Page 89 of L.O.V.E

I shoved the phone back into my pocket. “Natalie, what happened?” I reached for my girl, my saving grace.

She dodged my hand.

“Please don’t go.”

“I have to.”

“Why?”

“Because.” She pointed to my pocket. “Even from her grave, she’s trying to ruin me.” One tear let loose, and she quickly swiped it away.

I wasn’t sure how to process her comment. Conscience had dictated I take the call from my dead wife’s mother. “That’s not fair.”

“I can’t do this, Cole. I’m sorry.”

She was leaving. Again. Rage erupted so fast and furious I didn’t have a chance to keep it in check. My fist met the wall. An ungodly pain shot up my wrist. Natalie screamed. Ellis braced his arms around me and twisted, forcing me away from the women.

A strange noise filled the vast room, long and loud and full of anguish. It was my voice, my lungs straining, my soul releasing months of poisonous fury.

Ellis held tight, not letting me fall.

When the storm cleared and my head stopped buzzing, Natalie was gone.

Natalie

I lay between Mom and Dad, my head on Mom’s lap, my feet tucked under Dad’s thigh. We’d spent the morning drinking too much coffee and eating too many Christmas cookies. It was good to be home, but I missed my Lacey Lu something fierce. I couldn’t remember the last Christmas I’d spent without her.

We stared at the big screen. Watched Will Ferrell pour syrup on spaghetti and laughed until our stomachs hurt.

When the movie was over, Mom gave my hip a slap. “What time are you heading to Lacey’s house?”

“I’m not going to their dinner party,” I said, pulling the blanket tighter under my chin.

“What?” Mom squeaked.

Dad snorted, then shifted, leaving my feet exposed and cold. “What’s the matter? You not feeling well?”

“I feel fine.” I shrugged. “I would rather hang out with you guys today.”

Cold fingers clamped over my forehead. “You don’t feel hot. Is it your period?”

“Mom!” I swatted her hand away, then swung my feet to the floor. “No. I just don’t want to be around a bunch of people today.”

“Cole won’t be there,” Dad said, pointing the remote at the television.

“Dad!”

“Just sayin’. If he’s the reason you’re not going to see your very best friend and your godson, then you’re staying home for no reason.”

I turned to face my father, but he didn’t return the courtesy. “How do you know Cole won’t be there?”

“He’s in New York.”

“How do you know that?”

Click. Click. He raced through channels. “We bump into each other now and then.”

“So you’re buddies now?”

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