Chapter Fifty-Seven
All the way up here in the clouds stood the man with a fear of heights.
I couldn’t imagine what Eli must have done to survive the tram ride, and I immediately felt a pang of guilt that he’d made the trip on his own.
Towering over the other visitors, he stood just off the path, wearing dark jeans and a black jacket. His hands were clasped behind his back as he searched the crowd.
As the throng of people thinned and we followed the flow of foot traffic closer to him, he finally noticed me. My lungs burned against the cold, dry air, and I almost felt lightheaded at the sight of him.
“Dr. Buckley,” Ruby said. “So nice to see you here.”
“No name tag?” I asked. “I thought name tags were funeral protocol.”
He shook his head, a familiar smile twitching at the edges of his mouth. “I’m not here on business.”
“Leonard would be happy to see you here,” I told him.
He nodded, and we stood there in silence as Ruby connected with Leonard’s nephew Caleb—who she seemed to be somewhat acquainted with—and his family.
Eli and I took up the rear as our tiny group wandered toward a small wooded area near the steps trailing down to the lookout point.
Leonard’s nephew seemed eager for anyone but him to take the lead, but no one else seemed to notice his spike in anxiety, so I stepped up and put on my activities coordinator hat.
“Maybe we could all scatter our soil,” I offered, “and then reconvene to say a few words.”
Caleb gave me a grateful nod and handed each person a small silver tin containing soil.
His young girls, including the one who had been in Leonard’s lap at his living funeral, immediately ran off, giggling, while his wife and then Caleb himself followed close behind.
Ruby bit down on her lip until they nearly disappeared, her eyes glassy. Hollis pulled her close and the pair took their time looking for the perfect spot.
I stayed where I was and opened the tin in my hands. I didn’t know what I expected to find, but the small mountain of soil was completely normal. Unremarkable.
Eli stood a foot or two from me, his own tin in the palm of his hand.
With Ruby and Hollis heading toward the cliffside and Leonard’s family heading deeper into the woods, I decided that this was as good a spot as any.
As I dipped my finger into the dirt, Eli’s voice disrupted the quiet. “You said it was nice of me to come for Leonard.”
I took a small bit of dirt and sprinkled it at my feet. “It was,” I said.
“Leonard was a great man. One of my favorite residents, honestly, even when he was a pain in the ass, but Vera, I didn’t come all the way up here in that death trap for him.”
A very small but powerful sliver of bravery forced me to turn and look up to him.
“I came here for you.”
“But you hate heights.”
He opened his tin and squatted down, dumping it all in one go before pressing it back into the earth where it belonged. “Yes, but not as much as I wanted to be here for you.”
I swallowed back a lump in my throat as I continued to sprinkle my soil among the trees. “I’m glad you’re here,” I finally said.
He stood up, suddenly much closer to me than he had been before, his mouth opening as if he was about to speak.
“All right,” Ruby said as she tiptoed around the forest floor like it might contaminate her. “Let’s get this mushy stuff over with so I can have a lemon drop martini for lunch.”
“And something to soak it up,” Hollis added quietly.
Caleb and his family reemerged, the four of them rosy-cheeked and holding hands.
We all took turns telling stories about Leonard.
Hollis shared about the time she and Leonard were on set in West Texas and went to a local bar and pretended to be rodeo workers.
Caleb and his wife talked about their wedding and how Leonard had hired a barbershop quartet to surprise them but didn’t realize that the singers were also dancers . . . of the adult variety.
Eli mentioned the time Leonard called the resident emergency number and requested a house call . . . for his bird.
Ruby told everyone about the time Leonard had rescued her from a meeting with a handsy producer at his house. Not only did Leonard swoop in to save her, but he also brought a dozen eggs and on their way out he tucked them under the driver’s seat of the producer’s unnecessarily fancy car.
I told the story of meeting Leonard and how he convinced me to list a coffin for sale on Facebook. Caleb laughed so hard he cried. And the girls laughed along too just to be in on the fun.
And then that was it. The soil was spread and our memories were shared.
“Before we head over to the restaurant, I have a letter from Leonard. His lawyer said he wanted me to read it at a gathering of his loved ones, so I guess—” Ruby stopped abruptly, collecting herself for a moment as Hollis rubbed a circle across her back.
Ruby nodded and unfolded the letter. “‘You didn’t think you’d heard the last of me, did you?’”
We all laughed and I wiped away stray tears.
“‘I might have had my living funeral, but that was just the dress rehearsal. This is opening and closing night all in one. Now, if you followed my instructions, you’re at the top of the tramway with dirt that I made myself. Free-trade, organic Leonard dirt.’”
There were a few more chuckles as a warm hand wrapped around mine. I looked down to see my and Eli’s joined hands and then up at him, but his gaze was straight ahead on Ruby.
“‘If I’m right and I died of natural causes at the ripe old age of eighty-four, then my death came as no surprise. In fact, most would say that you couldn’t ask for anything more in terms of a grand exit, and I think I’d have to agree. I wasn’t stolen away in my youth. I’m one of the lucky ones.’”
Ruby took a deep breath, and I wondered if she was thinking about how long of a future she and Hollis had to look forward to. Then she stepped toward me and held the letter out. “Read the rest for me, would you?”
I nodded and held the letter in my free hand. Eli didn’t make any motion to let go and sharing this physical contact with him felt like he was holding my actual heart in his hand.
“‘I’m sure some of you are surprised to see my decades of funeral planning be set aside, but as I felt my body drawing closer to the end, I looked for hope. And in searching for that hope, I settled on this: Death cannot exist without life. It’s a lesson I learned as a young writer.
There were many times when I had to go through the pain of writing things that would never get any camera time or even be read by anyone besides myself.
But all the drafts and wasted pages existed so that other work could be created and shared.
And my greatest hope is that my life follows that same path. ’”
I saw the next few words before I said them out loud, and there was no hiding my choked sob.
Eli squeezed my hand once. Twice. In time with the beating of my heart.
I took three deep breaths and continued. “‘Like the soil you’ve spread, it would be my greatest honor for my death to create new life.’” I folded the letter back up. “‘All my love, Leonard.’”
Hollis shook her head and dabbed under her eyes with a knuckle. “He just had to make us all cry one last time.”
Ruby laughed and leaned her head against Hollis’s shoulder. “He always did bring the drama.”
And if Leonard had a headstone, those are the words that we’d engrave on it.
INT. ART MUSEUM—DAY
It’s winter. Everything is gray and cold.
Not a tourist in sight. Poppy misses Arlo every day, and she’s tired of living without him.
She parks her car illegally and then runs past the ticket stand into the museum, searching for Arlo.
He is working as a security guard now. She finds him in the Impressionist room.
Their eyes meet. They are drawn together.
POPPY
I didn’t write a speech. But I’m here.
ARLO
(smirking)
You’re late.
POPPY
What if I love you too?
ARLO
What if?
They kiss. A single security guard awkwardly claps.
POPPY
This is probably a mistake.
ARLO
Let’s make it anyway.
October 14, 2019
Vera S.
Can it really be this simple? Maybe.