Chapter 45
Half an hour later, Beth and Kayla sat at opposite ends of the sofa with cups of coffee.
The dishwasher was softly humming. The remaining food was in the refrigerator.
The doors were locked. The wedding dress was hanging safely in the spare bedroom.
And Beth’s phone was face down on the coffee table. Kayla had insisted on that.
For several minutes, neither of them spoke. After the dinner, Beth was content with the quiet.
Kayla rested her head against the sofa and closed her eyes. “I can’t believe my exams are over.”
Beth smiled. “You survived.”
“I did.” Kayla opened her eyes. “I was stressed beyond words. Whoever decided final exams and a wedding should happen in the same month was an idiot.”
“You chose the wedding date,” Beth reminded her.
“I know. That’s why I can say it.”
Beth laughed.
Kayla tucked her feet beneath her. “There were days when I had recipes running through my head while I was trying to remember wedding things. Then I’d be studying and suddenly wonder whether we’d confirmed the flowers.”
Beth looked at her daughter. “You did.”
“Because you confirmed everything, Mom.”
Beth lifted her mug. “I’m not discussing my organizational habits.”
Kayla chuckled. “They’re exceptional. At least my exams are finished. Now I only have graduation to get through.”
“And the wedding,” Beth reminded her.
“Oh, right. That little thing tomorrow.”
“And your job with Chef Aldana.”
Kayla groaned and tipped her head back against the sofa. “I am officially refusing to think about Chef Aldana until Tyler and I get back from our honeymoon.”
“You’ll be a wonderful sous chef,” Beth assured her.
“That’s what mothers are supposed to say.” Kayla snuggled into the sofa. “I’m looking forward to working in a restaurant, I really am. But first I want to marry Tyler, go away for a few days, come home, graduate, and then I’ll panic about my career.”
Beth nodded. “That sounds like an excellent plan.”
“I thought so, too,” Kayla said softly.
Silence returned. This time, it felt different.
Kayla looked at Beth. “Do you want to go and see Dad?”
Beth’s heart gave a small, painful squeeze. “Tonight?”
Kayla nodded. “I know it’s late.”
Beth waited.
“I thought about going tomorrow morning,” Kayla continued. “But tomorrow could be stressful and it will definitely be emotional. I don’t want to start our wedding day feeling sad.”
Beth understood. “You want tonight to be about your dad.”
Kayla nodded.
The vulnerability in her eyes made Beth’s throat tighten. If Kayla wanted to visit the cemetery, then they’d go. “Give me five minutes to find the flashlights.”
Kayla blinked, then smiled. “I’ll get our jackets.”
Twenty minutes later, Beth began questioning their decision. Sapphire Bay Cemetery was a very different place after dark. Their flashlight beams moved across the path as they walked between rows of headstones.
Every horror movie she’d ever seen sprang to the front of her mind. Thankfully, there hadn’t been many, but it was enough to send chills down Beth’s spine.
She held the flashlight tighter. “This seemed perfectly reasonable when we were sitting in the living room.”
Kayla laughed. “Are you scared?”
“Not really.”
“You’re whispering,” Kayla said.
Beth frowned. “So are you.”
“I started because you did.”
Beth swept her flashlight across the grass. “We shouldn’t be wandering around a cemetery at this time of the night.”
“Why not?” Kayla asked.
“I don’t know. It feels suspicious.”
Kayla moved closer. “If anyone sees us, they’ll think we’re grave robbers.”
Beth looked at her. “We’re carrying two flashlights and a rose.”
“Very poorly equipped grave robbers, then.”
A noise exploded from behind a nearby headstone.
Kayla grabbed Beth.
Beth yelped and nearly dropped her flashlight. Something black and white shot across the path.
Kayla screamed and the creature disappeared beneath a hedge.
Beth followed it with her flashlight. “I think it was a large cat.”
Kayla’s hand was pressed against her chest. “I knew that.”
Beth caught her breath as her heart slowed back down. “I’ve never heard you scream like that.”
“I thought a zombie was about to attack us,” Kayla said as the beam of her flashlight did another circuit around the headstones. “I shouldn’t have binge-watched an apocalypse series on Netflix.”
Beth started laughing. Within seconds, Kayla joined her.
Their laughter seemed ridiculously loud in the quiet cemetery, which only made it worse. Beth wiped beneath her eyes. “Come on. Before the police arrest us.”
“For grave robbing?”
Beth shook her head. “For disturbing the peace.”
They continued along the path. As soon as Jessie’s headstone appeared in the beam of Beth’s flashlight, their laughter faded.
Kayla slowed.
Beth did, too. Six years. Sometimes it seemed impossible that Jessie had been gone that long. Other times, it felt like an entire lifetime had passed since he’d come through their front door or he’d reached for her hand.
Kayla crouched beside the headstone and brushed away a few leaves. “Hi, Dad.”
Beth swallowed.
Kayla reached inside her jacket and took out a pink rose. It was from her bouquet. She laid the flower carefully against the stone and, for a moment, she said nothing.
Then she touched her fingertips to her father’s name. “I’m getting married tomorrow, Dad.”
Beth blinked against the sudden sting in her eyes.
“I wish you were here,” Kayla continued. “I wish you could meet Tyler properly. You’d like him. Although Uncle Ryan says you’d grill him about looking after me.”
Beth watched silently as Kayla took a handful of tissues out of her pocket and blew her nose.
“Mom and Uncle Ryan are walking me down the aisle. The flowers are beautiful, and Mom made the cake, so you already know it’s perfect.”
Beth pressed her lips together to stop them trembling. She moved closer to Kayla and slipped an arm around her shoulders.
Kayla’s voice grew softer. “I’m happy, Dad. Really happy.”
They stayed that way for a while, a mother and daughter standing beneath the stars, thinking about a man they’d both loved.
Beth looked at Jessie’s name. “I wish you were here, too,” she whispered. The words hurt, but not like they once had. Her grief had changed over the years. It hadn’t disappeared, and Beth no longer expected it to. Jessie had been too important for that.
But loving him didn’t mean the rest of her life had ended when his did. That realization would have once frightened her. Tonight, it brought an unexpected sense of peace.
Tomorrow, their daughter would begin a life filled with the possibilities that Jessie would have wanted for her.
Kayla touched Beth’s arm. “We should go home, Mom.”
Beth kissed her cheek. “We should. You have somewhere important to be tomorrow.”
“I’ve heard rumors about that.”
They turned toward the path. After a few steps, Kayla stopped. “Mom?”
Beth swung her flashlight around. “What?”
“If that cat comes back, you’re going first.”
Beth laughed and held out her hand. “Not a chance, sweetheart.”
Kayla slipped her hand into Beth’s as they walked back through the darkness together.
Before they reached the turn in the path, Beth glanced over her shoulder one last time.
The beam of her flashlight no longer reached Jessie’s grave. She couldn’t see the headstone or the rose resting against it, but that was all right.
After saying a final goodbye, Beth turned back toward her daughter and kept walking.
Tomorrow, a new beginning was waiting for both of them.