“In that one, they look happy and you look nervous.”
“I didn’t know them at all. In fact, I don’t even remember this photo. As far as I knew, I didn’t really meet her until after Barry died. So I only know him from these photos.”
“He looks like a very nice man,” Liz said.
Amber nodded. “I’m not sentimental or really religious or anything, but I hope they’re together again. She didn’t talk about him much, but I know that she loved him. It was difficult for Evelyn to trust people and she trusted him completely.”
“Why did you come stay with them?” Ricky asked. “The time you can’t remember, I mean.”
Amber shut the photo album.
“You said your flight back to Maine is tomorrow? What time? Do you have enough time to get breakfast?” Amber asked as she stood up.
They all got the hint and stood up with her. Alan pulled on Joe’s arm until he stood up as well.
“Absolutely,” Liz said. “We’d like to have the rental car back by ten-thirty and that gives us plenty of time with security and boarding.”
“I know a wonderful breakfast place,” Amber said. “I’ll text you the address. We can meet there, say, seven-thirty? We’ll get you on your way with time to spare.”
“Perfect,” Liz said. She was herding everyone towards the door, but Ricky managed to slip around her.
“Hey,” Ricky said. “Are you going to be okay tonight? I know you said that you’ve been working at night, so were you planning to stay up?”
“I am, actually,” Amber said. “I have to get back on my night schedule so, yes, I was going to stay up tonight and sleep after breakfast in the morning.”
“Then why are we going?” Ricky asked. “We can stay up with you. We can watch movies or something, right?”
Liz shook her head. “I’m sure Amber has plenty to do, and none of us can afford to switch over to a night schedule. Joe has school the day after tomorrow.”
Joe moaned at the mention of school.
“My schedule rotates, actually,” Ricky said. “I work nights just as often as days. I’m low man on the totem pole. Wait, forget I said that. We’re not supposed to say that.”
“Let’s go, Ricky,” Alan said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Time for you to experience the luxury of the Courtyard by Marriott.”
“Free wi-fi. Slow, but free,” Joe said.
“You’ll live,” Alan said.
Amber laughed and held the door for them. They waved as they got into the car.
Ricky put a hand up as he stared through the window at her. Amber nodded to him and shut the door.
She was alone in Evelyn’s house again. Liz was right—she had plenty to do. Some of the clothes could be boxed up and donated. There was a women’s shelter that was always on the lookout for basic items like shirts and sweaters. Some of the things were a bit ratty—those would go in the trash. Amber was washing everything before she decided. There were still a few more loads of laundry to do.
Before she could start the laundry, she wanted to put away the album and realized that it didn’t make sense to do it. She shouldn’t be putting things away. She should be figuring out where they would go. The lawyer had shared with her that only the big items were covered in the will. Things like photos, dishes, and clothes were going to be her responsibility to keep or distribute. She had no idea who would get the album. It seemed wrong to keep all those photos to herself. There were pages of photos that Barry had put together where he hadn’t written down any names on the backs. Amber had no idea who some of those people were.
With her uncle’s house, she had tried to be completely transparent and fair. Since she was the only one who went up to see to his things, she had felt the need to document everything, sending lists and pictures of the items to anyone who might be interested. She suggested a lottery system where people could decide on what was important to them and then they could pick a thing each time their number came up in the order.
Accusations flew. One of Bill’s half-sisters had claimed that she should have first dibs because she had spent the most time with him. People decided the process was unfair and they all blamed Amber. There was no way she was going to put herself through that again. As far as she was concerned, she could burn Evelyn’s house to the ground with everything in it.
Sorrow poured through her at that thought.
Amber sat down with the photo album in her lap. The colors in some of the photos had faded, and in the same way her cousin was already fading from the world. In a short time, there would be nothing left to remember.
Amber put down the album and picked up her phone.
She sent a message.
“Meet me out front of your hotel.”
Six: Ricky
Ricky jogged over to her vehicle.
“How did you know where I was staying?”
“Get in,” she said.
“Oh. Right. Alan said it. What made you change your mind about being alone?”
She didn’t say anything.
“Don’t want to talk? Just don’t want to be alone? I get it,” Ricky said. “I get that way sometimes. Actually, that’s not true. When I get nervous or lonely, I guess I always talk more. But you like to not talk at all.”
Amber sighed and Ricky finally was able to keep his mouth shut for more than two seconds.
He thought about when they had first met, during the crisis after the wedding. Amber had seemed cool and capable then—the way he wanted to be in a crisis. By the end of the night, they had both been terrified and barely hanging on. Somehow, since then, Amber had managed to regain her
