“I remarried. I met him right over there. His wife Kate is buried four rows over. We’re both from Alabama, believe it or not. Gene’s a wonderful man with three daughters. Kids I didn’t get to have with my Marshall. It’s a good life, and yet it was a trade for all of us. Sorting that out in our heads is something we’ve been able to get through together, but no. It’s not easy at all.”

I hesitated, but I decided to make my admission, knowing Annie would understand. “I’ve met someone,” I blurted out.

She smiled. “Good. Because the dead don’t expect loyalty. They don’t care if we live like we died with them. They’re gone. And whether we like it or not, a week goes by, then a month, a year … ten years.”

“How do you…?”

“You love them both. Don’t compare them, at least not out loud.”

“But Matt was the love of my life.”

“Of your old life. I’ll love Marshall until my last day, but I think everyone here visiting someone can agree that our lives are different now.”

I nodded.

“It’s okay to start new. Not that we should forget. Not that it’s a do-over. It’s just a different road than the one we set out on. Now, go warm up before you catch cold.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I said, wiping the rain from my face.

Annie walked away, holding both umbrellas under one arm. I stared at the ground, watching the rain nudging the blades of grass on its way to the soil.

I kneeled, soaking my knees in the mud, and hugged the etched concrete bearing his name. “Thank you,” I whispered. “Thank you for giving me the time with you that you did.”

chapter twenty-one

The New Real

Naomi

I

rushed through the Denver airport and sped south, irritated at the butterflies in my stomach that only worsened when I parked the FJ next to Zeke’s truck.

Calm down, Naomi, Jesus.

My phone buzzed as soon as I picked it up, but it wasn’t Zeke.

“Trex, what’s up?

“You back yet?”

“I’m just parked at the hotel.”

“You’re here?” he asked. There was something unsettling in his voice.

“Yeah, why?”

“Nomes…” he sighed. “The Alpines were on the mountain.”

My chest began to tighten. Were.

“Is he alive?” I asked.

“I don’t know yet. Zeke’s group was separated from the rest. They had to take a detour. No one knows where they are yet.”

“Are we going?”

He sighed. “I need to stay here with Darby.”

“I’m going.”

“I’ll call out the guys,” he said.