“You know, you can make him into anything you want him to be. He can be a Red Sox fan who plays football and reads Harry Potter. And then whenever you want to, you can visit him in your mind.”

“I like that.”

“Good.”

He was quiet while they finished their lunch.

On the way back to the truck, he stopped her. “There’s something I need to do, something I’ve been putting off for a long time. I feel like I’m ready to do it now. Do you mind a detour into Boston?”

Clare shook her head. “I don’t mind.”

When Clare asked him how he knew where he was going, Aidan said Sarah and Colin were buried with her grandmother. His fingers gripped the wheel as he brought the truck to a stop in the cemetery.

Clare rested a hand on his shoulder. “Are you sure you’re up to this?”

He nodded. “Will you come with me?”

“Of course.”

They walked hand in hand to a hilltop grave, marked by a headstone with the name Sweeny in large block letters. Flowers and a teddy bear sat at the base of the well-tended grave.

The marker read, “Sarah Sweeny O’Malley, beloved daughter, wife, mother.” Under Sarah’s name, Colin was remembered: “Colin Sweeny O’Malley, beloved son, grandson.”

As he stared at the stone marker, Aidan’s face might have been made of granite. The slight tic of a muscle in his cheek was the only indication of the war he waged with his emotions.

“It’s a beautiful spot,” Clare said after several long moments of silence.

He squatted down to brush some dirt off the base of the stone. “Yes.”

When he finally stood up again, his face was wet with tears. She put her arms around him and held him close.

“I’m sorry,” he said after several minutes. He wiped his face with the sleeve of his coat.

“For what, love?”

“I thought I was ready to see this.”

“Is anyone ever ready to see this?”

After another long look at the gravestone, he put an arm around Clare to walk back to the truck. “Let’s go.”

Aidan was subdued during the ride through the mountains, and Clare left him alone with his thoughts while she tried a few more times—unsuccessfully—to reach Kate. They arrived in Stowe just after five.

“Do you mind if I go get in a couple of hours at your brother’s house?”

“Of course not.” Clare sensed he needed to work through some things by himself. “I’ll make us some dinner and do the laundry.”

“Don’t worry about mine. I’ll do it later.”

“Don’t be silly. I don’t mind.”

Lingering over the good-bye kiss, he caressed her face. “I’ll be back in a little while.”

“Take your time.”