Shock tore through me.
“You did?” I whispered.
She nodded. “Instead of being mad at him, I started to hate you like you hated me. I hated you because you had his heart and I could never get it, and you hated me because I had his body and attention.”
I didn’t know what to say so I stared at Kaden’s headstone.
“I can’t believe things have wound up this way,” I said after a few minutes of silence.
Drew chortled. “Trust me, I’ve thought that for years.”
“I’m glad we’re talking about this, though,” I said to her. “I ran away to America to escape these kinds of conversations.”
“How did that work out for you?” she asked, sarcasm laced throughout her tone.
I laughed. “Not good. I still feel the same as I did six years ago.”
“Tell Kale that then, Lane,” she pressed. “Don’t leave anything to chance. You don’t know what’s around the corner for anyone. You could be here one minute and gone the next.”
I nodded. “I thoroughly believe that.”
“I’m sorry about your uncle,” Drew said, as if she sensed me thinking of Harry. “He was a sweetheart and was great with Kaden when Kale brought him around.”
I smiled. “I’ve no doubt. He was brilliant with me and my brothers when we were little. I think that he spoiled us because he never had any kids of his own.”
Drew linked her arm through mine. “I want to be your friend. I want to get to know the Lane that Kale always went on about, because she sounded pretty cool. A little crazy, but still pretty cool.”
I laughed as I turned to her and gave her a tight hug. When we separated, Drew walked up to Kaden’s headstone and kissed his picture. “See you later, sweetheart.” She turned to me and winked. “Don’t be a stranger.”
I nodded. “I won’t. You’ll see more of me, I promise.”
Drew left then, and I could have collapsed with the weight that lifted off my chest. Never in a million years would I have thought a conversation with her could turn out that way, but I thank God that it did, because I didn’t realise how much I needed to resolve things with her.
I looked at Kaden’s sweet picture once more before I turned and walked back up to Lavender’s grave, where I retook my seated position on the grass.
“Dude,” I breathed, “I just made up with Drew Summers.” I shook my head in disbelief. “She wants to be my friend and wants to get to know me. She wants me to help Kale too – can you believe that?”
I exhaled a deep breath because I still couldn’t quite believe it.
“Lane, is that you?”
I looked over my shoulder when a man called my name. I pushed myself to my feet and brushed my clothes down when I saw a familiar face walking towards me.
“It is you,” he said, smiling wide, his eyes gleaming.
I gaped at him in utter shock. The moment he smiled, I knew exactly who he was. There was only one person, besides Kale, whose smile I thought was stunning, and this man was rocking it.
“Daven?” I gasped. “Daven Eanes?”
He gestured to himself with the large bouquet of flowers he had in his hand.
“The one and only,” he chuckled.
It was the strangest thing, but I felt like I needed to hug him, so that was exactly what I did. I moved to him, threw my arms around him and hugged him tightly. For a few moments he did nothing, but he eventually hugged me back, and laughed when I stepped away from him with wide eyes.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he mused.
I blinked. “I feel like I have, I haven’t seen you since . . .”
I stopped talking and frowned.
Daven gave me a small smile. “Since our girl’s funeral?”
Our girl. That made me smile.
“Yeah, since then,” I nodded. “It’s been so long. How have you been? You look great.”
He really did. He’d been a slim twenty-year-old boy when I left, but now he was a twenty-six-year-old lean man.
“Thanks, you’re looking pretty good yourself,” he said, winking playfully. “I’m doing great. I’ve got myself a beautiful wife, and we have two kids – twin boys. My wife is working on our third.”
I gasped. “You have a family?”
Laughter rumbled from him. “You seem quite surprised.”
Shit.
“It just seems so grown up.” I chuckled, hoping I didn’t offend him.
He smiled wide, taking my shock in his stride. “I did a lot of growing up after I lost Lavender. After she died, I did a lot of reflecting, and I didn’t like the person I was. I was an all-round arsehole, and I didn’t treat Lavender the way she deserved. Thank God she put up with my shit all those years; I treasure every one of them that I had with her.”
My heart warmed.
“She loved you,” I said with a smile. “Trust me when I say I argued the case of how much of an arsehole you were better than anyone, but she knew you deep down, and she loved who she saw.”
“Thanks, Lane,” he said, his voice holding some sort of emotion that he chased away with a clearing of his throat.
I nodded. “It’s the truth – she loved you greatly.”
“I know,” he said, smiling sadly. “I love her too. I always will.”
Present tense. He was still in love with my wonderful friend, and I didn’t blame him. She was one heck of a girl. “I love her too.” I smiled, sorrowfully. “I miss her every day; I still can’t quite believe that she is gone. It doesn’t feel real, and I don’t think it ever will.”
Daven nodded in agreement, then turned and looked down at her grave for a moment before he placed the beautiful bouquet next to the flowers I’d brought her. He had a small smile on his face, and leaning down, he kissed her picture and murmured, “Hello, babygirl.”
It choked me up.
“You want to know something?” I muttered to him.
He stood upright and looked at me. “What?”
My tears fell. “I’ve cried myself into dehydration multiple times since I got here on Friday.”
Daven laughed at me and dug out a Kleenex packet from his back pocket. He took a piece of tissue out of the packet and handed it to me. I accepted it with a raised brow, and it caused him to laugh. “I’ve two kids, I need tissues and wet wipes on me at all times.”
I laughed too and wiped my cheeks and under my eyes.
“So, you got home on Friday?” he asked.
I nodded. “Yeah, but it feels like I’ve been here a hell of a lot longer. I think it’s the reason I’m back that has me so messed up.”
“I’m sorry about your uncle, Lane,” Daven said and gave my shoulder a squeeze. “I met him down the pub a few times after I got off work. He was a great guy. I went to his funeral, and I would have spoken to you, but you had a constant crowd of people around you that day. Kale was like your personal bodyguard; I didn’t want to get too close. He isn’t very fond of me for some reason.”
I tearfully laughed as I wiped under my eyes once more. “He knew I didn’t like you, so as my best friend, he automatically didn’t like you either. It seems he hasn’t grown out of it.”
Daven snorted. “I’ll say, sometimes when we’re in the same shop or something, he’ll glare at me until I’m sure he is going to kick my arse.”
I laughed. “He would never hit you – he’s not like that.”
Or at least he used to be not like that.
“I hope you’re right,” Daven mused and dropped his arm from around my shoulder.
I smiled. “He’s just protective I guess.”
Daven’s lip quirked. “After all these years, if he is still that way with you, then it seems like he has a thing for you.”
I felt my cheeks heat up. “Give over.”
Daven laughed at my embarrassment over his teasing. “Are you staying for long?” he asked, then winced. “Sorry, that was nosey. You don’t have to answer; it’s none of my business.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, waving him off. “I am staying. I decided to move back.”
Another stunning smile spread across Daven’s face.
“You know what this means?” he asked.
I blinked. “What?”
“We’ll have to hang out and become the proper friends Lavender always wanted us to be.”
I smiled warmly. “She used to blow a fuse when we’d be at each other’s throats.”
Daven laughed and looked down at her picture. “She was perfect, wasn’t she?”
I nodded. “She was; her heart was my favourite thing. She was just brilliant.”
Daven smiled, then looked back to me. “You’ll have to meet my wife and kids – they’ll love you. They’ve heard about you from my stories about Lavender, so they’ll want to meet you.”
Daven worked his way into my heart with that one sentence.
“You told them about Lav?”
“Of course.” He nodded. “My wife is the one who pulled me from my depression and helped me start living again. I love her with all of my heart, and I’m a lucky son of a bitch to have her. My boys have seen some pictures of Lavender, and they know of her as my good friend who is in heaven.”
I placed a hand on my chest. “Daven, I might cry again. It touches my heart that you keep her memory alive when you don’t have to.”
He smiled sadly. “I acted foolish when I was younger, but I was so in love with her, Lane. She was my world, and when she died, I wanted to die too.”
“Me too,” I whispered.
Daven suddenly chuckled and wiped at his eyes. “She’d be laughing her arse off if she were here right now.”
“Don’t I know it.” I chuckled and dried my face once more.
Daven looked up then and said, “There’s your Kale, walking in the gate.”