Page 101 of Just One Night Together
Commemorative tattoos. Maybe she and Tiff weren’t really related.
* * *
Damon stoodin the church with the priest and his mom’s ashes and found himself thinking of Haley. It had been two weeks since he’d goaded her into leaving, two weeks during which she hadn’t called or stopped by. Two weeks since he’d heard her voice or felt her touch.
Two weeks in which he’d missed her more sharply than anyone he’d ever lost.
Even his mom.
It had easily been the longest two weeks of his life.
Damon told himself that it was good he’d ended things when he had, before there’d been any chance of him really hurting her. That didn’t change how much he missed her.
Being responsible didn’t seem like such a good thing.
He was starting to hope that the therapist was right and that he might, one day soon, have more to offer Haley Slater than he did now.
For the moment, he wanted to thank her for kicking his ass.
He watched the door, hungry to see her again. He’d let the hospital staff know about the service. It had been in the local paper and because of his mom’s career, the obituary had been picked up by the larger papers. The priest expected a full house, but Damon didn’t care about that.
There was only one person he wanted to see.
Then a guy walked into the church and Damon was so completely surprised that he thought his eyes were deceiving him. Was that Nate Buchanan? It couldn’t be. The man in question waved his right hand, giving Damon a two-fingered salute. His hand was gloved.
Because it was a prosthesis.
Buchanan had come—even though Damon hadn’t answered his messages. Damon was astonished and humbled by his presence.
His throat was tight.
Ty and Shannyn led the F5F team into the church, Kyle and Lauren hand-in-hand behind them. Cassie was with Theo, all of them dressed in black. Meesha, Jax and Sonia had come, as well, which awed him. They came straight to Damon and gathered behind him, like his support staff. Cassie kissed his cheek and Kyle gave him an impromptu hug. Jax shook his hand and Sonia kissed his cheek. Meesha gave him such a hug that it was practically a tackle.
“We can stay with you or step back,” Ty said and Damon indicated the first pew.
“I’d be glad to have you with me,” he said, his voice thick.
The church was standing room only by the time the service began. The priest had suggested that Damon gather pictures of his mom when she was healthy, and Damon had created a collage, which was at the altar. In the middle was a drawing he’d done of her years before, laughing with her usual abandon. He kept his gaze fixed on it during the service, not really hearing the words, filling his mind with memories. There were flowers from friends and the lilies had a strong sweet scent. They celebrated communion, because his mom would have preferred it, and when the service was done, people came to speak to him.
Damon was overwhelmed by their kindness.
His mom’s neighbors were out in force, and several of them promised him casseroles and fresh baking. Some of them had already dropped off food for him. Mrs. O’Toole from the dance academy hadn’t changed much and she gripped his hands as she remembered the days of his mom tutoring little girls. There were younger women who had been those little girls, very few of them dancers now but all of them with perfect posture and their eyes filled with tears. There were ladies from the church and retired professional dancers who he vaguely remembered from his childhood. To his amazement, many of the kids from Zeke’s gym had come to give their condolences to him and he was impressed to see what fine men they’d become.
And last of all, there was Nate Buchanan, a familiar twinkle in his eyes. Damon remembered how this guy could find the silver lining in any thunderhead.
“I’m sorry, Damon,” he said and offered his hand. Damon didn’t know what to do, since Nate’s right hand was the prosthesis. Nate just shook his head. “You can’t break it, bro,” he said.
Damon shook his hand, then met Nate’s gaze. “I am so sorry.”
“Why? It wasn’t your fault.”
“It was...”
“No, Damon, it was not your fault,” Nate interrupted, his tone stern. “You didn’t make the grenade, you didn’t pull the pin, and you didn’t chuck it at us.”
“But Foster...”
“Knew exactly what he signed up for. We all did.” Nate’s gaze was steely. “The best team I ever worked with was you and Foster. I miss him every day, but I don’t regret that we served our country and gave our best. He gave his life doing what he loved, and I don’t think he would regret it.”
