Page 48 of What Comes After

“I’m sorry.” It isn’t until Abel apologizes that I realize what I said. I’m not one to typically share such personal things with someone I barely know. Guess that’s what happens when you drink too much alcohol. You become all loose tongued.

“It’s okay. It was a long time ago.”

“How old were you when she passed?” he asks, ignoring Henna and Aaron’s playful moaning and laughing in the backseat.

“Fifteen.”

“How did she die? If you don’t mind me asking.”

I’m hesitant to tell him, knowing that’s how his wife died, but I don’t see a way to avoid answering without coming across as rude.

“Cancer.” His expression shifts the moment the word leaves my mouth.

“Did she have it long?” he asks after a few beats of silence.

“Just a few months. One day she was perfectly healthy and a year later she was gone.”

“Wow.” He blows out a slow breath. “That had to be hard.”

“It was. But I like to think she’s still here with me. I swear sometimes I can even hear her laugh. Or feel her next to me when I’m baking our favorite pie in the kitchen. I don’t know if she really is or not, but it helps to picture that she’s here.”

“I get that.” He nods, eyes glued to the road.

“Aaron,” Henna moans, the sound echoing through the car.

“I swear to god if any body parts come out back there, I’m cutting them off,” Abel warns, flashing a smile in my direction.

I’m happy for the shift in conversation. Alcohol may make me happy, but it can turn me into a crying drunk in a matter of seconds, and no one wants to deal with that. I think I’ve suffered enough embarrassment for one night.

“Are they always like this?” he asks me.

“Yep.” I nod. “You should try sleeping in the room next to them. Let’s just say our walls are not very thick.”

“I think I’d move.” He laughs.

“I’ve been tempted as of late.” I smile, dropping my head back against the headrest as my eyes stay fixed on the side of Abel’s face.

Henna breaks away from Aaron’s mouth long enough to comment, “You would never leave me.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” I joke.

“Fucking finally.” Aaron sits upright as Abel slows and pulls into a parking spot next to a small, rundown diner.

“I say we let them sit by themselves,” Abel suggests, a smile on his face as he puts the car in park and kills the engine.

“Let’s do it,” I agree, swinging open the car door before sliding out. The ground sways slightly under my feet and I have to grip the top of the door to keep myself from toppling over. Luckily Abel doesn’t see.

“Come on, you two,” he calls into the backseat before slamming the door shut.

“We had to help them out of the bar,” I remind him, meeting his gaze over the top of the car. “Maybe bringing them here wasn’t the best choice.”

“They could use a little food and time to sober up. Otherwise they’ll feel like hell tomorrow. Besides, this is the one place I know won’t kick us out.”

“Well, at least there’s that,” I agree, watching him cross around the car toward me right as Aaron and Henna stumble out of the same door.

“You know Claudia and Jack’s rule. If you’re too drunk to walk through the front door then you’re too drunk to be here. Think you can manage to get inside without falling on your face?” he asks Aaron.

“Fuck you, man. I’ve got this.”

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