Page 70 of A Little Light

“Come on.” Andi cocked her head and guided Rachel along the short footpath. When Jane had chosen her burial plot, she had done so with Andi and their friends in mind. I don’t want you lot traipsing across a graveyard in the middle of winter. Don’t be bloody stupid. You’ll be criticising me in death! Andi could only smile. Jane had planned every last thing down to the final detail. They’d worked things out together—funeral plans and finances—and Jane had left Andi needing nothing at all. “She used to say to me that she was glad she got the diagnosis she did rather than something rapid and unexpected.”

Rachel listened, nodding slowly.

“It gave us the chance to plan and arrange things. It also meant that we could do a lot of things together before she forgot who I was entirely. We travelled, we ate at the fancy restaurants we’d always promised to book a table at, and we did anything at all that we wanted.”

“I’m glad you both had the chance to do those things together.”

“She had three life insurance plans active. I had no idea they existed. When I questioned her about them—when she finally told me she was paying into them—she said that she’d taken them out when she knew she was in love with me because we wouldn’t be together forever. That unless something went drastically wrong, she would be gone before me. Me, being who I am, told her not to be daft. That I could go before her. But as ever, Jane was right.” Andi laughed. “She always did like to prove she was right about anything and everything.”

“I don’t know how you move forward from something like that, Andi. I really don’t.”

“Well, we have to adapt to a new life. What use is sitting and wallowing when I have a lot of life left in me? I owe it to Jane to move forward and make the most of the life she can no longer be a part of.”

They stopped at Jane’s grave. Andi crouched down, reading the card on another bouquet of flowers that had been left. The card was pristine, as though it had only just been placed on the flowers. And the arrangement? Well, Andi knew exactly who had laid it, with or without the card.

Sally and Claire.

She shook her head, determined not to be angry. “Sally and Claire have visited already.”

“O-oh.”

Yes. Oh, indeed. “It’s fine. If Sally can’t share these moments with me, that’s her choice.”

Rachel lay a supportive hand on Andi’s shoulder. “Hey, don’t think about all of that right now. You’re here to visit Jane. Don’t let her behaviour take away from that.”

Andi laid her own bouquet towards the top of the grave, directly under Jane’s headstone. She brought her palm to Jane’s picture, closed her eyes, and allowed herself to be in the silence. It didn’t matter where Jane was, which ground she lay in, Andi would always feel her close by. Even with Rachel in her life, she still felt Jane by her side and cheering her on. But that was Jane through and through. Always there to guide other people—in life and in death.

As Andi got to her feet and stepped back, she felt a secure arm around her waist. Rachel’s warmth spread through her, the silence of the graveyard reminding Andi that everything was calm. It was all she wanted lately. Calm…serene…quietness. “Thank you for being here.”

Rachel leaned in and kissed Andi’s cheek. “Always.”

Chapter 22

Andi held Rachel’s hand against the console as they turned into her street, a light drizzle beginning to fall. They had plans this evening, mostly prep work for tomorrow’s Christmas dinner, but right now, she just wanted to lie on the couch…while the log fire roared in front of them.

Perhaps they could do a little of both?

“Okay, so I’m going to drop you off and then pop to the supermarket for some last-minute things. I know I’m out of my mind going now, but I want to make sure we have everything.”

Andi smiled. “Okay, but I won’t expect you back for at least five hours. Please, no fighting with those women who have their trollies mounted up with everything in sight. You know, because they behave as though the shops are closing for the next fortnight.”

Rachel snorted and squeezed Andi’s hand. “Trust me, they wouldn’t dare.”

“You’ll call me if anything changes and you can’t make it over?” Andi asked as she placed her hand on the door handle.

“I will be here.”

Andi reached into her pocket and took her keys out. She unhooked one from the ring holding it in place and handed it over to Rachel. “Let yourself in. I’ll start the veg prep.”

“Are you sure?” Rachel’s brows drew together as she looked down at the silver key.

“Of course. Don’t worry. It doesn’t have to mean anything.” Oh, it was far too soon to be sharing one another’s keys, but Rachel was coming back, so it just made sense for her to take Andi’s spare. Once Andi was busy in the kitchen, she usually ended up in a world of her own. “Let yourself in and come and give me a hand, okay?”

“Okay.” Rachel leaned over and offered Andi a kiss that she readily accepted. “I’ll see you soon.”

Andi climbed from Rachel’s car, waving as she drove off down the road. She stopped for a moment, smiling at the memory of Rachel holding her at Jane’s grave, and then she shook her head. Things are just too perfect. She approached the front of her house and pushed the garden gate open, jumping ever so slightly when a car door slammed shut. She glanced over her shoulder, frowning when Sally and Claire stood behind her. “H-hi.”

“Can we come in?” Sally asked, taking a few steps closer.

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