Diving In by Bianca Miller

Author:Bianca Miller [Miller, Bianca]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2024-02-28T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

“Whose house is this?”

He gave me another one of his you really don’t know looks, so I answered, “No, Cal. I really don’t know. I would have assumed you’d realized by now that I’m always the last to know everything.” I snickered, brushing up against him and trying to lighten the mood.

“It’s Jack’s,” he said as he toyed with the keys. “But I’ve been taking care of it for a while. Even before Jack passed. He never could step foot in here, said it hurt too much.”

Cal began to turn the knob slowly, and my body tightened like the air was being sucked from my insides. I leaned in closer to hide behind his large frame, hoping he could curb the anxiousness, like a human shield protecting me from whatever laid beyond this door.

The door opened and my jaw dropped to the floor.

The house looked exactly as I remembered it, right down to the navy velvet pillows that were placed effortlessly in each corner of the couch, just like Mom had always kept them.

I stepped into the living room and allowed myself to savor this moment. Sure, there were shitty memories stockpiled within these walls, but this house was my childhood. So many good times floated throughout, ones that I never wanted to forget. With one look around the room, those were the ones that flooded my head, and I couldn’t help but grin.

All our family pictures still hung on the walls in the wooden picture frames that Mom and I had picked out when we went into Charleston one day. Neatly placed around the room were photos that represented our once-put-together family. The one of Fletcher and I frolicking on the beach, the one of us in our matching Christmas outfits—the ones that Fletcher and Jack despised but tolerated because they knew how much it meant to me, and the one of all four of us on Manatee Island. We were all dressed in shades of blue, and it was the last time I remember Mom and Jack being really, truly happy.

Fletcher died three days later.

Even though Jack and I both hated those pictures simply for what they represented, Mom insisted on framing one and putting it on the mantel, so that’s exactly what she did.

Everything was placed exactly how it had been fourteen years ago, almost like we all still lived here as one big happy family. It was a bit eerie, and I couldn’t understand why Jack would’ve kept the house, or why he’d kept everything inside it just as it used to be.

Looking down at my hand still tightly gripped with Cal’s, I realized that this was easier because of his presence. I wanted him next to me, because I didn’t think I could’ve been in this house reminiscing on the past by myself. I wanted him to be here while I did this, and it wasn’t lost on me that I never wanted the same with Ian.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

“For what?” He looked a little confused by my gratitude.

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