“Yes,” the man sniffed, “but you went on without her. You did all this because of Madison. All of it! But now she’s gone...” His bloodshot eyes flitted over to me. “She’s gone, and you’re still moving on.”
There was a silence as everyone let go of everyone else. We were standing in the relative darkness, halfway down the manor’s massive entranceway. The illumination provided by the driveway lights cast everyone with wicked-looking shadows.
Finally Roderick turned my way. He saw the dismay and confusion in my eyes, and his expression softened.
“Karissa this is Ryan,” he said softly. “He’s our…”
“He’s our brother-in-law,” said Camden firmly.
I stood there in total bewilderment. It was the last thing I expected.
“Was,” Ryan corrected glumly.
“No,” Bryce jumped in. “Is. And always will be.”
He threw both arms around the man and hugged him again, and this time Ryan hugged him back. Bryce winced in pain, and the two men let go of each other just as quickly.
“Sorry,” said Ryan. “I—”
Bryce shook his head, halting the apology. “Dude, you can kick.”
I was starting to get it. The expression on Ryan’s face had gone from hatred to resignation to something else entirely. I could see barriers breaking down. Memories flooding back into the man’s mind, replacing his fury with something more important, more nostalgic.
“Why would you try to destroy this place?” asked Camden. “Your sister adored it! She’s the reason we’re here.”
“You almost killed us!” Roderick added. He looked around. “All of us. Setting that fire was reckless and ridiculously stupid.”
“I know I know,” Ryan said glumly. “But you were never in danger. I burned that pallet of stuff, not the manorhouse.” He looked miserable. “I was too chickenshit to burn that.”
“Not to mention your sister would’ve killed you,”said Bryce.
“I— I didn’t want to see the place go up anyway. Not really.” He swallowed thickly. “I was angry. I felt disrespected, dishonored. Left out. And then you…” Ryan looked at me, as if seeing me for the first time. “You were taking Madison’s place. I could see it all happening again. I could see the whole thing going down exactly—”
“No one’s ever taking Maddy’s place,” said Roderick. “She was irreplaceable.”
“And we never meant to leave you out,” Camden added. “You just stopped coming around. Ryan we love you. You’re family. You always will be, no matter what.”
He rubbed at his eyes, which were a little less bloodshot. He looked no less upset though. No less miserable.
“Just because Madison’s gone it doesn’t change anything,” Bryce said. “We miss you bro. When you stopped coming around, we figured you needed space. We knew you were hurting. We didn’t want to push…”
Ryan’s chin dropped as he continued crying. The tears weren’t all bad though. They seemed cathartic. Wholly necessary to finally moving forward.
The kind of tears that had been held back way too long.
“I miss her,” Ryan sobbed, and the circle closed around him. Only now the circle was more of a square, because I was there too. “I just… I miss her so much.”
I put my arms around him, whether he wanted them or not. He didn’t shy away. If anything he melted into me.
“We all miss her,” said Roderick. “We always will.” He spread his arms wide, closing them around everyone. After some time had passed, he touched Ryan on the cheek and forced him to look upward. “Can I show you something?”
Ryan nodded, and Roderick led the way back to the house. I knew exactly where we were going. I think we all did.
“Wow,” Ryan murmured as we stepped inside. He scanned the huge foyer with glassy eyes. “It looks amazing.”
“Thanks bro,” said Bryce.
“No really,” Ryan reiterated. “The last time I was in here… there was scaffolding everywhere, and there was…”
He choked up again, and Roderick took his hand. Up the grand staircase we went, and down the hallway. Ryan’s gaze was everywhere, burdened by the weight of a thousand memories. Occasionally his mouth broke into a shuddering smile, and I knew many of those memories were good.
Roderick opened the door to Madison’s room and we all stepped inside. Rather than start crying again, Ryan somehow held it together.
“You kept her stuff,” he sniffed.
“Yes.”
“Exactly the way she kept it,” said Camden. “Nothing’s changed.”
“And nothing ever will change,” added Bryce. “This place has fifty-five rooms to explore, furnish, and decorate. But not this one. Never this one.”
Roderick was kneeling now, and he pulled something out from under the bed. It was a wooden box, elaborately decorated. A small brass key protruded from the lockplate on the front center.
“I found this a few weeks ago,” he said, “when I came in here one night. It belonged to Maddy, but it belongs to you now.”
Ryan took the box with trembling hands, and Roderick helped him open it. Inside were a mess of loose photographs. Pictures of Ryan and his sister when they were young, and of their parents too. He flipped through them, and started crying all over again. There were holidays. Birthdays. Summer vacation photos of some random lakehouse, with their little family swimming and playing and jumping into the water.
“Oh…” Ryan murmured. “Oh wow.”
The photos were tiny windows into the past. A glimpse of happier times, of memories that might’ve been forgotten if they hadn’t been captured on film.
“I didn’t even know she had these,” Ryan croaked. He was smiling. Laughing. Crying. “Oh my God, this is amazing.”
“I know you and Maddy lost your parents when you were still young,” Roderick croaked. “But that doesn’t mean you’re alone now.”
A hand slid over Ryan’s shoulder. I almost didn’t realize it was mine.
“You’re never alone,” I whispered softly. “Not while you have this place. Not while you have us.”
I squeezed him and the tears still fell. Eventually he dropped everything back in the box and turned to face us.
“Do you really mean that?” he asked, looking from face to face.
Bryce hugged him so hard they nearly both fell over. Camden hugged them both.
“Always,” one of them murmured. “You’ve had three
