Until Harry(84)

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he mused.

I blinked. “I feel like I have, I haven’t seen you since . . .”

I stopped talking and frowned.

Daven gave me a small smile. “Since our girl’s funeral?”

Our girl. That made me smile.

“Yeah, since then,” I nodded. “It’s been so long. How have you been? You look great.”

He really did. He’d been a slim twenty-year-old boy when I left, but now he was a twenty-six-year-old lean man.

“Thanks, you’re looking pretty good yourself,” he said, winking playfully. “I’m doing great. I’ve got myself a beautiful wife, and we have two kids – twin boys. My wife is working on our third.”

I gasped. “You have a family?”

Laughter rumbled from him. “You seem quite surprised.”

Shit.

“It just seems so grown up.” I chuckled, hoping I didn’t offend him.

He smiled wide, taking my shock in his stride. “I did a lot of growing up after I lost Lavender. After she died, I did a lot of reflecting, and I didn’t like the person I was. I was an all-round arsehole, and I didn’t treat Lavender the way she deserved. Thank God she put up with my shit all those years; I treasure every one of them that I had with her.”

My heart warmed.

“She loved you,” I said with a smile. “Trust me when I say I argued the case of how much of an arsehole you were better than anyone, but she knew you deep down, and she loved who she saw.”

“Thanks, Lane,” he said, his voice holding some sort of emotion that he chased away with a clearing of his throat.

I nodded. “It’s the truth – she loved you greatly.”

“I know,” he said, smiling sadly. “I love her too. I always will.”

Present tense. He was still in love with my wonderful friend, and I didn’t blame him. She was one heck of a girl. “I love her too.” I smiled, sorrowfully. “I miss her every day; I still can’t quite believe that she is gone. It doesn’t feel real, and I don’t think it ever will.”

Daven nodded in agreement, then turned and looked down at her grave for a moment before he placed the beautiful bouquet next to the flowers I’d brought her. He had a small smile on his face, and leaning down, he kissed her picture and murmured, “Hello, babygirl.”

It choked me up.

“You want to know something?” I muttered to him.

He stood upright and looked at me. “What?”

My tears fell. “I’ve cried myself into dehydration multiple times since I got here on Friday.”

Daven laughed at me and dug out a Kleenex packet from his back pocket. He took a piece of tissue out of the packet and handed it to me. I accepted it with a raised brow, and it caused him to laugh. “I’ve two kids, I need tissues and wet wipes on me at all times.”

I laughed too and wiped my cheeks and under my eyes.

“So, you got home on Friday?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, but it feels like I’ve been here a hell of a lot longer. I think it’s the reason I’m back that has me so messed up.”

“I’m sorry about your uncle, Lane,” Daven said and gave my shoulder a squeeze. “I met him down the pub a few times after I got off work. He was a great guy. I went to his funeral, and I would have spoken to you, but you had a constant crowd of people around you that day. Kale was like your personal bodyguard; I didn’t want to get too close. He isn’t very fond of me for some reason.”

I tearfully laughed as I wiped under my eyes once more. “He knew I didn’t like you, so as my best friend, he automatically didn’t like you either. It seems he hasn’t grown out of it.”

Daven snorted. “I’ll say, sometimes when we’re in the same shop or something, he’ll glare at me until I’m sure he is going to kick my arse.”

I laughed. “He would never hit you – he’s not like that.”

Or at least he used to be not like that.

“I hope you’re right,” Daven mused and dropped his arm from around my shoulder.

I smiled. “He’s just protective I guess.”

Daven’s lip quirked. “After all these years, if he is still that way with you, then it seems like he has a thing for you.”

I felt my cheeks heat up. “Give over.”

Daven laughed at my embarrassment over his teasing. “Are you staying for long?” he asked, then winced. “Sorry, that was nosey. You don’t have to answer; it’s none of my business.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said, waving him off. “I am staying. I decided to move back.”

Another stunning smile spread across Daven’s face.

“You know what this means?” he asked.

I blinked. “What?”

“We’ll have to hang out and become the proper friends Lavender always wanted us to be.”

I smiled warmly. “She used to blow a fuse when we’d be at each other’s throats.”

Daven laughed and looked down at her picture. “She was perfect, wasn’t she?”

I nodded. “She was; her heart was my favourite thing. She was just brilliant.”

Daven smiled, then looked back to me. “You’ll have to meet my wife and kids – they’ll love you. They’ve heard about you from my stories about Lavender, so they’ll want to meet you.”