“I know your blanket doesn’t have a name, but does your cat?”
“His name is Felix. Aunt Alex gavehim to me when I was five.”
“Where’d you come up with that name?”
“It was the name of my daddy’s dog when he was little. I thought if I named my cat Felix he wouldn’t miss him so much.”
“That’s really nice, Zoe.”
Her face wrinkled up and her eyes filled with tears. “I want my dad to be here.”
“I know. And I know he would want to be here too, morethan anything. He would never want to leave you.”
Zoe leaned against his leg and he gently patted her head.
They sat in silence for a few moments.
“Do you remember I told you about my daughter?”
“Molly.”
“That’s right, Molly. Well, I didn’t really tell you the truth about her.”
“You mean you lied?” said Zoe, sitting up, her eyes wideand staring at him.
“No, not exactly. I just didn’t tell you…everything. The fact is, my daughter…My daughter…died right before she turned ten.”
“Was she sick?”
“No, she…she had an accident.”
“Like Daddy did?”
“That’s right. Anyway, we had a funeral for her and I had to bury her too. But I go back and visit her, you know, to check on her. And whenI go there, I can…I can sense that she’snotcold. You can do that with people you love. So, I think that when you and your mom go to visit your dad, you’ll be able to sense that too. And by being there, you actually make things warm, because he’ll know that you’re with him. That people who love him are right there with him. Do you see?”
She nodded slowly, her gaze fixed on him. “CanI talk to him when I visit?”
“You absolutely can. Now, he won’t answer you back like he used to. But I can tell you that you’ll feel something right here.” He touched the center of his chest. “And that’s means that your dad is answering you back. And it goes right there, right to your heart. Because…that’s where you’ll always keep your dad now. Forever. Okay?”
She nodded, leanedover, and gave his thick calf a hug.
“I’ll see you when you get back, Mr. Amos.”
“You can just call me Amos.”
“Okay, Amos.”
Decker lifted his duffel and left.
He did not see Jamison standing at the top of the stairs.
She had heard the entire exchange and was quietly sobbing while holding on to the railing to steady herself.
When Zoe started up the stairs, she saw her aunt and ran up to her and flung her arms around her legs. As Jamison continued to shake, Zoe said, “Aunt Alex, are you okay? Are you sad?”
Jamison stroked her niece’s hair.
With tears streaming down her face, she managed to say, “I’m okay, Zoe. I’m really okay now.”