Page 108 of Absolution

I look up.

“They went out there earlier tonight. The cabin… it was completely destroyed. Washed out. They said it was right in the flooded zone.”

My heart stops.

“They found a body,” he says gently. “The ID said it was Charlie.”

For a second, I don’t breathe. The words don’t register.

“No,” I whisper. “No, no. If I’d known, I never would’ve left him. I… he wouldn’t come with me! He said he was fine!”

My chest seizes, and suddenly I’m feeling claustrophobic. “I left him there. Oh my God, Ilefthim there. I drove away, he was right there and I… I left.”

Kyle’s arms come around me, steady and warm. I collapse into them, sobbing now, barely able to breathe. He holds me tightly, one hand cradling the back of my head, whispering softly.

“It’s not your fault. You tried. You tried.”

But I can’t stop shaking. Because all I can hear is the sound of rain. All I can see is the cabin in the rearview mirror as I drove away.

And all I can think is:He was still standing there.

I don’t know when I fell asleep, but when I wake up, I’m curled into Kyle’s side, his arm still around me. The dim light filtering through the windows says it’s morning, or close to it, but the clock reads eleven. I stay there for a moment, listening to thehum of movement around us, the occasional static from the radios, the rain still tapping on the windows.

Yesterday or this morning I changed into some of Kyle’s dry clothes, sweats and an old shirt that smells like him. He’d called home, and told his mother we were safe. She said, she would wake the kids but I said no. Let them sleep.

Then… then he told me about Charlie.

I close my eyes tightly. Charlie. He was fine. Less than twenty-four hours ago, he was alive and complaining about the traffic. And now he’s gone.

If only he’d come with me.

If only I’d insisted.

If only I’d tried harder.

“He’d still be alive,” I whisper.

Kyle’s hand gently moves through my hair. “Hey,” he says softly. “You’re okay. You’re here.”

I shake my head against his chest. “I still can’t believe it. I keep thinking I’m going to hear his voice, or get a text, or-” My voice breaks. “He wasfine. I left, and now he’s gone.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Jackie,” Kyle says, his voice calm and steady. “These flash floods… they’ve taken a lot from a lot of people. There was nothing you could’ve done.”

“But if I’d insisted-”

“And what ifhehad insisted?” Kyle cuts in gently. “What if he’d convincedyouto stay?” He pulls back just enough to look at me. “Jackie, I... our children could’ve lostyou.”

My breath catches. His eyes are full of pain but also quiet conviction.

“I know it’s hard to see right now,” he says. “But you made it out. You did the right thing. You’re here. That matters.”

I let out a trembling breath, the guilt still sitting heavy in my chest, but his words settle into the cracks. Not erasing it. But softening it, just a little.

I nod, tears slipping silently down my cheek. “Okay.”

He kisses my forehead, then holds me tighter.

“Oh… ah, sorry,” a voice says above us.

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