Page 68 of The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth

Chapter Fifty-Seven

The trip back to Denver was uneventful. They all sat together so Mariah wouldn’t be alone, and she mostly slept all the way. Veronica shared Rachel’s last letter with Henry, but they agreed it wasn’t to be shared with Mariah. At least not yet.

Cutting the trip short meant that Veronica would get back in time to move her things out of the apartment, although it wouldn’t leave her much time to find a new place. She’d just have to hit the ground running when she got back.

It was snowing as they emerged from the airport, adding to the inches already on the ground. “It’s startling, isn’t it?” Veronica said.

Mariah looked up, let the flakes fall on her face, and closed her eyes. “I love snow so much. I’m going to have to figure out a way to be in it even if I can’t do what I have in the past.”

Looking at her upturned face, Veronica felt pierced. “You will,” she said. “You’re such a badass.”

Mariah gave a hoarse laugh. “Look who’s talking!”

“My kids are going to flip out,” Veronica said, touching her cheek gingerly. The bruises had worsened over the last twenty-four hours, as bruises would do, and she looked bad enough that people stared. It didn’t really hurt much after the first day, so it was all surface stuff.

Henry had driven to the airport, so he brought them all to Mariah’s house. “I have to just get back to Boulder,” Veronica said. “I have two days to get out of my apartment.”

“What?” Mariah asked. “What are you talking about?”

Veronica took a breath. “It’s a long story, but I’m getting evicted as of January 1. I was hoping my kids would deal with some of it, but they’ve all had excuses, some better than others.”

“Jeez. What’re you going to do?”

Veronica shrugged. “Find a new place.”

“Nope.” Mariah flung her arm around Veronica’s shoulders. “Nope, nope, nope. We’ll help you.”

“ I’ll help you,” Henry said, lifting her suitcase into the back of her Subaru. So familiar. So strange. The car was a relic from another life. Another her. “What are you going to do with your things while you look? Do you want me to hunt down a storage unit?”

“Um.” She looked up at him, so calmly offering help. She felt comfortable with him, with his sense of integrity that felt reliable and real. Emotion welled up in her eyes. It was so strange to have help. “Yes. That would help a lot.”

He squeezed her hand. “Done.”

Mariah crossed her arms. Snow fell on her puffy jacket and slipped away, but it stuck to her hair and eyelashes. “You can say no, but I have lots of room. You can stay with me until you find a place.”

Veronica looked at her, hope rising.

“I mean, like as my roommate, of course, not as a ‘companion.’” She put the words in air quotes, giving away her nervousness. “Not that I’m a bargain, as you know. Kind of nutty in the head and all, but there’s so much space and—”

“Yes!” Veronica said, tears stinging her eyes. Gratitude made her impulsively pull Mariah into a hug. “I would really love that. I won’t mother you, I promise.”

Mariah gripped her back, hard. “Well, you can a little, if you want.”

Veronica closed her eyes, throat tight, realizing she could hardly have borne it if she’d had to leave this delicate, tough, challenging, complex being here alone in Denver. Mariah had changed her life. “I’m so glad I met you.”

“Me, too.”

“It’ll just be temporary, until I can find a place here.”

“That’s fine.” Mariah stepped back, clearing her throat. “I really don’t want to be alone yet.”

Henry said, “Aw hell,” and gathered everybody into a hug. “Come on in.”

The three of them stood on the sidewalk in the falling snow, wrapped up together in the unit they’d become.