Alexa played the short message from that morning. Tyler told her he loved her and that he wasn’t with anyone he wasn’t supposed to be. He told her not to worry and that he’d be home soon. He sounded relaxed and completely normal, not having a clue that he was about to be gunned down at the end of the driveway while doing a favor for Josh and Rachel.
“I have several other voicemails I’ve kept,” Alexa confessed. “He always left me a sweet message when I was at work. He traveled a lot for his job.”
“He did? I didn’t know that.”
“He was gone for one week every month,” Alexa replied. “Sometimes more. But I was fine with it. I loved that he was working hard to help build our future. Tyler was always a hard worker and ambitious.”
“He was like that in high school, too.”
Alexa’s eyes went wide, and she hopped up, a panicked look on her face.
“Shit, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to go on and on like that. I’m sure you didn’t want to hear it. I just can’t seem to stop talking about Tyler. It’s like he’s so real still, right next to me. Greg is going to get a laugh out of this.”
“Greg? He was the one who did part of the eulogy?”
“He did. He’s a good work friend of Tyler’s.” Alexa pressed the cloth to her face and then turned toward the mirror, patting down her hair. “I should go find Greg. He’s probably wondering what happened to me. Thank you for being so kind. Tyler always spoke so fondly of all his friends back in his hometown. We talked about visiting so many times, but we never seemed to get around to it. I’m sad to be here under these circumstances.”
“It was no trouble whatsoever,” Cat assured her. “I was happy that I was here, although I’m not sure that I was that much help.”
“You listened,” Alexa insisted. “That helps. More than you know. I can’t really talk about Tyler with his parents. They’regoing through their own loss. He was their only son, and they must be in great pain.”
Put back together, Alexa took a deep breath and tried to smile.
“I think I’m ready to face everyone again. This has turned out to be way harder than I thought it would be. I thought I had already cried out before I even arrived.”
“I don’t think grief works that way,” Cat replied. “I think it comes in waves, perhaps when we least expect it. I’m Cat Townsend, by the way. I don’t think I introduced myself.”
“I think you may be right, Cat, but right now it feels like I’ll never be happy again. And it’s nice to meet you. It’s nice to meet all of Tyler’s friends.”
Alexa opened the door and then hesitated for a moment, looking back over her shoulder at Cat.
“Thank you again. You’re a kind person.”
Cat had never thought of herself that way. But since returning to Winslow Heights, she was beginning to see all sorts of things about herself. Her thoughts had always been self-limiting, as if she were only good for posing in front of a camera wearing pretty clothes.
Maybe…just maybe…there was more to her than that.
“She seems like a lovely person,” Cat said as they pulled into Tate’s driveway later that day. “I feel so badly for her. She’s obviously heartbroken.”
Cat was telling him about her conversation with Tyler’s girlfriend, Alexa. The poor woman had been distraught during the service and then later at the Eckerd home.
“Tyler never mentioned her by name,” Tate said, pushing open the door that led from the garage to the kitchen, transferring Tyler’s suitcase to his other hand. “Not once. He said he was dating a bit, but there wasn’t anyone he was serious with.”
“I wonder why he hid it? I guess some men just can’t admit they’re in a relationship,” Cat observed. “They want everyone to think they’re footloose and free.”
“Footloose?” Tate joked. “That’s an interesting turn of phrase.”
“It’s descriptive.”
“Do you keep a thesaurus next to your bed?”
“No, but I think I might. I’ll pick a new word every day and use it as much as possible,” Cat laughed, but then her smile dropped. “They didn’t want you to open it there?”
“I got the feeling they didn’t want to deal with it,” Tate said, holding up the small suitcase on wheels. It was the kind to be small enough to fit in the overhead bin, but large enough to carry enough for a few days. “They were happy to give it to me along with his wallet and phones.”
“I can’t judge them, but I think I’d want my loved one’s things around me. But then, I’ve never lost a child. That has to be a terrible thing.”
“I don’t know enough about their relationship with Tyler to comment,” Tate replied. “They seemed close, and he’d visit often, but you never know. They truly seem broken up by all of this. It’s probably easier to pretend Tyler’s not dead and simply in Seattle if his suitcase and other belongings aren’t in sight.”
