the celebration and went straight to the hotel to pack and then to the airport. Dad was able to get the four of us a flight within a few hours of finding out about Gran. Showering was the last thing I was thinking about, but I did manage to change out of my uniform before Allie was latched back onto me. My girl is broken.
Allison shakes her head. “Can I—can I come with you?” she asks me.
“I can wait, baby, we’re good here for now,” I tell her.
“No, you need to shower and change, but I just…”
“Allison,” Mrs. Emerson addresses her, “how about you and I take a walk?”
She hesitates before looking at me with sad worried eyes. “A walk might do you some good,” I tell her.
“Will you be here when I get back?” she questions me.
I crush her tighter to my chest. “I’m not going anywhere, beautiful girl. I’ll shower and be here waiting when you get back.”
“Promise?” she whispers.
I swallow the lump in my throat. “I promise.” With that she allows Mrs. Emerson to help her up, and they leave out the front door to take a walk. I pull my legs to my chest and rest my elbows on my knees with both hands covering my eyes. She was afraid I would leave her. Oh, Allie.
I feel Aiden place his hand on my shoulder. “You alright, man?”
“No,” my voice is deep and thick with emotion, “I can’t help her. I can’t take this pain away and it’s killing me. She’s my world, and I can’t protect her from this. She was afraid I was going to leave her.” I look up and meet his stare. “My beautiful girl is broken, and fuck if I know how to fix her.”
“She needs you, man, she was clinging to you like you were her lifeline. Just be there for her, hold her. She’ll get through this, we all will. Go take a shower. Dad’s going to pick up some dinner.”
I rush through my shower, because I want to be finished when Allison gets back from her walk. I make my way back to the living room to find Judy still sitting there by herself. I kneel down in front of her. “You okay? Can I get you anything?” I ask her.
“No, thank you. I’m going to head home as soon as Allison returns,” she says solemnly.
I hear the front door open and turn to see Allison, Hailey, and Mrs. Emerson returning from their walk. Allison walks straight toward me, so I open my arms for her. I kiss the top of her head, but don’t say anything. I know nothing I say can take her pain away.
“Thanks for being here, Judy, and taking care of everything,” Allison says, her voice cracking.
“Oh, sweetie, you’re welcome. I’m going to head home now, but I’ll be back to check in on you tomorrow. I left some paperwork there on the table, letters, copies of her will, that kind of thing.” Judy stands to leave. “You call me if you need anything, sweet girl. We’ll get through this.”
Allison turns, buries her face in my chest, and wraps her arms around my waist and squeezes. I hold her tight, hoping I’m relaying to her that I’m here for whatever she needs. We stand like this for I don’t know how long, when finally, she asks me to sit down with her. We make our way to the couch. She pushes me down and sits on my lap, curling up against me. I gently stroke her back. I point to the table. “There’s the stack of papers Judy left you. Do you need me to sort through them for you?” I volunteer. Before she can answer, Hailey walks in to tell us everything is set up for dinner.
“Let’s get you something to eat,” I suggest.
“I’m not really hungry.”
“I know, babe, but you need to keep your strength up. You have a tough couple of days ahead of you. Can you just try to eat a little, please?”
She nods. Hailey was apparently listening, because she suddenly appears with two plates loaded down. Aiden follows with drinks. Allison starts to get up. “You can stay right where you are, baby, you don’t need to move.” She releases a deep breath.
“Thank you, Liam,” she speaks softly. “I love you.” Her voice breaks with emotion on the last words, and I’ll be damned but do I tear up again.
“I love you so much, Allie. We will get through this.”