Page 96

TWENTY-NINE
It meant the world to Adelia that Oliver wanted her by his side at his ex-father-in-law’s funeral. She worried that she might bring unnecessary attention to the event, but he had talked it over with the family, and they were fine with it. They understood that Adelia was a special person in Oliver’s life, and he needed her there. Just knowing that made her heart swell with love.
After a lovely graveside service, Oliver took Adelia’s hand, and rather than walking toward the car, he led her across the cemetery. They stopped in front of a gravestone that read “Orin Wood.” Adelia did the math in her head between the date of birth and the date of death. Five years old.
“I was standing three feet from my little brother Orin when he was gunned down on our street. The shooters in the car were aiming at some guys at the house next door, and a stray bullet hit him.” Oliver’s grip on Adelia’s hand tightened. “I held my brother and watched the life go out of his eyes.”
She could feel him shaking, and she just held on and let him talk.
“It tore my parents’ marriage apart, losing their son like that, and something inside me snapped. I thought not having a baby with Val would keep us from ever going through that kind of loss. I saw what happened to my parents, and I couldn’t risk us falling apart like that. I didn’t realize that denying her a child would tear us apart anyway. I still lost her because the fear of losing a child crippled me.”
He was quiet after that, and Adelia hugged his arm against her side.
“I’m so sorry about your brother, Olly,” she said softly.
He turned into her and held her close, and she felt his shoulders shake as he let his emotions out.
When he calmed, he took her face in his hands. “I want to get past this. I do.” He nodded in the direction of Donny’s grave. “He told me to get some help, to work through it, and be with the woman I love.”
Adelia’s heart skipped a beat as he leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers.
“I’m so in love with you, Adelia. I want to make this work.”
She took his face in her hands this time and brushed his tears with her thumbs. “I love you too.”
He closed the distance between them and sealed their love with a tender kiss.
“I still can’t promise anything. I don’t know how this is going to go, but I want to work on breaking free from the past, and I’ve never wanted to do that before, so this is pretty huge for me.”
She kissed him again. “I’ll be here for you every step of the way. No matter what.”
After a brief appearance at the wake, they headed back to Oliver’s house. All Adelia wanted was to be with Oliver, to catch up, to make plans, and to have a little alone time now that they were officially a couple. That didn’t seem real to her yet, but she was happier than she ever thought she could be.
Oliver stopped at The Snack Shop on their way to the house to stock up on snacks. Adelia needed her Sno-Caps, of course.
“Do you want me to go in so you’re not seen?” he asked.
“It’s fine. There’s only one other car in the parking lot. I don’t care.”
They went inside and got their snacks, and on the way out, a poster on the bulletin board by the door caught her eye.
“Oh no!” She moved closer and pointed to the picture of a black and white border collie and “LOST DOG” at the top in big bold letters.
Oliver stopped beside her. “What’s wrong?”
“I know this dog. It belongs to that guy, Tony. It’s the dog that came running into your house on Halloween, remember?”
“How could I forget?” he said with a smirk.
She smiled up at him, knowing he was remembering their interrupted kiss, then looked back at the poster.
“He’s such a sweet dog. I feel so bad for him.” She noticed a phone number and entered it into her phone with Tony’s name. “I wonder how old this poster is. Maybe he found the dog since then. Do you think I should call him?”
Oliver shrugged as they walked to the car.
“I think I will.” She dialed the number when they were on the road again.
“Hello?” a woman answered.