“What’s all this?” Eva said behind them as she walked in.
Lily wiped a tear from her cheek. “This is Brett’s last session.”
Eva’s mouth swung open. “Really?” She reached out to hug him. “It’s mine too.”
“What?” Brett and Lily exclaimed.
Lily tried not to choke. “Is there something in the water?”
“No,” Eva laughed. “I went out with my dentist.” She flushed red. “And I really enjoyed myself. So I thought I’d fly without my safety net for a while,” she squeezed Lily’s arm, “and see how it goes.”
For the rest of the session, Lily fought a smile. She was like a mama bird whose fledglings were leaving the nest, and she was damn proud.
Driving home later, her mind drifted along with sixties songs on the radio. She thought of her group. Getting to the next phase took courage. Did she lack that courage? While she was proud of herself—her independence, her resilience, the life she’d made for Daisy and herself—she realized how much she’d loved having Gage in their lives and doing for him too. He made it easy to feel that way, yet she’d thrown up barricades.
A blue-eyed soul tune she hadn’t heard in a long while came on, and she cranked up the volume. “Unchained Melody” was a song she knew well. The irony that it had been featured in the movie Ghost wasn’t lost on her.
As she belted it out, every word, every sad note, every strain of longing resonated within her. But it wasn’t Jack—her ghost—she fixed on. It was Gage. And by the time she reached her house, tears were spilling freely. She let them come, let them release heartbreak and regret and yearning.
Inside, she flipped on the hallway light, and her eyes roamed over the pictures. Gage had called the walls a shrine. Were they? A new focus, through his lens, sharpened. Fragments of words and images came at her, locking together like lost pieces of one giant puzzle.
“He was right,” she whispered.
But she hadn’t just put up a shrine to Jack; she’d made the house a mausoleum.
A jolt of electricity traveled along her spine. On went the radio, in came empty boxes from the garage, and soon she sat in the hallway with a generous portion of wine. She raised her glass with a trembling hand. In a quavering voice, she said, “Time for me to move on, love.”
The first picture she plucked from the wall was their wedding picture. Tear the Band-Aid off. She stared at it, ran her fingers over it, and let the memories play on her mind’s movie screen. Finally, she let go and laid it to rest in a box. The process sped up after that, though she allowed herself to linger on every object, laughing or crying as she recalled her other life. Her past life.
The walls emptied and the boxes filled. Next came her closet, Daisy’s bedroom, and every niche and nook that held a visual reminder. She spared only a few. An odd lightness took hold as she went, as if she could pull more fresh, sweet air into her lungs and float.
When she finished, the hallway was a mess, and she attacked it, scouring the walls and patching holes. She dug out a can of sky-blue paint and transformed the space while music played in the background. Inspired, she found a can of white and added dabs.
The sun was lighting her windows when she finally plunked down on the floor and admired her work. Above her, surrounding her, was a bright sky filled with pillowy clouds that seemed to roll along the surfaces. It was fresh and beautiful.
Muscles unwinding, she leaned back on her hands. The music seemed to grow louder, as if someone had cranked up the volume. “Have I Told You Lately?” filled the air, and where the song had always made her cry, now she could only smile.
Thank you, Jack.
Warmth and peace wrapped around her, fortifying her for the last good-bye.
She rose and padded to her dresser where she pulled out a small spruce-green jewelry box nestled in a drawer. She opened it and stared at the large, smooth band that was the mate to her own. Her hands were steady, as though someone else’s guided them, and she unclasped the necklace, placed it and her ring beside Jack’s, and closed the box. Running her fingers over the box’s worn edges, she whispered, “I’ll always love you.”
Hours later, Daisy rushed through the front door, Derek and Violet on her heels. Her daughter’s gaze caught on the hallway, and she ran into it, her eyes widening as she turned a circle and looked up, down. Lily held her breath.
Daisy’s gray eyes went to hers, and she broke out in a gorgeous smile that lit her sweet little face. “Momma, the sky is beautiful! Did you make this?”
Lily didn’t realize she had any tears left in her well until fresh ones sprang to her eyes. “I did,” she nodded. “Do you like it, baby?”
Daisy gasped. “Oh yes! Violet! Come see!”
Violet joined Daisy, and the girls chattered excitedly as they looked and touched.
Holding her breath once more, Lily turned to Derek. He raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been busy.”
“I worked all night.”
He nodded, seeming to take in her art project. “Looks it. I’d say you’ve performed an exorcism.”
“It was very … cathartic. What do you think, Der?”
He canted his head. “Does it matter what I think?”
“Actually, it does. He was your brother.”
He pulled in a huge breath and averted his eyes. “He wanted me to look after you, Lil. He even came out and asked if I’d, uh, consider, maybe one day …” he stammered. “Don’t think I didn’t consider it, but I just … I’m sorry, but it didn’t seem right. I mean, you’re my sister. But I’ll admit it also never seemed right for you to get together with another guy. Maybe that was me missing my brother. But now?” His eyes flicked to
