Read Online Down From the Clouds by Marilyn Grey - Free Book Online Page B

is hard for you.”
    “It’s not an excuse.”
    “I’m sorry.” She touched my hand. “I’m just overwhelmed. I want to be your best friend. You have to open up to me.”
    "No," I said. “Don’t apologize. It’s my fault. I'm sorry. Sorry for everything. I know I'm not the knight in shining armor you were hoping for."
    She pulled a hair off my shoulder. "Your armor is a little rusty, but with a little work it will look good as new. Not like this princess is so great either."
    "You are to me."
    She smiled and pressed her forehead into my shoulder. I put my arm around her and pulled her into my chest. We held each other on the kitchen floor. 
    "I still think you're acting like a child though." She kissed my cheek. "Can you please read the letter and move on from this? I doubt your grandfather wanted you to sit around and dwell on it."
    "That's exactly what I'm afraid of."
    "What?"
    "Moving on. Writing 'the end' and forgetting the story."
    My phone rang.
    “You can pick it up,” she said.
    “You know how I feel about answering the phone when I’m with you.”
    “You’ll have to get used to it sometime. Now that we are going to be working together you’ll be around me all the time.”
    I looked at the number. Didn’t recognize it. “It’s probably Harold Kessler. He’s been calling from random numbers and leaving messages.”
    “What do the messages say?”
    “Don’t know.”
    “You don’t listen to them?”
    I rubbed my head.
    “Let me listen.”
    “I really d—“
    “Don’t make me break out the indian burn.” She laughed. “Seriously, let me listen.”
    I handed her the phone. Too tired to argue my way out of it. She pressed a few buttons and held the phone to her ear. I could hear. All five messages she listened to. Same thing. “Gavin, please call me. I just want to talk to you once and I’ll leave you alone after that.”
    Ella slid the phone into my hand. "Call him."
    "And say what?"
    "Whatever you want." She kissed my fingers. "I will be here for you. It's not that bad. Just a phone call is all he wants from you."
    I stood. Walked to the couch and took off my shoes. "Can I read the letter instead?"
    She propped her head up with some pillows and hid her feet under my legs. "Sure."
    "And if I read this letter do you promise not to ask me to talk to that man?"
    She held up her pinky. I linked it with mine.
    The letter looked aged. Hadn't been a year since he mailed it, but the yellowed envelope and frayed edges said otherwise. I tore a corner off and slid my finger inside. Ella's eyes, on me, were bright now that the tears subsided. I tried to smile.
    Holding my breath, I ripped open the top and pulled the letter out. Only one sheet of paper. I expected a novel for his last words. Not a paragraph.
    Ella wiggled her feet under my body. "Open it."
    I obeyed. Blue ink formed a single paragraph. My eyes glazed over at the first three words. Crying scared me. Not because I wanted to pretend to be all tough and never get hurt. I'm not a fan of the "suck it up" mentality. Tears scared me because I held so much inside. For decades. Releasing a few tears, I worried, would break the dam. So I blinked away the droplets on my eyes and read aloud so Ella could hear. 
     
    Dearest Gavin,
    I forgive you. Please don't let it eat at you for the rest of your life. Live. If not for yourself, do it for me. That's the one last thing I ask of you. Live. Please accept that I don't hold this against you. I only have one request of you. Go to the old apple tree we used to swing on. I buried a box there before my health declined. I had a feeling you'd avoid my death, so I prepared something for you. Go there as soon as you can and do everything exactly as I have written. Please. 
    Till then,
    Pop

Chapter Eleven
     
    Of course Ella insisted on driving to the apple tree at the crack of dawn. I knew she would. I begged her to stay the night with me, but she also insisted on her Jane Austen policy. And because I