Page 77 of Hello Handsome
He left the room, and Hayes and I were alone with only his fluffy white dog, Chopper, for company, lying on my bed like he thought he was king of the house. To be fair, he looked the part in his little black doggy suit.
I walked up to my son in the mirror, looking at him but seeing the little boy his mom and I loved so very much. Maya always had a soft spot for him. Days like today were harder without her, even decades later.
“You know what your mom always said about you?” I asked him.
“That I was a hundred pounds of energy in a fifty-pound suit?”
I chuckled. “In addition to that.”
Hayes smiled slightly. “Tell me.”
“She said, ‘Hayes feels so much because he has so much to give.’”
I paused, taking a shaky breath, and Hayes’s bottom lip quavered to match.
I gripped his shoulder with one hand and his hand with my other as we looked at each other in the mirror. “She knew all those years ago howgoodyou are inside. How great of a friend and brother you would be. How great of a husband.”
Hayes turned to me now, his eyes tortured. “I can’t lose her like we lost Mom. I can’t, Dad, I?—”
I shushed him, pulling him into a hug. “I know.”
Hayes gripped my back while I held the back of his neck in my hand.
Still holding him, I said, “You’re brave, Hayes. To love Della with your whole heart on your sleeve. Even knowing what loss looks like.That’sthe man Della’s marrying. The brave, kindhearted man she loves.”
Hayes sniffed and stepped back, wiping at his eyes. “Thank you, Dad. For alwaysseeingme when most people judged.”
Tears threatened again, but I blinked them back. “Always,” I promised.
A knock sounded on the door, and Fletcher called, “It’s time.”
“You ready?” I asked my son.
Hayes grinned at me. “What part of Vegas didn’t you understand?”
Chuckling, I took his hand, and we walked out of the room toward his happily ever after.
After walking him down the aisle, my eyes fell on my best friend sitting in the front row, waiting for me.Aggie. I wrapped her in my arms, so glad to have her back from Hawaii. And I wanted to tell her how I felt... but now wasn’t the time.
She looked gorgeous in a soft blue dress that reached halfway down her calves and strappy silver heels that showed the bright red polish on her toes. She patted my knee, saying, “Don’t worry, I brought tissues.”
I gave her a grateful smile. “Good, ‘cause my hanky’s already getting full.”
“Oh gross,” she said with a small chuckle.
I reached down and squeezed her hand. It was like no time had passed between us, even though I’d tried like hell to give her the space she needed to be there for her son. “Thank you for thinking of me.” Aggie was my best friend. She was my sunrise after so much rain from losing my wife and raising five boys on my own. Even if we couldn’t be together, I’d love her always.
She smiled over at me, something in her eyes I couldn’t quite place. But before I could ask how she was feeling, the preacher said it was time for us all to stand for the bride.
Guitar strings plucked softly as Della came out of the house with her dad, looking even more stunning as the early evening light caught the red shock of her hair.
She walked down the aisle toward Hayes, tears slowly dripping down her cheeks as she smiled at her groom. And when I looked at my son, he was crying, too.
She reached the end of the aisle, her dad shaking Hayes’s hand. Their relationship had started off tough, but in the last year, Hayes had shown up for Della like he promised. And her dad started to see Hayes through his daughter’s eyes. So he smiled at Hayes, and then he gave Della a big hug before walking to the other side of the aisle and holding his wife in his arms.
A pang of wistfulness shot through me. Another milestone for Hayes without his mom. I missed Maya, but it surprised me that most of my pain was there for my son on his day.
I used to get lost in a sea of grief on days like this, but today was different. I could remember Maya while being with my boys and loving the woman next to me. The preacher started talking, bringing me back to the moment.
