A Bend in the Road

I made a single stop on my way, my usual. I think the man there had come to know me, since I made the same purchase every time. When he saw me come in, he waited by the counter, nodded when I told him what I wanted, then returned a few minutes later. We had never shared small talk in all the time I'd been coming to his shop. He didn't ask me what they were for; he never did.

He did, however, say the same thing every time he handed them to me:

"They're the freshest I've got."

He took my money and rang up the purchase. On my way back to the car, I could smell them, their sweet, honeyed fragrance, and I knew he was right. The flowers, once again, were beautiful.

I set them on the car seat beside me. I followed roads familiar to me, roads I wish I'd never traveled, and I parked outside the gates. I steeled myself as I stepped out of the car.

I saw no one in the cemetery. Gripping my jacket near the collar to pull it tighter, I walked with my head down; I didn't have to watch where I was going. The ground was wet, clinging to my feet. In a minute, I was at the grave.

As always, I was struck by how small it was.

It was ridiculous to think this, but as I stared, I couldn't help it. The grave, I noticed, was well tended. The grass was neatly trimmed, and there was a silk carnation in a small holder in front of the headstone. It was red, as was every other carnation near every other headstone I could see, and I knew that the groundskeeper had placed them all.

I bent over and propped the flowers against the granite, making sure not to touch the stone. I never had. It wasn't, nor had it ever been, mine.

Afterwards, my mind drifted. Usually, I thought about Missy and the wrong decisions I had made; on that day, I found my thoughts drawn to Miles.

I think that was the reason why I didn't hear the approaching footsteps until they were already upon me.

"Flowers," Miles said.

Brian turned at the sound of his voice, half-surprised, half-terrified.

Miles was standing near an oak tree whose limbs fanned out over the ground. He was wearing a long black coat and jeans; his hands were buried in his pockets.

Brian felt the blood drain from his face.

"She doesn't need flowers anymore," Miles said. "You can stop bringing them."

Brian didn't respond. What was there really to say?

Miles stared at him. With the sun sinking below the horizon, his face was shadowed and dark, his features hidden. Brian had no idea what he was thinking. Miles pushed the coat outward with both hands, as if he were holding something beneath its folds.

Hiding something.

Miles made no move toward Brian, and for a fleeting second, Brian had the urge to run. To escape. He was younger by fifteen years, after all--a quick burst might be enough to allow him to reach the road. Cars would be there, people would be all around.

But just as quickly as the thought came, it left him, draining whatever energy he had. He didn't have any reserves left. He hadn't eaten for days. He'd never make it, not if Miles really wanted to catch him.

And more than that, Brian knew he didn't have any place to go.

So Brian faced him. Miles was twenty feet away, and Brian saw his chin rise slightly. Miles met his gaze. Brian waited for him to do something, make a gesture; perhaps, he thought, Miles was waiting for the same thing. It struck Brian that they must have looked like a couple of gunfighters in the Old West, preparing to draw.

When the silence became too much to bear, Brian looked away, toward the street. He noticed that Miles's car was parked behind his, the only two he could see. They were alone here, among the gravestones.

"How did you know I was here?" Brian finally asked.

Miles took his time in answering. "I followed you," he said. "I figured you'd be leaving the house sometime and I wanted to be alone with you."

Brian swallowed, wondering how long Miles had been watching him.

"You bring flowers, but you don't even know who she was, do you?" Miles said quietly. "If you knew her, you would have been bringing tulips. Those were the ones she would have wanted here. Those were her favorite--yellows, reds, pinks--she loved them all. She used to plant a garden every spring with tulips. Did you know that?"

No, Brian thought, I didn't. In the distance, he heard the whistle of a train.

"Did you know that Missy used to worry about the wrinkles in the corners of her eyes? Or that her favorite breakfast was French toast? Or that she always wanted to own a classic Mustang convertible? Or that when she laughed, it was all I could do to keep my hands off her? Did you know she was the first woman I'd ever loved?"

Miles paused, willing Brian to look at him.

"That's all I have left now. Memories. And there will never be any more. You took that from me. And you took that from Jonah, too. Did you know that Jonah has had nightmares since she died? That he still cries out for his mother in his sleep? I have to take him in my arms and hold him for hours until it finally stops. Do you know how that makes me feel?"

His eyes pierced Brian's, pinning him to the patch of ground where he stood.

"I spent two years looking for the man who ruined my life. Jonah's life. I lost those two years because it was all I could think about."

Miles glanced toward the ground and shook his head.

"I wanted to find the person who killed her. I wanted that person to know how much he'd taken away from me that night. And I wanted the man who killed Missy to pay for what he did. You have no idea how much those thoughts consumed me. Part of me still wants to kill him. To do the same thing to his family that he did to mine. And now, I'm looking at the man who did it. And this man is putting the wrong flowers on my wife's grave."

Brian felt his throat constrict.

"You killed my wife," he said. "I'll never forgive you, and I'll never forget. When you look in the mirror, I want you to remember that. And I don't want you to ever forget all that you took from me. You took away the person that I loved most in the world, you took my son's mother, and you took two years from my life. Do you understand?"

After a long moment, Brian nodded.

"Then understand something else. Sarah can know what happened here, but only her. You take this conversation--and everything else--to your grave. Tell no one else about any part of it. Ever. Not your parents, not your wife, not your kids, not your minister, not your buddies. And make sure you do something with your life, something that doesn't make me regret what I'm doing. Promise me those things."

Miles stared, making sure Brian had heard him, until Brian nodded again. Then, Miles turned to leave. A minute later, he was gone.

Only then did Brian realize that Miles was letting him go.

Later that night, when Miles opened the door, Sarah simply stood on the doorstep looking at him wordlessly, until Miles finally stepped out, closing the door behind him.

"Jonah's home," he said. "We'll talk outside."

Sarah crossed her arms and looked out over the yard. Miles followed her eyes.

"I'm not sure why I'm here," she said. "Thanking you doesn't seem very appropriate, but I can't ignore what you did, either."

Miles nodded almost imperceptibly.

"I'm so sorry for everything. I can't even begin to imagine what you've been going through."

"No," he said. "You can't."

"I didn't know about Brian. I really didn't."

"I know." He glanced toward her. "I shouldn't have believed it otherwise. And I'm sorry for the accusations."

Sarah shook her head. "Don't be."

He looked away, seeming to struggle for words. "I guess I should thank you for letting me know what really happened."

"I had to. I didn't have a choice." Then, after he grew quiet again, Sarah brought her hands together. "How's Jonah doing with all this?"

"Okay. Not great. He doesn't know anything, but I think he sensed that something was going on by the way I was acting. He's had a couple of nightmares in the last few days. How's he doing in school?"

&n

bsp; "So far, he's fine. In the last couple of days, I haven't noticed anything unusual."

"That's good."

Sarah ran a hand through her hair. "Can I ask you a question? You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Miles turned. "Why did I let Brian go?"

She nodded.

It took a long time to answer. "I saw the dog."

She turned toward him in surprise.

"A big black dog, just like Brian said. He was running around in a yard a couple of houses up from where the accident happened."

"You just drove by and happened to see him?"

"No, not exactly. I went looking for him."

"To find out if Brian was telling the truth?"

He shook his head. "No, not really. I pretty much knew that he was telling the truth by then. But I had this crazy notion in my head that I just couldn't get rid of."

"What notion?"

"Like I said, it was crazy."

She looked at him curiously, waiting.

"When I got home that day--when Brian told me, I mean--I just got to thinking that I had to do something. Someone had to pay for what happened, but I just didn't know who until it hit me. So I got my father's gun, and the next night, I went out to look for the damn dog."

"You were going to shoot the dog?"

He shrugged. "I wasn't sure I'd even get the chance, but as soon as I pulled up, there he was. He was chasing a squirrel through the yard."

"So you did it?"

"No. I got close enough to do it, but when I got him in my sights, I got to thinking how insane it was. I mean, I was out hunting somebody's pet. Only someone seriously deranged would do that. So I turned around and got in my car. I let him go."

She smiled. "Like Brian."