“She’d have loved it,” Abraham said.
Amanda took my hand. Unlike the funeral, the sadness refused to set in. I could almost hear her cackling in the distance. She’d have cheered as the rope let go, and the raft tipped as it burned. Mimi might have been a petite woman, but her personality stood twelve feet tall.
Laurel held up the last arrow. “We’ve got one more. Anything else we need to set on fire?”
I laughed. Not a chuckle, but a laugh that had me bending over and holding my belly. Everything about this was outlandish. My two besties stood at my side as we followed my grandmother’s orders. Her favorite neighbors hadn’t asked questions when I mentioned her demands. Laurel had been the first to ask compound or longbow as if she were an elf from a fantasy novel.
“Thank you for being part of this.” I wiped the tears from my eyes. “This is why she asked for this. I’m sure I’llneed everybody’s help as I get the house ready for selling.”
“Or you could move in?”
Jason had pitched the idea twice already. It’d be wonderful to have a house for myself. Heck, I’d never be able to afford something like that on my own. There was a reason I lived in the city. Firefly had its cute small-town charm, but I’d always be an interloping, part-time resident. The thought of attending high school plays or their far-too-often spaghetti dinners was anything but appealing. Firefly accepted me as one of their own, but… it wasn’t home.
“It’s home for the next few months,” I mumbled.
I could work from anywhere. Designing book covers might not be the flashiest of jobs, but it paid the bills and let me live as a digital nomad. I’d be able to get work done for the publisher in Mimi’s… my house. I tried to focus on it being a new adventure, something to get me out of my creative rut. Her past adventures would almost certainly spark a fresh wave of ideas.
“So, what do we do next?” I asked.
The raft had all but sunk. There was more smoke than I expected. Had we overdone it with the fuel? Nah, Mimi deserved a spectacle.
Abraham grabbed my arm. “Don’t just stand there. We’ve got to move!”
“Huh?” I could see why Mimi loved him so much. He made the perfect partner in crime. She never mentioned dating somebody, but I always wondered if she and Abraham had a thing.
“The game warden is going to bust us.” He pointed across the lake to a shadowy figure standing next to a Bronco.
Shocked. “Why would he do that?”
Laurel held up the bow and arrow. “This is sort of illegal.”
“It’s just a little fire,” Amanda argued, but her voice betrayed her panic.
"Laurel is literally holding a flaming arrow," I said.
Laurel was already backing up like a soldier retreating from battle.
"Your grandmother would scoff," Abraham said. "It's just a tiny campfire."
I couldn’t help but snort. Yes, my grandmother had convinced me to break the law as her final wish. “Why am I even surprised?”
“This is why we love her,” Amanda said. Present tense. Mimi would live on. I’d struggle as I sorted her belongings and packed away her things. She wouldn’t have thought of it as a ‘necessary task.’ Mimi would somehow turn every room into a unique adventure. Walking down memory lane, she’d relive every victory and bring that energy into the world.
The last of the raft vanished, and the smoke extinguished. She had received her send-off. If she had reached Valhalla, she’d be atop her horse riding with the Valkyrie. I needed to remind myself to be more like her. My life could use a little extra excitement.
Mimi wouldn’t have tolerated my aimless routine. She’dhave shaken things up to remind me that life’s too short for ‘fine.’ Maybe that’s why she insisted on this outrageous farewell—to leave me with a reminder that adventure wasn’t something you watched on TV. It was something you created.
“What now?” asked Amanda.
“First, we run,” I said.
“Then?” she asked.
“It’s Tuesday. Then, we drink.”
VIOLATING MAN CODE
“Skål!”
