Page 50 of Tino
“Maybe we should take this in the back,” I said.
He gulped and nodded, then spun on his heel and hurried through the door to the kitchen. I tugged Niam with me as we walked closely behind Declan.
Niam closed the door and immediately Declan rounded on us. “Tell me.”
I sighed, sitting down on the worn chairs in the corner. Where I used to eat all my meals. Most of them with Julie.
“Please.” Declan’s broken voice hit me then. I could feel his emotions. They were all over the place, worry, hope, fear, love. Fuck, why did I have to feel his emotions like that?
“She died in a car accident a year ago,” I finally said. And then I felt Declan’s heart break.
An hour later, and after a much-needed meal delivered by my favorite pizza place further down the road, we’d talked about everything. Or as much as we could tell. I told Declan how Julie had been threatened and she needed to get away from here so she’d met up with me and Niam. Declan hadn’t known if I was single or not, and he’d hated seeing me with Julie and always feared I would somehow steal her from him, even if he broke her heart in the end. Telling him the lie that Niam and I had dated a year before I left to go on a road trip with him went smoothly, again because he knew nothing about my love life. Julie had joined us on the road and we’d had so much funtogether, until one day when a car collided with the back of my van where Julie was sleeping.
I couldn’t go into detail, fake or not, it hurt just to talk about Julie dying.
“So, she was asleep when it happened?” Declan asked. He’d stopped crying as we ate, his eyes still red, his heart still aching.
“The police told us she died on impact,” I lied.
He nodded, and I couldn’t stop myself from asking. I simply needed to know. It was like Julie stood beside me and poked me because she’d wanted to know, too.
“Why are you here, Declan?”
My question surprised him, but he answered without looking at either of us. “I came back for her.”
“What?” Niam asked, likely just as invested as I was.
“After I’d left Julie with the rental car, I returned home and divorced my wife. I’d planned on leaving my family business, making a way for myself. Hell, I even pictured myself working here, beside Julie.”
“Oh,” I said, feeling horrible that they never got to have that.
“I made the biggest mistake of my life when I left her. I thought money would always make me happy. I was used to having it. Living without it seemed unthinkable. But leaving Julie had me waking up miserable every day. I never thought I could be too late. But I was,am.”
Fuck. But he was right. He’d messed up and would forever be kicking himself for it.
“What are your plans now?” I asked, knowing Julie would want the best for him, even if he’d hurt her. She was forgiving like that. I could clearly picture how she’d make him grovel for months, maybe years before she’d eventually forgive him. I hated that they’d never get the chance for that. But Julie’s death wasn’t in vain, she’d helped so many mages and their futures that day. She would go down in history as a true fighter and was even in all our new history books. Her sacrifice meant our victory. She would always be remembered as a true fighter. Brave. Loyal. Fierce. Loving.
“I have no idea,” he admitted, this time looking at me as he replied. “I took over the shop since it was closed for so long. I figured I might as well help her out and start showing her I was all-in. Whoeverworked here never showed, so I figured she closed it down before leaving.”
I had no idea how to answer that, so I just waited for him to continue.
“I… I think I’d like to stay here. I want to honor her hard work, and this shop meant the world to her.” I nodded, it was what she’d earned herself, hard work and all that, though I believed he still hadn’t heard about her stripping days, and no way was I going to be the one mentioning that.
“I came here to sell it. Julie had added me as part owner if anything ever happened to her. I never thought something like this would happen though, and I was only a partner on paper.”
“Makes sense, with her family not in the picture, I figured as much.”
“But I won’t sell it to you. I want to give it to you.”
“What?”
“Firstly, Julie would’ve wanted you to have it. And secondly, I don’t need the money. It’s yours if you want it.”
He just blinked at me, then nodded. And then, just for the briefest moment, I swore I smelled Julie’s favorite perfume.
Xarius
“I’m proud of you,” Niam said as we stepped into our room. We returned home straight after, not wanting to stay on Sutiner now that we’d both done what we needed to for now. We would be back in five years to see Jerry and Betty, but I wouldn’t see the shop again. That part of my life was over, and now that Julie wasn’t there either, it would remain that way.