“Trust me. She does.”
He pauses, concern deepening as his mouth sinks into a frown.
“Did she say something to you?”
Doubt crosses my mind, holding me back from saying anything. As much as I want to tell him what his mom said to me, I doubt it’s a good idea. The last thing I want is to drive a wedge between him and his family. Plus, I’m still not sure what to make of Patricia’s words. Could she be right about me and Kayden? That we’re trying hard to fix each other to no avail?
It doesn’t feel like it.
“Nothing much.” I shrug instead. Kayden doesn’t look convinced one bit. I know he’s going to press me about it so I clear my throat and point to his right hand, insistent on changing the subject. “Why do you have the car keys?”
“Oh.” He looks at the keys as if he’d forgotten he was holding them. “I want to take you somewhere.”
“Okay,” I say hesitantly “Where?”
He smiles. “You’ll see.”
***
“If this is your idea of a date, I think we might have to visit the whole idea of you going to therapy,” I mutter, my flats crunching against the gravel pavement heading toward the cemetery.
It’s already late evening by the time we arrive, and the dimming sun across the horizon is the only light illuminating our path. So far no bones, which I’m really grateful for.
Yay.
Sienna—1. The dead—0.
Kayden hurls an apologetic look my way as he guides me along the rocky pathway. I swallow hard as my eyes roam the headstones erected on either side of the path. Some of them look centuries old, weather-beaten with much of their carved words now faded away. Others are overrun with grass, shielding the stones from the world, neglected by the families who have long forgotten them by now.
I’m not usually afraid of anything but there’s something about being among the dead that really gives me the creeps.
A good few minutes later, we finally come to a halt. It takes me a while to make out what he’s seeing until I take my place beside him. His entire body tenses when he stares at the very thing that has haunted him for a long time—his family’s graves.
My eyes scan their individual names: Robert, Laura, and finally Clarissa. A sharp pain twists in my gut when my eyes fall on her name. Gone too soon. All of them.
And my gaze pivots to the man in front of me. Kayden.
Marked by tragedy and yet he’s still here. Alive and beautifully broken—but still fighting. For himself. For the people he loved who aren’t here to see his fight.
I read the lovely words carved into their tombstones.
I stand there silently, paying my respects to them, wishing I could have met them, sympathizing with the time that was cruelly stolen from them, and lastly, thanking them for blessing this Earth with the wonderful man next to me.
Kayden slides his arm around my waist and kisses the top of my head.
“They would have loved you, you know,” he says after a while, his voice strained. “My parents always knew I was going to end up with a spunky girl who could hold her own.”
“And Clarissa?” I whisper, looking up at Kayden.
“She said you would be pretty,” he murmurs, fingers drifting into my hair. “And you’d probably want to sneak her into parties.”
“I would,” I say smugly. Then I add, with a tone of sternness, “But no alcohol until she’s twenty-one.”
“Oof, I don’t think she’d like that. But she’d probably admire you for being responsible with her.”
The conversation falls silent and I let the wind carry it away. Kayden clasps his hand in mine and I let him have a long moment to himself. He stares at the tombstone, despair and ache carved into every line of his face. I let him ruminate on the what-ifs and what could have beens, and I watch his tears fall down his cheeks. I don’t tell him that it’s going to be okay. Because it won’t be, and I know better than to tell him that. Instead, I just let him be with himself in his grief, hoping my presence is enough to bring some kind of comfort.
We stay there for about an hour, and after a while, Kayden tells me that we should go. I nod wordlessly and let him guide me back to his truck. He seems somewhat lighter now, like a huge burden on his shoulders has been lifted.