snore.
“See you in a little while.” Erin closed the bedroom door. She stopped in the bathroom, ran a comb through her hair and threw some water on her face before she headed back to the kitchen. She had just finished sweeping the floor when she heard Patrick call through the screen door.
“Tony’s here.”
Tony. Her heart leaped in her chest just at the mention of his name. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed seeing him these past few days. She put down the broom and hurried onto the porch. Standing beside Patrick and Tess, she watched him get out of his car. She drank in the sight of him. His thick, unkempt hair looked like he had raked his fingers through it a million times. Dark, masculine shades covered those beautiful brown eyes. His white shirtsleeves were rolled up to his elbows. His tie was loosened.
I guess it’s true what Aunt Tess says about absence making the heart grow fonder. I’ve missed you, Tony. I want you in my life. She smiled. Who knew? Her smile widened. Just everybody in the whole wide world except me.
She watched him take off his sunglasses, tuck them in his shirt pocket and start walking across the lawn.
Erin raised a hand and shaded her eyes against the sun. He walked slowly, purposely and his shoulders sagged as if he carried the weight of the world.
The smile faded from her face.
He climbed the stairs and stood inches from her, not acknowledging Tess or Patrick.
“Erin…” His voice matched the anguish she saw in his eyes.
“No,” she whispered, clutching her throat with her hand.
He gently touched her cheek. “I’m so sorry, Erin.”
“No,” she screamed. She pounded his chest again and again. “Noooooo.”
He gathered her against him, supporting her collapsing weight with his body. He stroked her hair and whispered comforting words in her ear but her mind refused to hear.
Erin’s stomach roiled and bile rose to the back of her throat. She lifted her head. “Tony,” she whispered. “Please tell me she isn’t…”
Pain registered in his eyes. She read his internal struggle as he searched for something to say. She heard Tess crying. Slowly, almost robotically, she turned her head and saw Patrick embracing the older woman. She looked back and gazed over Tony’s shoulder. Everything started to spin. Earth, sky, clouds, grass tumbled together in unfocused chaos.
Tony’s hold tightened.
Erin buried her face into the soft spot below his collarbone. Clinging to him. Burrowing into the strength of him. The only thing keeping her from drowning in this tidal wave of pain and grief was the safe harbor of Tony’s arms.
TWELVE
Erin stared at the white floral arrangement that blanketed the casket in front of the altar. Carol loved flowers. She glanced around the church. The pews overflowed with mourners. Neighbors. Coworkers. Former patients. Friends. Look, Carol. See how many people loved you? See how much you’ll be missed?
Tears slid down her face and dripped onto her black blouse. She swiped a hand across her cheek and stared at the liquid. Tears? I’ve cried so much I didn’t think I had a drop of liquid left.
Tony, sitting on her left, reached inside his jacket, pulled out a clean white handkerchief and pressed it into her hand.
“Thank you,” she whispered, sniffing into its softness, and then wadding it into a ball in her fist.
Patrick’s arm rested across her aunt’s shoulders. Erin smiled. Tess deserved love in her life. Somehow it seemed appropriate that God would gently remind us of the circle of love and loss all in the same place, at the same time. She turned her head and she noticed Robert Stone sitting across the aisle. His eyes were red and swollen, his gaze unfocused and vacant. Erin had difficulty containing her surprise. Amy had been his patient, but Erin hadn’t expected to see Carol’s death affect him so profoundly. She puzzled over it for a bit. Robert had a gentle nature. He was probably thinking about Amy and wondering what would happen to her now. Still…
The service ended. Tony’s hand on her elbow urged her to stand. Slowly, everyone filed out behind the casket. Erin squinted against the brightness as she stepped from the darkened church into the sunlight.
It’s the kind of day you like, Carol. Blue sky. Sunny. Not too hot. I know you ordered this weather. I would have ordered pouring rain and pounding thunder. The heavens should cry just as hard as the rest of us.
Tony ushered her to his car. Once she was