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He turns back to me and frowns. “You’re lying for him. Salomé’s don’t lie. Especially not to each other. We raised you better than that.”
I stare down at my feet. “That’s what he told me. He has to be on hand just in case they need him at his store. I don’t know. I’m sorry.”
“Lily,” He says and I look up at him. “I’m not trying to upset you. I miss you. We miss you.”
My mother moves over to me and puts her arm around my waist. “We do. It’s not the same without you here. I’m sorry.” She wipes the corner of her eye.
My eyes water. “I miss you both and I miss being here. How about I come back next week? I’ll leave work early on Friday, but I’ll have to leave early on Sunday?”
My mother’s eyes light up. “That’s great!”
“That’s better,” My father corrects. He leans in to kiss my cheek. “We’ll call you when we leave the restaurant.”
“We love you,” Mom says as my father pushes her toward the door.
“Love you, Mom and Dad,” I call out with a few silly kisses blown their way.
Mom grabs at those kisses as Dad waves from our black four-door sedan.
“See you soon, Tiger Lily,” they call out as they drive away.
My heart ached at the replay of that last night together. The house was imprinted, haunted with the life we shared and the person I had been back then. Both were gone, never to return.
I re-built. I broke again.
Would I ever be able to have my own love and family again? I started to head away when my phone rang, breaking apart my grief. Reaching inside my pocket, I looked down at the screen.
Unrecognized number.The criminal lawyer again? I groaned. Though I was conflicted, I had to admire her persistence. I wish I had that kind of strength to stand up and fight against those that couldn’t help themselves. People like me.
I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but I figured now was as good a time as any to deal with this. I sighed and pressed the button.
“Yes?”
“Lily. It’s Jonas.”
My breath caught and my pulse sped up. “Oh… Hello,” I said, cursing myself for the lift in my tone.
“You love me,” Jonas said, addressing the issue head on, though it had taken him three days to call.
“Yes. I do.” I cleared my throat. A flutter went through my chest. “I believe I do love you, Jonas.”
“I wish I was at ‘I love you,’ or wherever you need me to be, but I’m not. We haven’t spent enough time together. I’m just divorced….”
I swallowed against the pain clawing my throat. “You told me as much in the car. I only told you because I wanted you to know how I feel about you.”
“I just think we haven’t spent enough time together,” he said.
The sound of cars driving by filled my ears and I raised my voice to speak over it. “I know.”
I didn’t know what else to say to him.
“You on your way back?” he asked.
“No. I will be in a few hours, once I get to the station and get a ticket back.” I sucked in air. “I’m… I’m actually outside my old home in Quincy,” I said, and my voice wavered.
“You shouldn’t be there alone,” Jonas said in a soothing tone. “If I knew you wanted to go there, I would have gone with you.”
“It wasn’t exactly planned. I was jogging and I just… I wanted to see the house again. It just felt odd to be here and not do something to mark their memory… Anyway, thank you,” I said, pressing my feet in a snow bank.
