Page 107 of The Spare
But it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.
I leaned down and picked up old flowers sitting beside both of their headstones.
Someone was here recently?
“Sloan and Henry take turns changing them out every few weeks.” Xander’s voice called from behind me. I turned to see him walking up the path with fresh flowers in his hands.
“Sloan told you I was here?” I asked, even though I was sure she called him to tell him where I was going. “I guess I should get used to that.”
He grinned. “Yeah, she called me this morning and told me to bring peonies.”
Xander handed me the flowers, and I replaced the old ones. I stood back up and sighed, eyes fixed on the names in front of me. “They’ve been doing that all this time?”
Henry was still a little distant with me, and it wasn’t just because I was dating Sloan. We had each other’s backs for our entire adult lives. He was still angry that I left for so long. He felt abandoned at a time he probably could have used his best friend. I couldn’t blame him, especially when I was reminded of all the ways he’d been there for me.
Xander nodded. “That’s something like,”—his eyes looked up in thought—“two hundred and eighty-six flower exchanges over the years.”
We got lost in our own thoughts for a few minutes.
“You finally made it here.” Xander stuck his hands in his pockets.
“Yeah…” I sighed. “As it turns out, I may have a problem with ignoring the things I don’t want to deal with.”
He barked a laugh. “Maybe just a little one.”
“What do you guys do when you come here?”
Xander’s eyes floated around the expanse. “Henry updates them on you and the company. Sloan usually has a checklist of things she tells them about. I don’t really do anything. I don’t come up as much as they do.”
I nodded. We four looked out for each other in different ways.
“Want to go run some agility drills?” I asked after a few more minutes of silence. Xander hadn’t played soccer since their death. I wasn’t the only one who might benefit from some aversion therapy. “The club has fields on the lower roofs.”
He tensed for a moment and shook his head. “No, but I’ll help you with Sloan’s birthday.”
I didn’t push. I’d try again another time.
“Thanks.” I’d missed the last two and sent gifts instead. She called to thank me for both; I had the voicemails saved. Sloan forgave my absence more quickly than Xander and Henry, but I needed to make it up to her too. Not that throwing a giant party for her would do that, but she’d get to dance the entire night away. She’d love that.
We stayed awhile longer before heading back.
* * *
“How was it?” Sloan asked. She sat on the couch reading when I got back to our place.
“Good.” I pressed a kiss against her lips and sat beside her.
“Henry’s coming over for brunch tomorrow.” She leaned into my shoulder and looked at the text message from her brother. She sighed and placed her phone on the page she’d stopped at in the book. “So that’s good news.”
“See? He’ll come around.”
She nodded.
I looked at the last box of her things in the corner. “Does it feel like home yet?” I asked.
“Mmmm.” She smiled, then jolted forward in excitement. She got up and walked down the hallway, only to return a few moments later. This time with a wrapped gift in her hand. It looked like a picture; I had a feeling I knew which one. “I got you something.” She handed it to me and sat back down.
“Now we have two.” I pulled away the wrapping paper. She’d enlarged the photo of her graduation from my journal. Her photo was already hung in the upstairs hallway. “Is your note still on the back?”
