Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 147545 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 590(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147545 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 590(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
My eyes widen. “Your mom’s at my apartment?”
“She’s not coming in. She’s just dropping something off. I told her to bring it here since I’m not at the lake house.”
The knowledge of her proximity is enough to make me nervous.
I keep my back to the door in case she steps inside so we don’t make awkward eye contact. I don’t know what to do with myself.
I know Tor wants me to meet her eventually, and I know it’s important to him that we get along, so I don’t want to get off on the wrong foot, but I also really, really don’t want to face her. I haven’t even had a chance to prepare myself.
The door opens, and I hold my breath for what comes next.
“Hi, honey,” she says, and my stomach drops.
“Hey, Mom.” I hear movement, then he says, “Thanks. I don’t have time to go to the house to get ready, so…”
“Is she coming—?”
“No,” he says, and it’s clear by his tone he doesn’t want to talk about it. “But I’ll see you in a bit, okay? Thanks for dropping this off.”
“Of course.” She hesitates, then says, “I’ll see you soon.”
Another bit of movement, then the door closes.
My heart is beating out of my chest. I turn in my seat, and Tor comes into view, holding a garment bag.
“What’s that?”
“My suit.” When I don’t immediately register understanding, he says, “For the funeral.”
“Oh. Oh yeah. That makes sense.”
“I don’t have time to go home, so I thought I’d change here.”
“Right,” I say, trying to catch my racing heart. I didn’t think I would see him in his funeral outfit, but I don’t even know what time the funeral is. “Um, are you finishing breakfast, or…?”
“Yeah. Just let me hang this up first.”
“Does she know I’m here?” I call as he walks into my bathroom. “Was I the ‘she’ specifically, or does she just know you’re with a girl?”
His lips tug up faintly as he comes back to the kitchen area. “They know we’re together, Cassie. She was asking about you.”
That makes me anxious, but I don’t know why. Surely, she didn’t want me there.
I’m not hungry anymore, but my plate was almost empty anyway, so I take a few more bites while Tor finishes eating, then I clear the table.
He heads to the bathroom so he can change into his funeral attire, and when he comes back out, my breath catches at the sight of him. I’ve seen the twins at homecoming and prom, so I knew he’d look exceptionally handsome in a suit, but this one is black on black—the suit and the shirt underneath, even the tie is black. It lends a darker air to him.
It suits him.
It may be in poor taste to tell him he should wear this in the bedroom later, so I don’t mention it. Instead, I do the supportive girlfriend thing and straighten the knot in his tie.
“Do you need anything from me today?” I ask, looking at his tie instead of his face. “I’m not sure how to navigate this.”
“There is definitely not an established way to navigate this,” he says. “I’m probably gonna be tied up for the rest of the day. Obviously, we have family in from out of town, so once the funeral is over, I’ll likely be visiting with people. I might even stay at the house tonight. We’ll see how my mom is doing.”
“I wish I could turn invisible. Then maybe I could go with you. Only you’d know I was there, so I could hang out with you, but no one else.”
He smiles, leaning in to give me a kiss. “I appreciate it.”
___
Since I have the rest of the day to myself, I decide to unpack.
That does not take me all day, so I find myself sitting on the couch, trying to focus on a book I plucked off my newly fuller shelves.
It’s impossible.
I’ve managed to avoid checking social media as much as possible, knowing that I would end up seeing stuff I probably don’t want to see, but knowing my boyfriend is at his brother’s funeral without me—and with a bunch of people who hate me—has me tempted to open it.
I resist the urge and decide to run to the store instead.
Tor bought me so much of what I needed for my new apartment, but between then and now, I started a list of small things I didn’t think of during that trip. I don’t have a ton of money, but I can buy a few of the things I still need.
As I’m driving through town, I run into what I’m forced to acknowledge was probably the real reason I wanted to come out.
I wanted to see the turnout.
And boy, is there a turnout.
I’ve never seen the funeral home so busy. The parking lot can’t accommodate so many people, so they’re filling the dentist’s office across the street. The funeral home sits at the corner of Main Street and Chestnut, and both streets have cars parked along the sides of the road as far as I can see. A massive truck is parked on the lawn in front of the funeral home with a homemade banner reading, “We’ll never forget you.” A bunch of cars have “I am 87” or “Fly high 87” painted on the back windshields and side windows. Nearby businesses that usually don’t have full parking lots, so I’m sure there’s overflow parking there, too.