Page 131 of The Way Home

He imagined Caleb making this walk to school as a child. Leaving the house with his sisters, racing down the street together, laughing and running without noticing the wind or the falling petals. Then he pictured Caleb in high school. Older and quieter, growing into the thoughtful man Jamie knew now.

A younger Caleb, walking to school to see the boy he liked. Perhaps carrying his football gear to play a sport he loved on a team that didn’t treat him as an equal.

Jamie’s chest ached as he forced himself to keep walking, rounding the corner toward the small church and its graveyard. Caleb had told him he passed this place every day on the way to school, always joking about not walking too close to the graves or the ghosts would grab you and drag you under.

Jamie smiled softly to himself. He wished he’d known Caleb then. He wished he’dalwaysknown Caleb. Now that his heart knew the man, he didn’t think it could survive without him.

As he walked slowly between the gravestones, his phone buzzed in his pocket.

Ellie

Did you do it yet?

Jamie rolled his eyes at the three ring emojis she tacked onto the message and typed back a quicknot yet,before patting his pocket—something he’d already done at least seven times this morning, just to make sure the rings were still there.

In an ideal world, he would have planned something grand with candles and flowers and all of their friends gathered together. But Jamie decided when they’d landed in America that this wasn’t about orchestrating the perfect moment. It was about showing Caleb howlovedhe was and that Jamie wasn’t going anywhere. Ever.

Following the narrow path beneath a large, shady tree, Jamie finally found the stone he’d been looking for.

Marlene Adeyemi

His heart jumped straight into his throat, and, quite irrationally, he suddenly felt nervous. The grave looked newer than most, well-kept and tidy. He wondered who tended to it.

“Hello, Mrs., erm—” Jamie cleared his throat as he lowered himself to sit cross-legged beneath the tree. “Well. Marlene,” he tried again softly. “I’m not quite sure what you’d prefer me to call you.”

The wind rustled the branches overhead, shifting the light across the gravestone. A bird chirped somewhere above him, and Jamie took it as encouragement to keep going.

“I just wanted to come and pay my respects. I know Caleb misses you very much, and… well.” He pushed his glasses up his nose and glanced up toward the bird. “I want you to know that I’m going to take care of your son. And I wanted to ask for your blessing to ask him to marry me.”

Jamie slipped the small ring box from his pocket. “I hope you would—ordo—approve of me,” he continued. “All I want is to take care of Caleb in any way I can. See, he’s going through a rough time right now, and…” Jamie squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before continuing. “He means everything to me, Marlene. He’s been there for me through so much.Somuch, and I promise that, even when things get hard, I will always be here. No matter what.”

The trees rustled again, a stronger gust making his curls fall across his forehead. His phone buzzed in his pocket, probably Caleb wondering where he’d disappeared to.

“Right. Before I go…” He fumbled with the ring box, popping it open and carefully lifting out the larger ring.

“I wanted to show you. Since, well...” He laughed nervously. “I couldn’t afford brand-new rings, so I got the old ones engraved instead.”

Jamie held the ring up toward the gravestone, then immediately felt foolish and pulled it back to inspect it himself. The engraving caught the soft morning light.

Along the inner wall, in fancy swooping script, were the words:I love you in every universe.

Sliding his glasses off, he wiped quickly at his cheeks. “Your son is the world to me,” he whispered to the birds and the trees and the quiet morning air. “I promise I’ll spend every day trying to make him the happiest man on Earth. Or... in the universe.”

His voice caught.

“I’ll never stop choosing him. No matter what.”

He looked down at the ring in his hands before lifting his eyes back toward the headstone.

“Is…is that okay with you?”

The wind stirred the branches above him, sending a small flurry of pale petals drifting down. One landed softly against the stone beside Marlene’s name.

Caleb had cometo terms with the fact that his father was going to pass in the next few days.

The trip had been emotional, to say the least, but he was grateful he’d come. If nothing else, he’d finally found some closure with Bri. It seemed Mike had been a really good influence on her, and a few nights ago, she’d even told him she loved Jamie and she was happy for him.

They had decided together that the best way to spend the remaining time with their dad was to stick to safe topics. Like sports.