Page 84 of Angels and Skulls
I watch as she finishes what she’s doing. She wipes her hands on the apron she’s wearing before filling it with the flowers she’s gathered.
The sun breaks through the trees, setting a golden halo upon her head. I pinch myself just like I’ve been doing to her. She’s not the only one who is having a hard time believing this is real.
Jenny is here. She’s really here. Safe and sound … mostly. I think there are things she needs to work on, but I still have things too. I think we all do.
Last night was strange. One minute we were happy, then sad, then back to happiness. It was quite an emotional rollercoaster. I suppose it will be that way for a while. All we did was hold onto each other and talk. It was wonderful.
Eventually, we had to let go. She made us a cup of tea, and then we went to sleep. Her in her bed and me on the couch. I’m okay with that. I just want to be near her, and this is close enough. For now. I think I was falling asleep before she even covered me with the blanket. I was so fucking relaxed.
“Hello. Hello!” a familiar voice calls from somewhere toward the front of the house.
Jenny stretches her neck, trying to see who it is as she continues toward me.
Lexie steps around the corner. “Oh, here you are!” she yells, setting her hand over her chest.
I stand up, and Lexie gives me a nervous glance before holding her hand out to Jenny. “I’m Lexie. I was friends with Rachel.”
Jenny takes her hand in hers. “You’re the girl with the letters.”
I get another uneasy look from Lexie. “Uh, yeah, that’s me. They don’t always go as planned, though.”
“Get your ass over here,” I tell her.
As soon as I open my arms, she’s sidestepping plants to get to me. I give her a big hug, patting her back. “It’s okay, Lexie. You’ve been a good friend to my wife. Thank you for that.”
She lets out a little sniffle, crying into my chest. This has been an incredibly heavy burden for her.
“Lexie, Jackson has his mother back. All is good,” I assure her.
Her tear-filled eyes break my heart. “You’re not mad at me?”
“Not at all.”
Jenny takes a few steps closer to us when our visitor begins to pull herself together.
“If you’re here, does that mean …” Jenny’s words trail off as Lexie pulls an envelope from her purse.
“I was supposed to give it to you after the two of you had been reunited.” She steps away from me to hand it to Jenny.
Jenny’s gaze snaps to mine, and my heart squeezes painfully at the look of regret on her face. She feels guilty about our time together yesterday.
Lexie steps between us, blocking her view. “Please read it.” She bounces on her toes anxiously. “Now. I can’t leave until I know you’ve read it.”
“Lexie,” I begin to say. Jenny shouldn’t be forced into reading anything if she’s not ready. It took me weeks to finally open my letter from Rachel.
“No. It’s okay. I’ll read it. I’ll be right back.” She rushes past us and then disappears into the trees.
“She’s not running away, is she?” Lexie asks.
“No. She’s going to her tree.”
“Oh. Geez, she really is a lot like Willow.”
I sigh and sit back down to eat my breakfast. “If you want half of this, go in and grab yourself a plate.”
“Oh, no thank you.” Lexie lowers herself into the chair beside me. Her gaze bounces over my bare chest, and I see the wheels turning in her head.
“Nothing happened,” I tell her.
