Pretty Thing (Naughty Things 1)

The baking business is going really well. Not only do Alison and I have quite a few regular online customers, but I bake bread and goodies for the restaurants and coffee shop in town.

Aiden and I moved in together several months ago. There was a townhouse for sale near our parents and it was just too perfect to pass up. I can’t think of a better place to raise a family. Not that we’re there yet, but who knows. After today I’ll be Mrs. Kali Edwards.

But that can’t happen until I get my dress on and walk down that aisle with my father.

Alison is here, bustling around like a manic bee as she bosses the women doing my makeup and hair.

“Don’t mind her,” I whisper to them. “This is her excited face.”

I don’t think they find Alison as endearing as I do, but hey. Can’t please everyone. She is my people and we are good together.

“OK,” Alison says, once I’m done with hair and makeup. “Dress time.”

My mom is in here, and so is Aiden’s mom. And the three of them help me with the dress. The tight, form-fitting bodice is woven with white pearls and the open back goes all the way down past my waist. Just thinking about Aiden placing his hand on the small of my back when we meet at the altar gives me chills.

But when the music finally starts and I take my father’s arm to walk down the aisle, I’m not thinking about the dress.

My eyes are locked on Aiden and his best man.

Not Clyde, though Clyde is there.

But the empty space meant for Kyle.

It’s really empty. We knew he’d want to be here so we made room for him.

And even though there was no wedding day message hidden in the Dead Notes, I don’t need an app to let me know how Kyle feels about today.

When Aiden and I turn to face each other I lose track of everything but him. We say our vows and kiss, and when I turn to face our family and friends a buttercup falls out of my bridal bouquet.

I bend down to pick it up and show it to Aiden.

Because I didn’t order any buttercups in my bouquet.

Aiden just plucks it from my fingers and tucks the tiny stem into my hair, then kisses me and whispers, “Thank you, Kyle,” into my mouth.

And we take a little piece of our childhood and my brother into our new life.

EPILOGUE – AIDEN

The day my son is born I go looking for Kyle. I have left him hundreds of messages over the years since he passed and even though I ran out of his messages a while back I just know there’s one more hidden in here somewhere. I press combinations of buttons inside the app trying to find it. Pound sign, O for operator, even 911.

But the one that finally unlocks that last final message from my best friend is… today’s date.

I don’t know what to make of that. I still don’t believe in other realms, or ghosts, or anything like that. But I believe in us. I believe in Kali, Kyle, and me. And the bond we forged back when we were eight. I believe it’s the kind of connection that lasts forever. That transcends life and death.

Maybe he just pushed a set of random numbers when he made the trigger for this message. Maybe he did some kind of weird calculation based on how long he figured it would take for Kali and I to realize we were in love, get married, and have a kid.

Or maybe… maybe he knew? Maybe he really did see something in the future and this is proof of the many unexplained coincidences that have happened since he died.

It’s impossible to know for sure.

“You’ve reached Kyle,” Kyle says. “OK, dude, this really is the last fucking message. You really need to let me go. But since you’re here, poking around like a fiend who needs his fix, I’m gonna make good. One thing though—it’s a choose-your-own-adventure kind of message. Ready? Press one if you married Kali and had a baby. Press two if you didn’t. Go.”

How did he do this? There’s a little part of me that thinks someone else is doing it. Like… watching us or something and then adding messages as life goes on and milestones pass.

But it can’t be anyone but him because it’s his voice. It’s really him.

I press one and wait.

“So,” Kyle says, more subdued on this message than he’s ever been in the past. “Married with a baby. Born today, I’m assuming. And let me guess. It’s a boy and you named him Garfield.”

I laugh, then whisper, “Dumbass,” into the phone.

“All joking aside,” Kyle says. “I just want you to know… I love you guys. And I know you’re going to be happy. So tell little Garfield I said hello. And I hope he knows how lucky he is to have my two best friends as parents. I’ll see ya all again one day. Not too soon, I hope. Love you, brother. Kyle.”