Theirs Read Free Page A

his, giving it a
squeeze. “We didn’t get to see him before he passed either. It was weeks since
the last time we saw him. I talked to him a week ago, but it seems like forever
ago now.”
    “It’s
true. I haven’t seen him since last month, and I haven’t talked to him in a
couple of weeks.” The pain in Tallin’s voice was evident.
    She
stared into Tallin’s face, finally seeing a sliver of
sadness break his otherwise steely composure.
    “He’d
been working in Silver Spring for the last week on some big construction
contract. He was actually on his way home. We were all going to get together
since it had been so long.” Riley shook his head, stopping for a second. “He
was ten miles from his place when he ran over some black ice and went into a
ravine.”
    Lilly
placed her hand over her mouth, squeezing her eyes shut. She’d known what had happened,
but hearing it from Riley, from one of the men she loved so much, that knew
Christian the way she did, was so hard. More tears came, but she got control of
herself, knowing she needed to be strong. Despite the fact she didn’t want to
envision it, Lilly couldn’t help but could picture the whole horrific accident
in her mind.
    “He
must have been so scared,” she whispered. She tried to push the thoughts away,
but they were like a broken record, playing over and over again. Tallin brought her closer, and she rested her head against
his chest.
    “The
way he crashed made his death instant,” Tallin said
softly, but it didn’t make her feel any better.
    Even
though the pain was indescribable, she was glad Riley and Tallin weren’t keeping this from her. She wanted to know the details, wanted to know
how one of her best friends had left this world.
    Call
it sick or dark, but she needed to know.
    “I’m
glad he didn’t suffer.” She pulled away and turned to look into Riley’s eyes,
knowing he would have been one of the first people to be at the scene.
    “We
are, too, sweetheart.” Riley smiled softly, sadly. Riley reached a hand out and
brushed away one of her tears.
    “Things
will be okay, Lilly.” Tallin continued to rub her
back in slow and gentle, but sure strokes
    “I
don’t think anything will ever be okay, Tallin .”
    Tallin embraced her again and kissed the
top of her head. “I hope that’s not true.”
    She
didn’t want it to be true, but right now life seemed pretty meaningless, even
with Riley and Tallin beside her.
     

Chapter
Three
     
    Saying Goodbye
     
    This
was a special kind of pain, the kind that had someone wishing they were numb,
that the world would just open up and swollen them whole. That’s how Lilly
felt. She wanted nothing to be everything, wanted to be able to turn off her
emotions, to turn off everything in her so this wasn’t a reality, so this
wasn’t the cold, hard truth.
    Standing
under the awning at Christian’s gravesite, she wished she could see him once
more, to talk to him, tell him she loved him. The calling hours had been closed
casket because of the accident, of the damage he’d suffered. Thinking about
that had her heart hurting, had her feeling like she was on the cusp of passing
out.
    My poor, sweet Christian.
    Riley
stood on her left, Tallin on her right. Both men framed
her, their arms wrapped around her body, giving her support and love. She
wished her parents had been able to fly out, but with her mother breaking her
ankle and not being able to travel, and her father not wanting to leave her,
they couldn’t be here to say goodbye to their pseudo-son. The storm would have
also made it impossible for them to fly not the closest airport by Burkett. She
knew they wished they could have been here.
    The
air was frigid, the storm quickly approaching, sooner than had been predicted.
It was like the weather was angry and mourning the loss of Christian, as well.
    She
stared at his coffin and wrapped her wool coat more tightly around herself. Tallin and Riley must have felt her movement, or