Chapter 6
Jamie
"You sure you don't want me to stay another few days?"
Mark had to fly back to New York the morning after the funeral. He had a business to run. He'd been gone too long already. Meetings were piling up. There was a deal he had to close.
"I've got it. Loretta's here. I just need to get the paperwork fixed up, and talk to the lawyers. I think I’ll stay for another week? Maybe two."
We were standing on the porch while Mark's rental car idled in the driveway, ready to take him to the airport.
He nodded and kissed me, one hand coming up to cup my cheek. "Call me tonight?"
"I will."
The house was quiet when I stepped back inside. I closed the door behind me and stood there for a moment.
A week. Maybe two. That should be long enough to deal with what needs to be done.
Rosie went down for her nap after lunch, and Loretta and I sat at the kitchen table with cups of coffee neither of us was drinking.
The house felt different in the quiet. Smaller somehow, and too big at the same time. Every room held Jack's presence like an afterimage, the ghost of him lingered in the chair he always sat in, the mug he always used, the hook by the door where his jacket still hung.
"What are your plans?" Loretta asked. Her voice was gentle, but I could hear the weight beneath it. "Once the paperwork is sorted. Are you taking Rosie to New York?"
"That's the plan." I wrapped my hands around my mug, letting the warmth seep into my palms.
Loretta nodded slowly. "I'm proud of you. You've really come a long way, baby. And I know your parents would have been proud of you too."
It meant something, hearing her say it. Loretta was the only person left who could say that and mean it.
"And Mark seems like a good man."
"He is."
"Do you think he'd be a good father to Rosie?"
The question caught me off guard. I thought about Mark with Rosie over the past few days. The way he'd been gentle with her. He'd read her a story one night when I was too exhausted to keep my eyes open. He'd made her laugh at breakfast yesterday with a silly face that surprised us both.
"Yeah," I said after a moment. "I think he will be."
We'd never actually talked about it. Not directly. Mark knew I was filing for guardianship. He'd been there through all of it, handling logistics, making arrangements, being steady in the way he always was. He hadn't said anything against it.
"Good." Loretta squeezed my hand across the table. Then her face shifted. Something harder settled into the lines around her eyes. "I need to tell you something."
I straightened in my chair and leaned closer.
"My daughter is due in a month. I promised I'd be there to help her through those first few weeks." She shook her head. I could see how much it cost her to say the words. "I hate that it's coming out of this. But Jack had been looking for someone to take over. He never found anyone he trusted."
I thought about Jack, making calls, meeting strangers, trying to find someone good enough to help raise his daughter.
"You stepping in for Rosie," Loretta continued, her voice thick. "I know it's not how any of us wanted it. But maybe it's how it was supposed to happen."
I'd been thinking about being Rosie's guardian in terms of paperwork. But I hadn’t thought deeply about what being Rosie’s guardian actually meant. I wasn't just going to be the aunt who showed up for birthdays and holidays with toys and candy.
I was going to be her mother.
Before the thought could settle completely, my phone buzzed in my pocket.
Megan
When are you heading back to New York? Can I see you before you go?
I stared at the message for a long moment. This morning I was convinced I was only going to stay for another week or two and then I’d be back in New York. But now…
Jamie
Not anytime soon.
Megan
Lunch soon? My house?
Jamie
I'd love that.
We made plans for Thursday the following week. I set down my phone and looked out the window at the backyard where Jack and I used to play as kids. The swing set was new, installed for Rosie, but the oak tree was the same one we used to climb when we were young enough to believe we were invincible.
Jack had been such a good father to Rosie. The same way he'd been there for me when our parents died. He never hesitated. He just stepped up.
Now his daughter needed a parent. And I wasn't going to let him down.
The next few days blurred together in a haze of paperwork and waiting rooms.
I learned that death had its own bureaucracy—a mountain of forms and signatures and certified copies that had to be obtained in a specific order from specific offices during specific hours.
The Vital Records Office for death certificates.
The lawyer's office for the will. The courthouse for guardianship filings.
Each errand led to another trail of grief translated into documentation.
I drove across Havensworth in Jack’s car. The city had changed since I was last here. There were new restaurants where old ones used to be, and construction had reshaped familiar corners. There was a new coffee shop on King Street that I didn’t remember being there.
On Wednesday afternoon while I was on my way to meet with the probate lawyer, I passed a campaign sign staked in someone's front lawn.
Bryce Montgomery For Solicitor
His face smiled at me from the glossy poster. He looked older now, but it was still unmistakably him: the same blonde hair, the same blue eyes, the same easy grin that—
My hands tightened on the steering wheel.
I looked away and kept driving.
I didn't want to think about him. That was a door I had closed a long time ago, nailed shut and painted over. I wasn't going to open it now just because his face was plastered on every other lawn in Havensworth.
The lawyer's office was on Broad Street, in one of those old buildings with tall windows and crown moldings that made you feel like you should be speaking in a whisper. I spent an hour going over documents, signing my name so many times my signature started to look unfamiliar.
By the time I left, my head was pounding and my stomach was empty. I stopped at a takeout place on the way home. I ordered enough for me, Loretta, and Rosie, and was heading for the door with the bags when I heard my name.
"Jamie!"
I turned. Sam was crossing the restaurant toward me, weaving between tables, wearing jeans and a station t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
"Hey." He stopped in front of me, close enough that I could see the shadows under his eyes. "How are you holding up?"
"I'm managing." I shifted the bags in my arms. "Running errands. Signing paperwork. The glamorous life of estate administration."
"Can I help with anything?"
"I think I've got it under control. Loretta's been amazing with Rosie."
He nodded. His eyes stayed on my face, searching for something. I didn't know if he found it.
"Where's Mark?" He scanned the restaurant behind me.
"He flew back to New York the other day. He had work stuff he couldn't put off."
"So you're handling all of this by yourself?"
"Yeah." I shrugged. "But it’s no big deal."
Sam was quiet for a moment. "When are you heading back?"
"I'm staying for a bit. Just until everything’s done."
Something shifted in his expression. It wasn't quite a smile, but it was close.
"Good," he said. "That's good."
Before I could respond, a voice called from across the restaurant.
"Sam!"
Amber was near the door, waving at him with her car keys dangling from her fingers.
Sam glanced at her, then back at me. Something flickered across his face, there and gone before I could name it.
"I should go," he said. "But call me if you need anything. I mean it. Anything at all."
"I will."
He held my gaze for a beat longer than necessary. Then he walked toward Amber, his hand finding the small of her back as they pushed through the door together.
I watched them go.
I stood there a moment longer than I needed to, then headed to the car.