Page 74 of Beach Cottage Kisses
He’d been right. Iris had thought even hearing the words aloud would be so gut-wrenching, that having her previous life known in her current one would ruin everything. But as she sat there in Scott’s bedroom, seeing the unspoken understanding in his gaze, she felt…better. More complete.
Known.
Honest. Real.
His lack of words were a gift. He wasn’t trying to fix her. To make her better. She wasn’t broken. Not anymore. Not for years.
Nor did he attempt to ease her pain. That miracle had not yet been invented or discovered.
With nothing more to say, she sat there, waiting for him to quietly go. When he was ready. Or thought she was.
He’d said himself, he’d sat with Sage, with nothing to say.
She got that.
Was still very glad he was there.
That they were friends.
Needing each other in very different ways.
And both being able to walk away, too.
“What was she like?”
His question disarmed her. In the first second, she rejected it. Until an answer sprang to her lips. Along with a smile. “Fun. Artistic. A bleeding heart, sometimes. But as strong as they come. She always said that I had the knowledge, and she had the knowing.” Her smile grew. “She didn’t think I was as great at discerning as she was.”
“Did you agree with her?”
The question engaged her. Thinking back, she said, “I don’t think so. But she was definitely the more artistic of the two of us. Although I was a better cook. Probably because I was more into nutrition…”
She stopped as the words took her places she hadn’t been in a long, long time. “Our mother was sick.” She couldn’t believe she’d said the words. Hearing them aloud startled her. But didn’t stop her. “She’d been diagnosed when we were thirteen, but for a few years, we all thought she’d beat it. But either way, she had us prepared. Telling us that mothers weren’t meant to be in their children’s lives forever.But that we were luckier than most because we were one of the few with a special bond given only to chosen, special people. As twins, we’d always be close, no matter how far apart our lives might take us on the planet. That we’d always feel each other. Telling us that neither of us would ever be alone.”
She paused as a surge hit. Darkness. But looked at Scott, took a breath, and said, “I know now that she was preparing us for her death. I will revere her forever. Because while we both grieved when she died, and missed her hugely, we were all right, too. We had each other…”
Until they hadn’t. The room darkened. Or her mind did.
Fear slid down through her.
And then a hand touched hers. Physically. Warm fingers, wrapping around her palm.
Iris looked up. Saw the look in Scott’s eyes. Knowing he understood.
And she smiled again. A smile loaded with sadness. With grief.
But with gladness, too.
* * *
As the night slowly moved on, Scott and Iris ended up on opposite sides of his big king-size bed, sitting with pillows at their backs against the headboard, his leg propped up with more fluff. The light from the hallway, and moon through the window, encapsulating them in a soft glow.
The girls were both in the room with them. Lying together on the floor sharing a pillow Iris had given them.
He’d had questions. She’d seemed to want to answer them. She’d apparently seen signs of his discomfort on his face and had insisted that they get him in a better position.
He’d heard about her parents’ divorce due to her father’s drinking. A defense attorney, Calvin Shiprock had been fine at work,but after hours, out with other attorneys, he’d succumbed to an addiction that eventually followed him home. He’d sobered after losing his family. Eventually marrying his sobriety sponsor. But after Iris’s mother died, and he and his wife moved into the family home so the girls’ lives didn’t have to be further disrupted, he’d started drinking again. His wife, who stood by him in spite of the relapse, also stepped up for Ivy and Iris, helping them in their quest to emancipate so that they didn’t have to live with the man who’d never been around much for them anyway.
He’d died of liver disease shortly before Iris moved to San Diego.
