Chapter 31
Less than twenty-four hours later, Nora was back on the doorstep of her home.
She wasn’t entirely sure she could even call it home yet; it was still mostly boxes and furniture and boxes doubling as furniture.
She would need to unpack eventually, but she wasn’t ready to just yet.
She supposed she’d start feeling at home at some point.
Maybe once she’d explored the neighborhood more.
It wasn’t really her scene from what she could tell, but the place could always surprise her.
There were more bars and clubs than cafés, but after all this was a college town.
She wasn’t exactly the target demographic.
She wouldn’t be here forever. The architecture program was only two years long, and who knows, by the end she might actually find her place among the other postgrads.
She lowered Jessica’s cage to the stoop and dug her key out of her purse, fiddling with the unfamiliar lock until she finally heard it click.
Inside, she tossed her keys onto their designated hook and hung her coat on its own, flicking on the lights to illuminate bare white walls and the stack of boxes waiting for her by the living room door.
She could do this. She would do this.
Nora carted Jessica into the living room and opened the cage, letting the parrot fly free.
Jessica took off, disappearing into the kitchen.
Nora did her own version of making herself at home, sprawling out on the couch that sat on a diagonal across the room.
At some point she needed to move that thing.
Footsteps padded in from the kitchen, and Nora pulled herself upright.
“You really need to branch out with your cheeses, Nor.”
Charlie stood in the alcove between the kitchen and living room, Jessica settled comfortably on his shoulder.
“I left seven varieties in there,” said Nora.
Charlie sat down beside her. “None are string,” he argued.
That was a fair point.
“You do the grocery shopping next time, then.”
“How was the world’s most belated funeral?” Charlie pulled a hunk of Swiss out of his pocket and nibbled at the corner.
“Brutal,” said Nora. “But nice. Oliver asked about you before he died, by the way. I think he was holding on to say one last goodbye. He called you a ‘god-awful louse’ for what you did, whatever that means. Though he agrees with me that you should look into becoming an actor.”
“Hey, what choice did I have? It was either play dead or get stabbed again, and the shoulder was bad enough. Thank fuck those weird café people lent me a thick-ass jacket. Got a gnarly scar on my arm now, by the way. Wanna see?”
“Gross,” said Nora. “Maybe later. Anyway, I might go back and check on everyone again in a few months. I think Ruby’s heart attack took a big toll on the family, even though they knew it was coming.
Though I still don’t think Oliver would appreciate being buried next to her.
They never really hit it off. But I’m still trying to convince Patty to visit us here.
I think she might. Did I tell you they’re installing phone lines out there soon? ”
“Yep,” said Charlie. “Glad they finally made it to the nineteenth century.”
Nora gave Charlie a look that said, “I know, right?”
Charlie just smiled at her, with a look that said nothing.
It didn’t have to. She already knew what he was feeling, because she felt it too.
After Charlie had his miraculous resurrection, revealing himself to have cheated Death once again not long after Charles was hauled off the scene, S.C.Y.T.H.E.
turned the little red house upside down looking for his case file.
With the Blind Spot cleared and the file no longer glitching, the ink cloud was gone.
But the middle name had been replaced. Now the file belonged not to Charles Ezra Bird but to one Charles Oliver Bird, who was already in S.C.Y.T.H.E.
custody far, far away. Charlie was free to live for as long as he was meant to live, and that was all Nora could ask for.
Meanwhile, S.C.Y.T.H.E. allowed Nora to walk free in exchange for her assistance in eliminating the Virgo Bay Blind Spot, under the condition that she promise to never interfere with the business of Death again.
Which was just as well for Nora. She had no intention of living the life she had before.
After everything she’d experienced since finding Charlie’s file, she was ready for something new.
She met Charlie’s smile with her own.
“So,” Charlie said as he put his feet on the cardboard box in front of him, crossing one ankle over the other. “What’s the plan? What now?”
“I guess,” said Nora, “now we live.”