Riverbend Reunion(60)

Wade waited until everyone had left that evening to get into his truck and drive to the cemetery. He sat down in front of the tombstones and ran a finger over his brother’s name, Danford James Granger. “I’m back, Brother, with some news that will put a tear in your eye if you can hear me. The team decided to name the old bar after you. It’s officially Danny’s Place, but I want you to know that Oscar still says it will be called the Old Church. I hope not. I want people to remember you and completely forget what that building was in the beginning.”

A flock of starlings settled in the tree above the gravesite. They came in with force and noise but soon settled down to roost for the night. Wade shifted his gaze over to the empty plot next to his brother’s place. It didn’t have a tombstone yet, but someday he’d have to write up what he wanted done when he passed away. Did he want his full name—Buford Wade Granger—on the headstone? His mother’s maiden name had been Ford, so she’d used that in both her son’s names. He’d always hated his first name, but that’s what he’d had to go by in the army. After he finished basic training, the guys just called him Granger, and he didn’t mind that so much.

“I can’t believe how much has happened in such a short time, Danny,” he whispered.

A couple of the birds in the branches above his head cawed at him for disturbing their sleep, but he just laughed at them. “I can’t believe that I’m this happy. It’s been a long time since you and I had a good laugh.” He lowered his voice even more. “Having friends has helped so much. I wish you could be here and visit with the bunch of them. We’ve all got different problems, but they don’t seem so big when we’ve got each other.”

“Amen,” Jessica said.

For a minute he thought he was just hearing her voice in his head, but then a shadow passed over him, and he looked up to see her standing behind him. “Jessica?” he asked, as if unsure it was really her.

“I’m sorry for intruding,” she said. “Something made me all antsy, like just before we went out on a mission, and I decided to go for a drive. I don’t even know how I ended up here. I parked the RV back there a ways, and just started walking through the cemetery, trying to find a place where I thought my folks would be at peace. I’m talking too much.” She took a deep breath and sighed. “I should go now and let you finish your time here.”

Wade patted the grass beside him. “Have a seat and meet my folks and say hi to my brother.”

“Are you sure?” Jessica asked.

“Absolutely.” Wade looked up at her. “Jessica, don’t ever feel awkward or nervous around me. We’re partners—and friends as well. Have a seat and let’s talk about where to put your parents’ ashes.”

She sat down and sighed. “They won’t be happy in the ground. I’m the only reason they settled down here in Riverbend. If they hadn’t had a child, they would have probably stayed in the army and traveled the world.”

“Why did they move to Riverbend?” he asked.

“Daddy’s grandparents lived here, and he loved to come visit them when he was a little boy. Sometimes, his folks would bring him to stay with them when they were trying to get moved from one base to another, then pick him up a couple of weeks later,” Jessica explained. “Uncle Elijah had stuck around these parts, so he would take Daddy fishing. Daddy had some great memories of Riverbend, and he worked at home on the computer, so he could live anywhere. As soon as I graduated and enlisted, they moved to Orcas Island. And I’m talking too much again.”

Wade could have listened to her read the dictionary—or the back of a cereal box, for that matter—just to hear her voice. “Not at all. Go on and tell me more.”

“We just had Uncle Elijah when I was growing up.” Jessica reached out and touched the tombstone. “It’s so cold, even now in the summertime. I’m going to take my folks back to the Palo Duro and spread their ashes out there, where Mama was raised.”

“But your dad liked it here,” Wade argued, “and you won’t have a place to come talk to them.”

“Daddy would want to be in whatever place would make Mama happy,” Jessica said. “And I can talk to them anywhere, Wade. I’ve already proven that. On the beach in Maine. In a forest in Kentucky. In an old church parking lot.”

Wade thought about how many times he’d talked to Danny while he was driving down that dusty old dirt road and nodded. “Yep, you’re right. Now that you’ve made the decision, when are you going to do that?”

“When the time is right,” Jessica answered. “I’ll know when they’re ready for me to take that step. Maybe if we have a few days between the finishing of the bar and the grand opening. But I really think I’d better be finding a different vehicle of my own in the next couple of weeks. It’s not easy to unplug everything in the RV, and with no AC, it feels like I’m traveling in a tin can.”

Wade laid a hand on her shoulder, and the chemistry between them got even hotter. “Jessica, what are we going to do about this thing between us?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered.

“Well, when you figure it out or want to talk it through, I’m here.” He removed his hand and stood up. “Want to get an ice cream? You can ride with me, and then I’ll bring you back to the cemetery to get your RV. That way you won’t have to maneuver that thing through town.”