Page 37 of The Significance of Moving On

Apparently, there’s a big Halloween party my brother is throwing in honor of Kelsey coming for a visit that I have to look forward to when I get home.

Jesse and I finish up the last bits of work this first half of the day. For someone with no training, I’d have to say the job turned out phenomenally well. We really turned his landscape into a design showpiece.

We took pictures on my phone from the driveway of the multicolored shrubs and trees, several of which will blossom in varying colors at varying times during the spring. Those edge out the entire perimeter of the yard. The customer’s wife wanted an herb garden which we moved just off the back patio for convenience. Then we head back to the piece de résistance, in my opinion, snapping several pictures from as many angles as either of us could think of for capturing the pool we built to look like a lagoon. By far taking up the majority of our time here, it deserves the most attention.

We send them off to the boss man. He responds immediately. We’re rock stars and our bonuses should be epic which my savings account will be more than happy to accept since it’s been pretty hungry lately. The money purge from paying off Tom’s cremation and buying Tally the car emptied several years of hard work and harder saving, not that I wouldn’t do it again in a heartbeat.

The last stop before leaving Traverse City behind, we head back to the hotel to pack. Checkout only takes a few minutes. The old man behind the reception desk thanks us for our two weeks, invites us to stay again the next time we find ourselves up here and bids us farewell. It’s hard to believe after knowing him all these years, Jesse won’t be traveling back with me.

I detour to drop him off at the airport. Tonight, he gets on a plane to start a brand-new life.

“You excited, man?” I ask to ease the tension in the van.

I know he’s nervous, his leg bounces like jackhammer against the floorboard and he stares out the window, biting what’s left of his thumbnail.

“Shit, I’ve never been on a plane before. Can you believe that? I’m twenty-two and have never flown.”

“Me either.” I click on the blinker and merge into the right-hand turn lane, make my turn and pick up speed merging onto the road that will get Jesse one step closer to his girl. “You realize by the end of tonight Becca will be in your bed again?”

“Sure as hell hope so,” he says back. “What are you doing about Tally?”

“Don’t know. She’s still at the house and I’m not kicking her out. Guess I’ll probably crash at D’s for a while longer.”

“Case, man. Don’t know what’s blocking you with this girl, but from one idiot to another, you need to pull your head out of your ass.”

He knows about Luke. He doesn’t know I killed him. “You don’t know—”

Jesse holds his hands up defensively. “Don’t soil your panties, there. I’m just saying, go back and see how things go with her. What do you have to lose?”

“Then what happens when it goes to shit? Where does that leave Tal?”

“Exactly where she is now. You’re planning on staying with your brother, anyway. How will it be any different?”

“Jess, I don’t want to argue with you before you leave. We’ve been friends too long.”

“We have been friends a long-ass time. That’s how I know what this is. When Luke died, you pushed us all—me, D, Daniel, to the back burner. But I’m leaving this god-forsaken state, hopefully for good tonight. Which means I’m not leaving without giving my two cents.”

“I didn’t ask for it.”

“Yeah well, that’s the good thing about friends, you never have to ask. Case, you’ve opened up more since she’s been around than at any time since Luke. She’s good for you.”

“Gee, thanks BFF. Should we hug it out now?”

“Don’t be an asshole just because you know I’m right.Youare the only thing keeping you from being happy with that girl.”

“You said, she’s young and doesn’t need my shit.”

“Bullshit. She’s already eighteen and we all know it by now.”

“She’s only a senior in high school and her brother died this year. What do you want from me?”

He runs his hand over the stubble on his chin, even though I told him to shave this morning. Becca’s gonna want a clean-shaven Jesse. “Damn it, Case. I want you to be happy for once. I want you to start living your life. Luke died.Luke.”

I can’t answer him back because it wasn’t just Luke who died that day.

And so I keep silent, letting his words fester in the wound this conversation keeps open. And damn it, not because he’s wrong. I turn right and take the long drive that leads to the small terminal after he asks me not to park. The van rolls to a stop along the curb in front at the entrance. Things can’t end like this. I suck in my stupid pride and hold out my hand to him. “Good luck, Jess.”

He shakes it. “Thanks, man.” Then he pulls me into a half-hug. “Just think about what I’ve said.”

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