***The doorbell rang at almost eight o’clock. Hollis had texted only a half hour ago that he wouldn’t be home until late tonight. I hadn’t expected him so soon, but thought he must’ve forgotten his key. But when I looked through the peephole, a man I didn’t expect to see stood on the other side of the door.
I opened it. “Richard? Is everything okay?”
He smiled warmly, but looked tired. “Yes, sweetheart. I’m good. Could I come in?”
I stepped aside. “Of course. Of course.” I assumed he’d come to see Hollis. “Hollis is working late tonight. He’s not home yet.”
“I figured that. I just left him at his office.”
My forehead wrinkled. “You went to see him at work?”
Richard nodded. “I had to drop off something.”
“Oh. Okay.”
He looked around. “Hollis’s niece lives here with him, right?”
“Yes. She’s in her room with a friend. Did you want to meet her?”
“No. No. I just hoped we could talk for a minute in private.”
“Oh. Of course. Can I get you something to drink? Water or maybe wine?”
“I’d love a glass of water. From the tap is fine.”
I walked to the kitchen and Richard followed. He took a seat at the counter where Hailey had been earlier. I filled a glass with ice and filtered water from the refrigerator door.
Passing it to him, I watched as he guzzled almost the entire glass and then made a loud Ahhh sound. “I miss New York City water. Damn Connecticut water doesn’t taste the same.”
I smiled. “Fewer rats in the sewer system. Connecticut’s so fancy.”
Richard reached around to his back pocket and took out an envelope. He put it on the counter in front of him. “Listen, sweetheart, I’m going to cut to the chase. I know you’re a straight shooter and don’t like smoke blown up your ass.”
“Okay… Thank you, I think.”
“Bree wanted me to give this to you. She owes you some answers, and I think you’ll find them in here.” He pushed the envelope in front of him across the granite.
“She wrote me a letter?”
He nodded. “I don’t have to tell you my daughter loved you like a sister. You’re the one good decision that bum of a stepson I have ever made. His loss was my baby girl’s gain. You were good for her soul, Elodie.”
Tears welled in my eyes. “She was good for mine, too.”
He lifted the glass and finished off the last of the water. “I’m going to get out of your hair. We don’t need to slice open the fresh wounds that are only starting to heal. We’ll do that at the lake house in a few months. I think we should get together on Bree’s birthday in November, talk about all the good times. It’ll be easier then.”
I smiled. “I’d like that a lot.”
He got up and walked to the door. As he opened it, he turned and looked me in the eyes. “Don’t be mad at her. She meant well.”
I had no idea what he meant. Why would I be mad at Bree?
Richard drew me into a bear hug and held me for a long time. Then he kissed the top of my head. “Love finds us all in different ways. It’s not important how it happens. It only matters that it’s real. Take care of yourself, sweetheart.”***My hands shook. I didn’t know why I was so nervous. The worst thing that could happen had already happened. But I knew in the pit of my stomach this was about Hollis and me. We were on such shaky ground already; I needed to brace for more impact. I picked the envelope up and put it back down three times.
Preparing myself, I decided to text Hollis so he would know what he was coming home to. There was a good chance I was going to be a wreck after reading this.
I picked up my phone and texted.Elodie: Richard just came by. He dropped off a letter Bree wrote me.I watched my phone, anxious as the message went from Sent to Delivered to Read. A return text came seconds later.Hollis: He came by here today. I got one, too.Richard had said he’d been to Hollis’s work to drop off something. Of course, he had a letter, too.Chapter 46* * *HollisI poured two fingers of the scotch I kept in the office for special occasions, sat down on the couch, and opened the envelope. Just seeing her handwriting knocked the wind out of me, and I had to take a few deep, calming breaths. When that didn’t do shit to steady me, I gulped back the contents of the glass in one giant swallow.
Let’s get this over with.Dear Hollis,
In eleventh grade, you said something that has stayed with me to this day. Your mom was back in the hospital. She was dehydrated from how sick the medicines had made her, and she’d gotten a horrible infection from the chemo port. She was in a lot of pain, and it killed you to see her like that. It killed me, too. I had to go home, and we stood in front of the hospital for a long time holding each other. You were crying, and you said,