I struggled with my duffel and my purse, trying to find the piece of paper where I’d written the number of the bus that got me within taxi distance of the high school. People flowed around me, already knowing where they were going and heading to their destinations.
The duffel slipped off my shoulder. I bent over, trying to catch it, groaning as my purse tipped and dumped the contents. I kneeled on the sidewalk, capturing a rolling tube of Chap Stick and a pen. Honestly, I wanted to sit on my butt and cry. What crazy idea had this been? I missed Gavin already. I wanted my apartment and my books and my schedule.
“Normally you think all this through,” a voice said.
I looked up.
It was Tina.
She bent down and collected my things. “Purses that zip are a lot more practical for travel,” she said.
I wanted to hug her. “You’re here!”
“Yeah. Gavin sent me your flight information. I never say no to a hot guy.” She stood up and handed me the purse, all put together again.
“Thank you for coming. I didn’t exactly honor your request for space.” Now that she was here, I felt a twinge of guilt for invading her getaway. She didn’t seem to be dying or falling apart.
“You guys worry too much,” she said. “Come on, I’m parked in the garage.”
I hefted my bag on my shoulder. Tina wore a dark gray sweater with a short black skirt. Her legs were vivid in red and black tights. Her hair was in pigtails. She was as pale and thin as she’d been when she left, but something about her seemed stronger, more determined. Being away had been a good thing, it seemed.
The dim parking structure was colder than outside, and I shivered. We passed a couple rows of cars, then Tina hit the button for her silver Jeep. She opened the back for me to toss in my duffel.
When we settled in the front and she was backing out of the spot, I asked, “So, where are we going?”
“I have an appointment this afternoon,” she said. “A grim one. You probably want to hang out at my parents’ house or something.”
“What are you doing?” I asked.
We exited the garage back into the sunshine. Tina’s hair was flaxen in the light. As she turned the wheel, I realized she’d painted her fingernails black. Very unlike her.
“Today’s the day I spring Peanut from his hellhole,” she said. “They open the grave, pull out the casket, then we ride with it over to a crematorium.”
My throat constricted. Despite all this, she had come to pick me up.
“Would you like me to be there?” I asked.
She shrugged. “My mother has insisted on coming along. So is my friend Stella.”
“The pregnancy loss group leader.”
She glanced over at me. “Yes. You did some homework.”
“I was ready to try to find you.”
We pulled up to the exit plaza, and she handed a couple dollars to an attendant.
Tina drove out of the airport. I waited until we were back in the flow of normal traffic before I said, “I’d like to be there, if that’s okay with you.”
She nodded. “I figured when you were arriving in time that fate was getting you here. Just wanted you to know what you were in for.”
“I’ll be fine.”
Tina looked over at me. “Not every day you dig up a grave.”
“You didn’t want Darion here?”
At that, she pinched her lips together.
“I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “I can stay out of that.” But inside I felt a thrum of panic that maybe they were splitting up. How could we not have known that? They seemed fine.
But couples often did.
“This is separate from him,” Tina said. “It’s my thing.”
I couldn’t imagine doing anything this emotionally traumatic without Gavin, but then, he had been my baby’s father. Tina had gone through all this alone the first time. Maybe that was how she had to do this too.
“If you’re hungry or anything, tell me now,” Tina said. “We can stop on the way. After this process starts, though, I think we’re in it for the day. Although I guess we could have the hearse stop at McD’s.”
I smiled. She still had her wry humor. “It might be interesting to see how many unexpected things we can do in 24 hours.”
“Challenge accepted,” Tina said, but her face was still tight. “I get the impression Stella was a wild child, so she’ll be on board. As for Mother, well, traumatizing her is apparently something I do well.”
We got on an expressway and continued in silence. I tried to imagine what it would be like to dig up a grave. This certainly wasn’t what I’d expected to happen within the first few hours of arriving.
“I should tell Gavin I made it,” I said, pulling out my phone.
“Don’t let on what we’re doing just yet,” Tina said. “I’ll tell Darion in my own time. The guys might talk.”
“Of course.” I couldn’t imagine Gavin calling up Darion to gossip, but I would keep this to myself. I texted a quick note to say Tina had met me at the airport and not to worry. Then I sat back to look out at the city.