Lost Years by MK Schiller

Author:MK Schiller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: New Adult & College Romance; Coming of Age Fiction; City Life Fiction; Contemporary Romance; Urban Fiction; Action & Adventure Romance; Literature & Fiction; Saga Fiction; Sports Romance; Broken Hero; Tortured Hero; NA Romance; New Adult Fiction; Fighter; Embrace; Entangled Publishing; MK Schiller; Timetravel; Fantasy; Ghost; Player Reformer; Boy Next Door; Coming of Age Romance; Opposites Attract; Reunited Lovers; Second Chances; Texas; Atmospheric; Suspenseful; Dark romance; Manhattan; Summer; Angst Romance; Student; Girl Next Door
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC (Embrace)
Published: 2019-08-21T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

She hummed a soft tune while she cooked. I kept peering over her shoulder, sneaking bites. I snacked on some food, too. She finally shooed me to the table and told me to chop onions, claiming she didn’t want to cry in front of me. I sat at the table built for only two. Against the wall above it hung a painting of the sea.

I handed her my chopped veggies and rinsed the knife. A large knife in the butcher block was missing. I ran my finger over the slit. It wasn’t in the sink, and there was no dishwasher. When I looked back at her, she was staring at me.

“You okay?” she asked.

“Yeah.” What did it matter if the knife was missing? What was my problem? “Just hungry,” I said.

She lit candles. The cat even gave us some privacy. We ate grilled steaks smothered in onions, mashed potatoes, and cornbread.

We talked about our lives. I told her about my father and Anna. All the places I’d traveled to and my favorite subjects in school. She told me about her difficulties in school and the places she wanted to go. Then she gave me glimpses of her life with stories about her, Russell, and Tommy.

Her eyes glistened when she talked about Tom. I wiped the tears before they fell. We shared our childhood adventures, adult ambitions, and acknowledged we were stuck in the awkward space between those two things.

“We have the day off tomorrow.” I had a feeling Aunt Rose planned it that way. “How should we spend it?”

She looked down at the plate and back to me. “I have plans.”

“Oh, sure.” I tried and failed miserably at sounding nonchalant.

“Remember, I told you about the ceremony? That’s tomorrow.”

“What kind of ceremony?”

“Tommy’s memorial service.”

“I’m sorry, Scarlett.”

“I’m glad I can go.” She made fork lines into her mashed potatoes. “Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

“Do you believe in God?”

The question was simple. The answer not so much. “Yes, but it doesn’t come easy for me.”

“Faith isn’t easy.”

Trying to fake a smile, I busied myself cutting into my meat.

She stayed silent, giving me all the time I needed to answer.

“I suppose not. Let’s just say God has always been present in my life, but we rarely acknowledge each other.”

“That’s not true. He knows who you are, Jason. He knows you’re a good man.”

I paused, drinking in her statement. I wasn’t sure what God thought of me, but I was happy to hear Scarlett’s opinion. “Thank you.” My reply, simple enough, ran much deeper than the two words.

She grew quiet. “Mr. Castings came to the diner today to ask if I’d say a few words at the memorial. They are spreading Tommy’s ashes tomorrow at the beach after church services. I have no idea what I’m going to say. I can’t take all the things he meant to me and put them in a few sentences. I don’t want to screw this up.”

“Don’t make it so big, then.”

“But he was big. He was the best person I knew.

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