Page 90 of The Air He Breathes (Elements 1)

He talked to me late into the night as I moved from room to room, listening to him tell me stories, listening to him talk about sports and how the Packers were still the top team in the NFL. At one point he cracked open a beer, and I opened one too. It almost felt as if we were drinking together.

When it was past midnight, he told me he needed to get to bed. He told me he loved me and would always be on the other end of the line if I ever just needed someone to talk my way.

Right before I went to hang up, my lips parted. “Thanks, Dad.”

I heard his voice crack and emotion take over him. “Anytime, Son. Call whenever you need to, day or night. And when you’re ready to come back, we’ll be here. We’ll be right here when you’re ready. We’re not going anywhere.”

The world needed more parents like mine.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Elizabeth

“You have four seconds to open this door before I come busting in to find you, woman!” Faye shouted on my front porch. When I opened the door, she gasped. “For the love of God, when was the last time you showered?”

I was wearing pajamas, my hair was in the messiest bun of the century, and my eyes were swollen. I raised my arm a little and smelled my underarm. “I put on deodorant.”

“Oh, honey.” She frowned, stepping into my living room. “Where’s Emma?”

“Friday night sleepover,” I explained, plopping down on the couch.

“What’s going on, Liz? Your boyfriend came into the café saying you haven’t been talking to him. Did he hurt you?”

“What? No. He’s…he’s perfect.”

“Then why the silent treatment? Why do you look like a homeless person?” She sat down next to me.

“Because I can’t talk to him anymore. I can’t be with him.” I went on to tell her about the accident, to explain why things with Tristan couldn’t work out. The seriousness that filled her stare was something I didn’t get often from Faye, which attested to how serious and real the situation was.

“Sweetie, you have to tell him. He’s falling apart trying to figure out what he did wrong.”

“I know. It’s just…I love him. And I know because of this, I’ll lose him.”

“Listen, I don’t know much about love, and when my heart was broken, I threw shit. Literally threw shit. After I got done throwing the shit, I was still heartbroken and sad. Someone told me that the heartbreak was worth it, because in the end at least you got to experience the love.”

I nodded and lay down, my head in her lap. “When does life stop hurting?”

“When we learn to tell life to fuck off and we find the littlest reasons to smile.”

“I’m sorry Matty broke your heart.”

She shrugged, pulling my hair tie out of my hair before starting to comb her fingers through it. “It’s okay. He only cracked it a little. So, what are we going to do for the rest of the night? We can be totally girly and watch The Notebook or some shit, or…we can order pizza, get some beer, and watch Magic Mike XXL.”

Magic Mike won.

The next afternoon, Emma and I walked into Needful Things to find Tristan smiling behind the coffee counter. “Hey, you guys!” he said with the widest grin ever.

“Hey, Tick!” Emma exclaimed, climbing up into one of the chairs.

He bent down and bopped her on the nose. “Hey, Tock. Hot cocoa?”

“With extra marshmallows!” she yelled.

“With extra marshmallows!” he echoed, turning away. His happy demeanor was a bit off-putting. I wasn’t sure what it meant, or how to take it. We hadn’t spoken in days, yet he was acting as if everything was perfect. “Elizabeth, can I get you something?”

He’d called me Elizabeth, not Lizzie.

“Just water,” I said, sitting beside Emma. “Is everything okay?” I asked him as he poured me a glass of water and handed Emma her ‘semi-hot’ cocoa, which he always added a few ice cubes to. She hopped out of her chair and hurried over to find Zeus.