“I’m so glad you’re here to say goodbye, Oliver.” She caresses my cheeks and smiles. Same words Anna said. I turn around to look at my sister, slowly putting two and two together.
“Sue, did you speak with Anna lately?” She sheepishly glances at Pat who quickly looks away. “Sue…”
“Look Son,” Pat answers for his wife. “We might have heard you were having some issues and when Mark showed up saying he needed help to get you out of the dark hole you had dug yourself into, we decided to find a way to have you back.” He shrugs. “The ends justify the means. You needed to be there. And if Elaine would have hated a memorial, she would have loved us helping you. So we did what we had to do.”
Tears spring in my eyes.
I’ve been so stupid, so thoughtless.
And here are four people who love me more than anything, who did everything they could to help me without me even seeing what they were doing. Pat comes closer and covers my neck with his hand. Slowly he brings my forehead to his shoulder.
“It’s okay, Son, let it go.”
Like a child, I fall apart in the arms of the man I wish I had for a father.
“We would do anything for you, Oliver. We told you before. You’re like a son to us. She chose you for a reason, even though Elaine isn’t there anymore it doesn’t take away that you mean the world to us.” Sue kisses my wet cheek and hands me a tissue.
“Thank you,” I stammer out between two sobs.
“You’re welcome,” Pat says, gently tapping the back of my head. “Now let’s find some composure and not put shame on the navy, Son. You need to grow a pair again. Your son already has a rock star as a stepdad, he needs you to show him what a Saman can do.” He laughs and I follow. More from elation than humor, but it’s still a laugh. Having Aito and I considered family is an honor I will never deny.
“Ready to start?” I nod at Sue who signals to the celebrant.
The next thirty minutes are a dance between agony and deliverance. As much as it hurts to remember all the good moments we shared and the life we had, I feel free when I think of the future we will never share. The only future I want to share is with a certain blue-haired girl, and as much as I want to say goodbye to Elaine, I know she would understand if I bailed before the service is over to go get the one I need. Shuffling on my feet I get impatient and fidget right and left. Pat sends me a few glances and rolls his eyes playfully before nodding, as if to give me the authorization I need to get out of there. I look at him again with assistance to be sure the Samans won’t get pissed.
“Go,” Sue whispers. “She needs you to show her you’re not mad for everything that happened with her family.” I look at the poor guy sharing a story about Elaine and send him an apologetic smile, before turning on my heels and bolting out of there.
“Oliver!” Mark screams behind me. I don’t want to stop, but because it’s Mark I do. “Take my car,” he says while throwing me his keys. Barely catching them with my injured arm—the asshole couldn’t have aimed better— I nod a thank you and continue my way through the cemetery.
I have a woman I need to convince of my love and I won’t lose another minute of our time. She might not want to move to New York, or even want me, but I need to be the first to jump into our story with both feet.
I need to do it for her, for us, for me but also for Elaine. Because in that basement she asked me to live, to move on, to love again and fuck if I could ever disappoint her.
“I love you, baby,” I tell her glancing one more time toward the cemetery. The wind picks up and a single leaf falls at my feet. I pick it up and crunch it under my fingers, to ease the tension I feel having to go claim a woman who might not want to be claimed. Perusing the crowd one last time, my eyes stop on my group of friends. Anna, Mark, Naomi, and Lars are all talking to each other. Aito fusses and Naomi gets away from the conversation. She looks in my direction and even from afar, I can see the pride she feels seeing me going for what I want, who I want. Aito continues moving like a little worm in his mother’s arms and my eyes shift to the other three. That’s when I see Anna and Mark high fiving each other and Lars laughing. I have no doubt it’s at my expense. I chuckle and shake my head at the idea of what they did for me to have a chance to get back on my feet. I’m certain Tessa being my chauffeur and us stumbling upon each other wasn’t a coincidence either.
I owe them more than I could imagine.
Getting into the car, I’m about to drive to Tessa when my phone chimes.
I’m already laughing when I open it knowing it’s from Mark after looking at the screen.
Mark: You’re welcome. Now go get the girl, she’s not going to magically appear in a parking lot. Oh wait…
I frown trying to understand what he means when someone knocks on the window.
“Going somewhere, Green-eyes?”
A wave of happiness crashes into me just by hearing her voice.
Sneaky motherfuckers.
Chapter Thirty-One
TESSA
Oliver’s devilish
