“She was scared.”
Lily’s eyes lowered.
“But you know what else?”
“What?”
“She was funny.”
“Even scared?”
“Especially scared.”
“She made fun of my beard.”
Lily looked at it.
“It is big.”
“I know.”
“She told the nurse I looked like a bear who lost his forest.”
Lily giggled.
Cole smiled.
“She was scared and brave at the same time.”
Lily frowned.
“How?”
“Being brave doesn't mean you're not scared.”
“It means you're scared and still do the next thing.”
Lily thought.
“Like needles?”
“Exactly.”
“I cry.”
“Megan did too.”
“Really?”
“Sometimes.”
Lily seemed relieved.
Cole reached into his vest.
Removed something small.
A friendship bracelet.
Faded purple and blue thread.
Plastic beads spelled:
M
He held it.
“Megan made this when she was twelve.”
Rachel watched.
Cole looked toward Lily.
“I’ve carried it since she died.”
Lily stared.
“You want me to have it?”
Cole’s face changed.
He had not intended that.
Rachel could see.
He looked at the bracelet.
Then Lily.
Finally:
“No.”
Lily blinked.
Cole smiled gently.
“This one stays with me.”
Rachel respected him more for that answer than if he had handed it over.
Not every symbol of grief needed to become a gift.
Cole touched the bracelet.
“But I'll make you one.”
Lily’s eyes widened.
“You know how?”
“No.”
“Then how?”
He looked toward the bikers.
“One of those idiots knows everything.”
A biker shouted:
“I heard that!”
Lily laughed.
The afternoon continued.
Neighbors brought chairs.
Someone ordered pizza.
Frank from the diner arrived on an old blue motorcycle wearing a helmet so oversized Rachel barely recognized him.
She stared.
“You ride?”
Frank removed the helmet.
“Thirty-eight years.”
“You complain when I drive over thirty.”
“Cars are dangerous.”
Rachel stared.
He walked away before she could respond.
At seven, sunlight softened.
Bikers began preparing to leave.
Not all together.
Cole had asked them to start engines one at a time so the noise would not overwhelm Lily.
Rachel noticed.
He had noticed the way Lily flinched earlier when all twelve engines arrived.
He had never mentioned it.
The first rider started.
Left.
Then another.
Lily waved.
Eventually only Cole remained.
His black motorcycle stood near the curb.
Rachel carried the money containers inside and locked them in a cupboard she did not trust despite the lock.
Then she returned.
Cole stood beside his bike.
Lily had fallen asleep on the porch chair.
Pink cap pulled low.
Yellow dress wrinkled.
Rachel draped the hospital blanket across her.
Cole watched.
“She’s something.”
Rachel smiled.
“She’s exhausting.”
“Usually the good ones are.”