The Sweetness of Salt(70)

53


I was still in bed next to Sophie when Jimmy returned. He was holding two plastic packages of cream-filled oatmeal cookies and a large container of orange juice. He stopped when he saw us, tears still running down our cheeks. “Should I come back?”

“No, no,” Sophie wiped at her face with the heels of her hands. “Come in. Where’s Aiden?”

“He went back into town to get something.” Jimmy walked in hesitantly, nodding at the items in his arms. “It’s all I could find this early,” he said apologetically, dumping them on the little table next to Sophie’s bed.

Sophie smiled wanly at the cookies, and then looked away, embarrassed. “I’m so sorry…,” she started.

I took her hand in mine. “No more apologies,” I whispered. “It wasn’t your fault.”

She stared past me, out the window.

“It wasn’t your fault.”

She sat motionless, her eyes empty and riveted.

“It wasn’t your fault.” I said it louder this time, and squeezed her hand.

She blinked.

Jimmy came over and took her other hand. We exchanged a look across the bed and I knew then that she had told him about Maggie, that maybe he was the only one in her entire life up until this moment who had known. And that he loved her anyway. Just as I did.

“It’s not your fault, Sophie,” I said again.

“It’s not,” Jimmy echoed.

She broke down all at once. Her body strained forward, even as her hands clutched ours, as if they were the only things left in the world holding her up. Moans drifted out of her mouth, and her thin frame shook under their weight.

We held her tight, Jimmy and I, and let her cry.



Afterward Sophie fell asleep. Jimmy walked over to the window across the room and stood in front of it. I pulled up a chair next to Sophie’s bed and just watched her for a while. Her face looked more peaceful than I’d seen it in a long time; the tight muscles along her jaw were relaxed. Her skin was regaining some color too; a little bit of pink had bloomed under her cheeks and her lips had lost that awful purple shade.

“Now what?” I thought. “Does this mean she’s all better inside? That things will be different? Is it all over? Am I supposed to go home now?”

Aiden walked in with a little white box in his hand. “Hey,” he said softly. “How’s she doing?”

I stood up. “Better. She’s sleeping now.”

“Can you come outside for a minute?” he asked. “I have something to give you.”

Jimmy was still looking out the window.

We walked out into the parking lot, which was starting to fill up with more cars. It was light out, the air pale and new. “This is for you,” Aiden said, pushing the little white box into my hands. “I wanted to make you something, after that day we talked about my mother. Open it.”

It was the tiny bowl, the one the size of an orange, the one I’d said was too small to eat out of. Except now it looked different. Before, it was just a pale brown color. Now it was a rich honey hue, the surface burnished and glossy, with a rough, pebbled texture. “You salt glazed it?” I asked.

He nodded.

“Thank you,” I said. “It’s beautiful. But I still don’t know what I’m supposed to eat out of this.”

“It’s not for eating,” Aiden said. “It’s for your earrings, so you don’t lose them anymore.”

I grinned and then moved in for a hug.

His arms tightened around my shoulder. “I’m gonna miss you, Julia,” he said softly.

“Me too.” I squeezed him around the waist, tucked my head under his chin. “I’m so glad I met you, Aiden. You have no idea—”

“Actually, I think I do,” he said, cutting me off gently. “Because I feel the same way.”

I took a step back, let my eyes drift over his face. “You do?”

Aiden nodded. “Being able to talk about my mother again…” He shook his head. “You know, I told myself that I was done with the whole grieving thing after that night at the gorge. It was time to move on, be a big strong man.” He shook his head. “But being able to talk about her again with you…” He took my hand. “It was something I didn’t realize I needed to do until I did it.” His thumb moved gently over the tops of my knuckles. “And I’m just so grateful. I feel like I can go off and really start the rest of my life now, you know? Without feeling like I’m leaving her behind.”

I moved in for another hug.

He was right.

We felt exactly the same way.





chapter


54


Jimmy and Aiden left a few hours later, Jimmy promising Sophie that he was going to get to work on a little stepstool for her to get in and out of bed when she got home, and Aiden promising me that he would put my little earring bowl in a safe place. I watched them leave from the window, Jimmy slinging his arm around Aiden’s shoulder, drawing him in close before they got into the red truck. I felt lucky to know them. Both of them.

“It’s none of my business,” I said to Sophie. “But I really think you should let the Table of Knowledge guys help you with the rest of the house.” I nodded toward her foot. “Especially now. I know you think you’re Wonder Woman and all, but—”