Page 31 of When The Rain Falls

“Well obviously,” Ruby retorts.

“Ok, well it’s not so obvious tosomeof us,” I say. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t be homeless.”

Ruby and Julie both laugh and I’m glad that my trauma is at least entertaining.

Both girls disappear behind their curtains to try on another round of dresses. I check my watch. We've been at this for almostan hour, and at this rate, we may be here an hour more. I slide down the wall and get comfy on the floor. I pull out my phone and begin to scroll through work emails.

I hear a phone buzz. But it's clearly not mine because I'm holding it in my hand. I clamber around the pile of dresses, and purses, and shopping bags piled haphazardly on the floor of the dressing room. The buzzing sound is right at the tips of my fingers. I fling a sweater behind me and the buzzing sound disappears. I turn around and find the sweater. One of the pockets is lit up and shaking furiously. Bingo! I reach my hand in and pull out a phone. I recognize it as Ruby's. There's an alert on the screen that tells me she has a text from Finn.

"Ruby, your troll is texting," I call out to her. “I mean dad. Your dad is texting.” She responds with an exaggerated groan.

"Can you just read them and see what he wants? He’s probably askingquestions.”

"Sure," I say, trying to sound casual. But I feel a bolt of something hot and thick enter my bloodstream at the thought of being on the other end of the phone from him.I donotwant him.

Ruby tells me the code to unlock her phone and I study the screen.

Dad

Are you with Aimee getting a dress?

Dad

Don’t talk to her while she’s driving. She seems like she gets easily distracted.

Dad

What time will you be home?

Dad

Buy her dinner on me if you guys are out late enough.

Aww. That’s kind of sweet isn’t it? I mean aside from the fact he thinks I’m easily distracted. I can’t really fault him there, though.

He’s been distracting me all day.

"He wants to know what time we'll be home," I tell Ruby. "Should I tell him around seven."

"Fine. Whatever," she calls back to me through the curtain. I’m in the middle of drafting a response when another message comes in.

Dad

Have you thought about a green dress? Mom liked you in that color.

A picture appears in the text thread. I click on it to make it larger. It's a family of three. The person I notice first is the young man in a dark grey suit, no doubt a younger Finn. I recognize him, but barely. He's not just younger, he's a different person. His stormy grey eyes are playful and full of mirth. He's thinner. Scrawnier. But the thing I can't stop staring at is the wide grin across his face. It's spirited and kind. The type of grin that happens to your face when your soul is brimming with joy and needs to find a way out.

My jaw drops.

That cannot be the same person.

He's standing next to a stunning, dark-haired woman in a light blue gown. On his hip is a chubby toddler wearing an emerald-green dress. They are all posing for the camera. It looks like they're at a wedding.

I glance back at the dark-haired woman. I don’t know what happened to her. Alicia mentioned that she passed away, but she didn’t know details. And I haven't been brave enough to ask. Something tugs on my chest when I study her. I think about how much she must be missed. And how much she left behind. What is it like to have the kind of happiness that is clearly on the faces of the people in this picture? What does real love feel like? What happens to love when someone dies?

When I show Ruby the photo, she goes unusually quiet. She doesn’t really say anything about it. But I notice her starting to take a stronger interest in a green dress hanging from one of the hooks of her dressing room.

They try on a couple more dresses. And after several minutes, chatter resumes between the two girls. They talk about classes, and boys, and the funny things that happen at school.

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