Page 185 of The Spider & the Storm

“Uncle Charlie?” the older boy asked, wandering in to stand beside his grandmother. “But Uncle Charlie is a little kid.”

Melanie’s laugh blended seamlessly with a sob, and she held a hand over her mouth as she contained her emotions. “That was in the pictures I showed you, from when Daddy was a little boy too. But Daddy got bigger, right?”

Daddy. The word pierced my heart with a flaming hot arrow, and I struggled to take a breath.

God, Luke … you’re adaddy. A father. And I’m only now finding out about it, and you’re not here.

The little boy nodded slowly, working things out in his mind. “Yeah …”

“Well,” Melanie said, ruffling the hair of the boy at her side, “so did Uncle Charlie.”

I lifted my hand to wave at the two little boys, acting every bit as awkward as I’d thought I would be as an uncle. “Hi,” I said. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“This is Danny,” Melanie said, looking down at the smallest boy. Then, referring to the one who couldn’t quite keep his skeptical gaze off of me, she said, “And that’s Lucas. LJ.”

I pushed my mouth to smile as I nodded. “How old are you guys?”

“LJ is four,” Melanie’s mom said, “and Danny is three. Little Man is upstairs, asleep.”

I looked at Melanie, surprised. “There’s three?”

She sucked in a deep breath before jittering her head in a nod. “The baby … he’s just a little over twelve weeks old.” Her bottom lip protruded for a moment before she pulled it back in and forced a deep, controlled breath. “His name is Charlie too.”

Twelve weeks.Just a little over three months. He was a baby, aninfant, and he would never know his father outside of whatever pictures there were of Luke. And it hit me then how much loss had brought us all here, to this moment. My parents. Stormy’s friend, Billy. Ritchie. Tommy. Luke. God, if any of them had lived to this day, what would have changed? Hell, would any of this have happened at all?

Was it possible that, in some alternate universe, my parents were still alive, and we—all of us—were gathered here, in this dining room, having a casual family dinner, unaware that somewhere out there, I was forever mourning the family I’d spend the rest of my life without?

But I have them, I thought, sweeping my gaze around the room. My eyes met Stormy’s, and she wrapped her arms around one of mine.I have her.

And that wassomething, wasn’t it? I wasn’t alone. I was so far from alone, and beneath the cover of grief that I knew I’d carry for the rest of my life, I knew I was happy. Truly,trulyhappy.

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

CONNECTICUT, PRESENT DAY

“Charlie! Wait!”

It was deep into the night by the time we were leaving Melanie’s house. A frosty chill sliced through the sweater I wore, and Stormy shivered as she ran toward the car to get it warmed up. I turned on my heel to watch Melanie run down the steps in a pair of flip-flops, trying to keep her cardigan wrapped tightly around her while clutching a piece of paper in her hand.

“Mel, you’re going to freeze out here,” I scolded.

“I know.” She was breathless by the time she reached me, short, silvery puffs leaving her mouth and dissipating into the air. “But I remembered this, and I didn’t want you to leave without it.”

She held the paper out to me. I took it from her and realized it was an envelope. My hand trembled as I looked down at my name scrawled in Luke’s shitty handwriting.

“What is this?” I asked stupidly.

It was obvious what it was.

My brother had written me a letter.

“I don’t know,” Melanie replied. “I never opened it. Luke had given it to me over the summer and said, ‘When you see Charlie again, give him this.’ I told him I didn’t know if I’deversee you again, and even if I did, he could give it to you himself, but …” She sucked in a deep breath and shuddered as she hugged herself tighter. “He insisted I hold on to it, so …”

I nodded as a sickening ball of dread burned a hole through my gut.

“I-I think …” She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.

“What?” I asked softly.

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