Page 152 of The Promise Of Rain

I laid my head back on the couch, content to wait for them to get the message and go away.

But the bell rang once more, this time accompanied by someone calling my name from the other side of the door.

I dragged myself off the couch, shuffled through the kitchen, and opened the door to find Laurie Raynor, Maggie’s mother, on the other side.

I squinted at the bright light of the morning sun.Today of all days, it should have been raining.

“Hi, Mrs.Raynor,” I mumbled.“I’m sorry, I’m not feeling well, I don’t really—”

“It’s Laurie,” she corrected gently before placing a soft hand on my arm.“I heard about Ansel.”

“Oh,” I gulped.“Yeah.”

Yeah?

I blinked in surprise at the innocuous acknowledgement.But what could I say that would do his loss justice?

“It’ll be okay, honey,” she soothed.“May I come in?I brought you some things.”

I didn’t understand what was happening, but I lacked the energy to figure it out.

Stepping back, I waved her forward.

Within minutes, she took over my kitchen.I watched, bemused, as she started the coffee pot and put the kettle on to boil before unloading her bags.

The doorbell rang again.

“I’ll get it,” she offered.

“What is happening?”I asked, mostly speaking to myself.

“You know how it is,” she stated quietly.“When something happens to one of our own, news travels fast.”

I nodded tightly.

Ansel Blum, despite his association with me, had always been well loved.

Miller’s mom, Mrs.O’Leary bustled through the door with an armload of casserole dishes.Her face softened when she saw me.“Hi, honey.I’m so sorry about Ansel.We will all miss him so much.”

Offloading her pile, she opened her arms and drew me close.

This was far from the first hug Miller’s mom had bestowed on me over the years, but this was perhaps the most needed.

Yet, I stiffened in her embrace.

“I know, honey,” she whispered, her hold tightening.

Grief billowed up in my chest like wind in a sail, filling every nook and cranny to overflowing, and escaping my lips with a harsh sob.

“Ah, lamb,” she cooed, rocking me back and forth.

I wrapped my arms around her back and held her tight, melting into her further when Laurie stepped in behind me and added her arms to the mix.

“You were the light of his life,” Laurie rasped.“He bragged about you incessantly.”

“He loved you so much,” Mrs.O’Leary added.“That kind of love never dies.”

The door swung open, whoever was on the other side not bothering with the doorbell.