Page 144 of Every Broken Promise
Plastering on the best smile I could muster, I marched up to the house. It was empty. Everything that made this Rachel’s home was gone.
We had both done a lot of growing in this house, each of us lost in our own way, and finding a way back to our old selves with morning conversations and being silently there for one another.
“I want it noted that I hate you for doing this to me,” I told Prescott as he came into view with one of the last boxes Rachel had yet to put in the truck.
He ignored my statement, just as he had every time I made it.
“You’re acting like we are moving to Antarctica. We will be a few hours away,” he replied, not taking me seriously at all. “Check the kitchen island,” he instructed as he walked out the door.
My eyes teared up as I watched this chapter of my friend’s life close.
Happy tears, but tears nonetheless.
On the kitchen island was a state-of-the-art espresso machine. Okay, the man kept his word. A few seconds later, Rach came out of her room with a look that mirrored my own.
“I’m going to miss you,” I told her as I ran to her.
We hugged each other for a few minutes.
It’s funny how life worked, wasn’t it? If she hadn’t divorced and moved next door, and I hadn’t come back home, we would have never found each other.
“Me too. So much.”
“What am I supposed to do now?” I joked.
Rachel pulled back and gave me a soft smile. “You make this place your own.”
I looked at the house and saw all the possibilities.
I still thought she was freaking crazy for giving me this house.
“It’s too big for me,” I said lamely.
Rach rolled her eyes.
“Ty will do whatever you want, and you know it.”
It came as no surprise to her that Ty and I were now a thing. I told him Rachel gave me the house, but never touched upon it after that. A part of me felt that I was underserving of this gift.
I walked back around the house as they got the truck fixed up. Everything of Rachel’s was now officially packed. I closed the door behind me, gave a hug to each of them, and waved goodbye as they drove away to their new start.
I was still standing there in the driveway when a few minutes later, Tyler’s truck came into view. He parked in the driveway, and I immediately made my way to the passenger seat.
“So, are you going to tell me where we are going?”
It was Friday night, and we would be having dinner with my parents and his family. Was it boring for people our age? Maybe, but I loved it.
Tyler
Astrid was humming softly as I made my way to the cemetery. My hand was clammy, and I had been anxious all day.
“Want to come see my mom with me?” I asked her as I pulled up to the gates. I reached behind my seat, where I had placed the flowers I had bought.
Astrid’s eyes softened.
Since she came back, I hadn’t asked her to go with me. We had been too busy figuring things out and getting settled into our new normal. She used to come with me after my mother passed away, always holding my hand, giving me her strength. Years later, it was as if nothing had changed.
I put the flowers down on my mom’s tombstone just as Astrid caressed the headstone.
