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His features twisted with concern, and I’d never wanted to cry so hard.
Until now…
Scenes replayed, mixing with my last memory of my parents. I’d been at their house the following day when knocking sounded at the door. I’d only just arrived by cab because like everything else in my life at the moment, my car decided not to start. I was running exceptionally late which was okay since they’d called to let me know they were making a trip to the grocery store. I figured they had stopped for something else on the way home being as they had left a few hours before.
“Hello, can I help you?”
“Ma’am, my name is Officer Harris, and this is Officer Wilcox. Are your parents George and Marilyn Brexton?”
“They…are. What’s the matter? Are they okay?”
“We’re sorry to inform you, but there’s been an accident.”
Accident. It was one word, but it sparked a million fears.
“Ms. Brexton.”
My eyes left the skyscrapers in the far distance, settling on the large, bald man in the dark suit. He was the only one who’d rode in the back of the limo with me, and to this point, he hadn’t said a word. Not even when I asked him where we were going.
“Yes?”
My eyes narrowed, hesitant at the tissue he handed over. It was only then that I felt the tears rolling down my cheeks. Dammit. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t function. The last few days were a mass of merging moments. My father’s funeral. The packing. The lawyers. What was I doing again? Where the hell was I going? I didn’t want to be here, but the three men who’d collected me from my parent’s house didn’t give me a choice. Maybe I should have been afraid. Perhaps if I could think straight, I would have put up a bigger fight or questioned them more, but I felt just as dead as my father. And didn’t they say this was about him? That it was important?
“Please, what’s all this about? I don’t know anyone who’d have a limo, and I don’t think my father would have either.”
“George was a great man.”
I stopped blowing my nose, blinking through what I thought I heard.
“You knew my dad?”
“I did. For a very long time now. He was a dear friend.”
More tears. Was I nodding? Sobbing? God, I was. I was falling apart even more by the second.
“He was s-so great. He was kind. He would have taken care of e-everybody if he could.”
“Yes. He would have.”
“I’m sorry.” I put my hand out. “I don’t think I got your name.”
“Thomas.”
My lips parted, only to close. “Thomas, from the bank?”
For seconds he didn’t speak.
“Your dad loved you very much. I want you to know that. No matter what, don’t forget how much he cared. Sometimes, things happen that we can’t control. I don’t think any of us expected this. Especially him.”
Unease left me shifting in my seat. For the first time in days, my heart stopped aching. The fear that clutched it was raw. Real. It had me forcing myself to swallow through the panic that was closing my throat.
“You’ll have to excuse me. I…am having trouble making sense of things. I haven’t really slept much. Will you please tell me what’s going on?”
“I’m sorry, it’s not my place.”
“Your place? Can you tell me who’s place it is?”
The divider lowered, drawing our attention to the front of the limo.
