Love's Awakening Read Free Page A

him.
    The eighteen-wheeler swerving, but not enough, plowing into David. The sickening, slow mashing of metal on metal, of Goliath pummeling David, Goliath hollering in victory.
    The end of David, if not literally, then most likely for all practical purposes.
    Celia felt a hand cover hers. “You okay, sweetie? You ready to go back to your room?”
    Celia shook off Janet’s touch. “I need to stay.”
    Lynn this time: “You need to rest.”
    “I’m staying as long as I like. My husband will be dead the next time I see him.”
    *****
    Shirley sat in David’s room and read him a story when Oliver tiptoed in about midnight. “Hey, Grandma,” Oliver said. “Agatha Christie?” Agatha Christie was David’s favorite author. Shirley’s, too.
    “Mmm. The Seven Dials Mystery . Want me to see about a cot for you too?”
    “I’m not staying. Just checking on Dad.” Oliver lowered himself into a chair, closed his eyes, and listened to the lift and fall of his grandmother’s voice. MacDonald looked upon her, and she blushed. She was made to feel that she had taken an unpardonable liberty…
    Oliver clenched his jaw. Unpardonable liberty. Interesting phrase, described his dad’s actions perfectly. At least the truck driver was okay, save for a few deep bruises.
    “Grandma?” Oliver asked.
    Shirley glanced up. “Mmm?”
    Oliver’s throat squeezed. “Dad never had a speeding ticket or wreck. The accident doesn’t make sense.”
    Shirley furrowed her brows. “What are you saying?”
    “Maybe it wasn’t an accident.”
    “Of course it was. Your father wasn’t thinking. He was in a hurry to be with Celia.”
    No, he wasn’t. Dad looked left one last time. I saw it.
    Shirley gave Oliver a smile and returned to the story.
    Oliver fished the letter out of his pocket. The ER waiting room had been hell. The seconds were molasses, and thoughts turned Oliver’s mind insane. He’d read the letter maybe a hundred times. Probably had it memorized, but he felt the same nauseating dread every time he read it. David must have sneaked the letter into Oliver’s coat when Oliver went to the bathroom at Almond’s.
    Oliver,
    I know I have not been a good father. You deserve more. I look at you sometimes and I think: “Wow. This is my child, my son. How did I get so lucky?” You’re handsome, strong, determined. You’re very much like your mother.
    I’ve been thinking about you a lot these past few months as we’ve gotten closer and as I prepared to have another child. I hope someday you change your mind about wanting kids. You will be a fantastic father. If you’re afraid you will repeat my mistakes with your children, stop being afraid right now. You have learned from my mistakes and are the better for them.
    You were, and are, magic in my life. Please always know that.
    I wish three things for you. Happiness. Love. Laughter. Don’t make the same mistakes I have when it comes to love.
    I was thinking about Penny the other day. Remember how I used to call her Henny Penny? I was also thinking about Jean, Adele and Minnie. You know my sins, so I won’t list them here. If you happen to see them again, though, please tell them I really did love them.
    Please look after your little brother after I’m gone. Please love that child the best you can, and please tell him I was a good person.
    David left the letter unsigned.
    Why hadn’t Oliver contacted the police about the note? Shock, maybe. That this couldn’t really be happening. That his father wrote a suicide note. But David couldn’t have known the truck would show up when it did. No matter. If not the truck, then something else.
    Interesting that David had not mentioned Paul Joseph and Erin Elizabeth in the note. Maybe not so interesting, actually. David probably did not think about them anymore. Or perhaps he liked to pretend Oliver might not think about them anymore. Paul Joseph and Erin Elizabeth popped up in Oliver’s mind and in his heart at the most random times,