out and take it. You had to do that last bit of hiking yourself. She could have stopped when she saw the tree in the middle of the road but she didn’t. She kept on going.
And now it was up to him. It was up to him to keep on going.
It was up to him to let her know how much she mattered to him.
He still couldn’t see the future. He still didn’t have a name for all of this, but he was willing to find it.
He was willing to walk ahead until he did.
Because for the first time in a long time, the living mattered to him. And he was willing to do more work for them than he was going to do for the dead.
Because the dead didn’t need him.
Mel and Emma did not need him the way they once had.
Neither were they gone.
They were with him. In his heart. Had become a part of who he was, the air he breathed. In his actions, in his choices. In the changes that had occurred in him in the last five years.
There was something profound in that shift in thought, in feeling.
One made him the guardian of a tomb. The other made him a man.
Iris Daniels had reminded him he was a man.
A man who had some living to do.
* * *
IRIS WAS DETERMINED that her grand opening would be absolutely the best ever. Griffin had offered to come down and help, but her sisters and Sammy were with her, and she had pushed him off, feeling the need for a little bit of time with her family. At least, that’s what she told herself.
And so now, they were icing a mass number of pink sugar cookies, preparing them for a giveaway.
“These are adorable,” Sammy said. “And delicious.”
“Very delicious,” Rose agreed.
Pansy made for a comical picture, sitting there in her uniform, but she had to go to work as soon as they were finished and it hadn’t made any sense for her to be in her plainclothes.
“This really compromises your image,” Sammy said. “Police Chief Pansy Caldwell covered in pink frosting.”
Pansy rolled her eyes. “Everything about me already compromises my image. Police Chief Pansy basically covers it.”
“Yes, but you’re fearsome.”
“Formidable,” Rose agreed.
“I wouldn’t want to get in a fight with you,” Iris said.
“No indeed,” Pansy said. “Honestly, I don’t mind. It allows me to surprise people.”
“I like to surprise people,” Rose said cheerfully.
“With the fact that you’re a giant marshmallow, and not half as tough as you would like people to believe?” Sammy asked.
“I’m tough,” Rose said, frowning. “I could take you.”
“I never said you couldn’t,” Sammy said. She smiled brilliantly. “I’m a lover, not a fighter.”
“How nice for my brother,” Iris said.
“He would tell you different. I’m sure.”
“So where is The Handsome Man?” Rose asked. “I expected him to be here.”
“I told him that I wanted some time with you.” Everyone was staring at her. “What? I told you, it’s not like we’re living together or anything. It’s casual.”
“I have to tell you, after the whole thing with the barbecue, it does not seem casual.” Sammy spoke sagely.
“It is casual,” Iris insisted.
“Again,” Sammy said. “Doesn’t seem it.” She paused for a moment. “Ryder really liked him. He told me a little bit about... You know.”
Iris looked away. “I thought he might.”
“What?” Pansy asked.
“I told you Griffin lost his wife. But, until he decided to tell anyone the rest of it, I didn’t feel it was my place. He lost his daughter.”
“Oh,” her sisters chorused together.
“That’s exactly it. I don’t think he likes everyone to know just for that reason.”
“Well, how is anyone supposed to react? That’s terrible,” Rose said.
She felt suddenly an immense burden resting on her soul, and she didn’t want to think about why the idea of love felt quite so heavy to her. Why it felt like quite so much work.
Because it is. It’s baking and cleaning and proving. Over and over again.
And other people just get to be. And it seems like enough.
She felt guilty. Over the resentment those thoughts built up about her sisters. About the resentment it made her feel toward her mom, who wasn’t even here anymore.
Not now, Iris, I’m tired. I had to keep Rose busy all day while you were at school.
Oh, thank you so much for helping with dinner. What would I do without your help?
“Yes,” she agreed. “It’s terrible. And he needs a friend, not someone asking for a commitment and...it would be a disaster to fall