to behold, and she’s all mine.
With two mugs in her hand, Cameron walks toward Shea and Elli to give them each a cup of the coffee she made. She leans on the chair, pressing her hand to Shea’s shoulder as he stares off into the dark depths of his grief. When he looks up at her, he actually smiles, and Cameron grins back. I push off the counter to get a closer look just as Elli reaches for Shea’s hand.
“Honey, you remember that damn fish?”
I lean into the doorframe leading to the room that holds my whole family. Owen and his wife, Angie, sit on the couch with Shelli’s and Posey’s boys. Shelli and Aiden are looking through photo albums with Posey, Callie, Evan, and Boon. Quinn is sitting on the other side of Elli, tucked into her side. He’s not handling everything well, his heart broken since he spent a lot of time up here with his grandparents. Even here, he was the favorite.
But at Elli’s comment about a fish, everyone looks up to where a huge striped bass is mounted over the massive fireplace. I look from the fish to Shea as he says, “God, you hate that thing.”
Elli laughs as Owen asks, “Didn’t you catch that, Mom? I think Grandpa told me that.”
She nods proudly. “Yeah, Grandpa took me out on the boat to bond with me when Daddy brought me home for the first time,” she laughs, but tears start to roll down her face. She sighs deeply. “The whole time I was fishing, I couldn’t stop thinking of Shea. I was fighting with myself over if I was actually falling in love with him.” I watch as Shea looks at his wife, love shining in his eyes, but also so much pain. “So, when I decided I was totally in love with him, I thought the pain in my chest was from that realization—and it probably was—along with that damn fish rattling my pole and hitting me square in the chest.”
The room erupts with laughter as Shea threads his fingers with Elli’s. “I loved you from the moment I met you. No fish was needed to help me realize it,” he says with a wink, and her lips curve in a grin only for him.
