The Summer I Fell (The Six Series) (31 page)

6 Months Later:

LIFE TO THE LIVING CARRIED
on after the death of someone you loved. There was nothing you could do to change it. You were forced to accept it—or not to accept it. I did my fair share of ‘what ifs’ after the death of my dad. I wandered the house like a ghost myself most days, waiting for a sign that it was okay to move on with my life. Waiting on a phone call from Ace. Waiting.

Mary stopped by at least three times a week to check on me. Paige forced me out of the house until I started doing it on my own. It was then when I knew I’d chosen to continue on. It was then I knew I needed to focus on myself and let everything else happen the way it was supposed to. Waiting for Ace to call only made me fall further into a depression that seeped the colors from my world. I couldn’t let anyone have that much power over me. I loved him. I’d wait for him. But I damned sure wasn’t going to stop living because he wasn’t around. He was at least still alive.

Dr. Anderson hired me on as his part-time assistant with the stipulation that I had to sign up for college. So I did. When I wasn’t in the cab of Dr. Anderson’s truck, bouncing around on a back road, I was sitting in front of a college professor, taking notes.

Mark, Eli, Josh, Jared, and even Aiden called me from time to time. And Mark sent the picture of all seven of us that he’d taken at the cabin. It was one of his best photos, I thought. I’d hung it on the opposite wall of the living room from where my dad’s ashes were, surrounding me with the reminders of those I loved.

Paige decided to take Mark’s offer and move to New York, on the condition that I’d come and visit her every year. She told me that the first year I missed would be the year she moved back home and then kicked my ass. Not that she’d do either one of those things, but it was nice hearing the threatening tone in her voice when she’d said it. It made me fully understand what our friendship meant to her. I helped her pack and waved to her when she pulled out of her driveway. Tears slid down her cheeks when she stopped, rolled down the window, and blew me a kiss. It took everything in me not to call her back and make her stay, so that I wouldn’t be alone.

When Josh found out that Paige had left, he called me, asking me if I wanted him to come home. He told me he didn’t like the thought that I was on my own without any of my friends around. It took a while to convince him that I was fine. That I was where I wanted to be, and I damned sure didn’t want anyone to give up their lives so they could hold my hand, as if I couldn’t do it without someone constantly beside me.

I had to do it. I had to prove to myself that life could be lived on my own. Without the crutch of someone hovering over me like I was fragile. Someone ready to splinter apart because of all of the cracks. I wasn’t porcelain. I was flesh and blood. Bones and skin. All working together. All healing together. Every day reinforced it. Every day made me stronger, as the cracks fused together a little more. A patchworked me that could stand resilient, no matter what life threw at me.

And I’d done so well.

IT’D BEEN A LONG DAY. First class, and then a call from Dr. Anderson asking me to come assist him with an emergency call because someone had dropped off a dog that had been hit by a car. It’d been bad. Four hours of surgery later, and then it was a wait-and-see game. If he were strong enough, he might make it. Chances were, though, he wouldn’t last through the night. I’d numbed myself from it. I couldn’t allow the bitterness of the negligent driver, that left him on the side of the road, swallow me whole. I pushed back the tears that rimmed my eyes and threatened to spill. The closed-off feeling in my throat when I tried to swallow. I pushed all of it back and drove home.

Mary’s car sat in my driveway, and I couldn’t help but wonder why she was there. I never saw her on Thursdays because she usually worked a double shift. I jammed the truck in park and cut the ignition. Before my imagination could get out of control, she stepped outside with a wave. My shoulders sagged in relief, as I palmed the keys and got out of the truck.

I met her at the door, and she pulled me into a hug. “How was your day?”

I shook my head with a snort of disgust. “Long. And it ended really shitty. How come you’re here?” I felt awful after I said it. Mary didn’t need a reason to come to the house.

She chewed on her bottom lip, clasping her hands in front of her. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

My stomach clenched, as I watched her face for a hint as to what was wrong. “It can’t be that bad. Can it?” A nervous laugh attached itself to my question.

Mary crossed her arms and hugged them against her chest. “The diner cut my hours and, to add insult to injury, my landlord passed away some time ago. Now his kids want to take all of his properties and sell them. They’ve given me a month to ‘clear out’ is how they put it.”

I walked over to the couch and sat with a heavy plop. My dad would have given me hell for it. ‘The couch is not a trampoline, Riley,’ he would have said. I felt a flicker of a smile crawl across my lips and looked around. Being here on my own was lonely. Not that my house was huge, but it felt lifeless with only me bumbling around in it most days. In fact, the only time it felt like a home was when Mary was there, fluttering around the kitchen. Her laugh made the walls seem less like a cage and more like a shelter.

“I’ve started looking at apartments…” Her voice cut into my wandering thoughts.

“No. You’re coming here. This is where you belong.” I said it with such finality that she jumped.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she released it, she crossed the room and sat down beside me on the couch. “Riley, I really appreciate the offer, but this is your home. Maybe when Jake gets back, it’ll be your home together. You don’t need me here… in the way.”

What she said confused me. How could she ever think she’d be in the way?

“Do you even know when Jake will be back? And what about when he leaves again? You have work. I have school. We both have things to do and not enough money between the two of us to live on our own. It’s the best thing for both of us.”

What I’d said wasn’t entirely true. The life insurance policy my dad had taken out covered everything. The house was paid for. All I had to do was keep up with the other bills and taxes. There was even enough money left over for a comfortable savings account. But there was no reason to tell her that. It would only make her think she’d be taking advantage of me. The truth of it was… I selfishly needed her. If she got an apartment, she’d probably have to get a second job to pay for everything, and she wouldn’t be around much. There was no way I’d let her do that.

“Riley, it wasn’t my intention for you to offer up your home. I just wanted you to know I’d be moving. And to see if you’d help me since I know I can’t move the entire house on my own,” she said, picking up my hand and squeezing it.

My head fell back against the couch cushion, and I heaved a sigh. She wasn’t just going to give in. “Mary, I want you to stay here. I don’t like living on my own, and there’s plenty of room for the both of us. You’d be doing me a favor if you came here to live.”

Silence filled the space between us, as she worried her lip and looked away from me. “I’ll think about it.”

I nudged her with my knee. “Don’t think too long about it. There’s a lot we need to do to get you ready to move in here.”

Her laugh sounded a little off and I leaned forward, getting a good look at her face. She dashed the tears away and nodded. “Fine. Since you’re not giving me much of a choice, I suppose the best thing to do is agree with you. But, Riley? The minute it gets to be too much or you want to be on your own, you have to promise me that you’ll tell me. Okay?”

I felt like a bobble head with the way my head dipped and swayed. She’d agreed to stay. Neither of us would be alone anymore.

OVER THE NEXT WEEK, WE’D packed up her house during the day and then went back home to sort through what I had. Converging two houses together was time consuming and a little overwhelming, but Mary made it sort of fun.

We’d started with the hardest part first. Cleaning out my dad’s room. Mary had insisted I take the master bedroom so that we could just move my stuff and Ace’s in at the same time. I’d blushed when she said it, but she continued as if it were no big deal.

When it came time to move the heavy furniture, I enlisted Dr. Anderson, Seth, and Aaron to help us. By the end of the day, all the big furniture was moved and set up. All that was left was to finish packing up the rest of whatever Mary wanted to keep. She didn’t have a whole lot to pack and yet, she still managed to have several boxes of things she’d planned to donate to the Red Cross.

Between the two of us, we put a huge dent in all the extra stuff in my house to make room. It was the first time in a long time that my house had a feminine touch. Gone were the dark curtains, replaced by sheer panels that allowed the sun to light up the room. Soft, fluffy towels were stacked inside the linen closet that had a hinted scent of lavender that escaped when you opened the door. The windows were so clean that you could see your reflection when you passed by them.

My chest didn’t ache anymore on the ride home at the end of the day. I felt liberated and whole again, knowing my home was filled with laughter and love. She and I, we’d make it. And when Ace came home, it would only get better.

MARY AND I HAD DECIDED
to paint the living room a soft, buttery yellow, so all the furniture was pulled to the middle of the room. We were almost done when my cell phone rang. I’d taken to keeping it in my back pocket, so I didn’t miss any calls. Not hearing from Ace for so long had weighed heavy on me. Would it always be like that? Could I just pick up and move off to wherever he was, only to sit around wondering when the phone would ring? I shook my head and set the paint roller in its tray. Pulling the phone out of my back pocket, I glanced at the screen and a moment of panic shot through me. Unknown Caller. I swiped my finger across the screen and answered.