Chapter 89

“I love you, Felix Cotter, and I will be with you always.”

And there, in the afternoon sun, half-naked and not caring a bit, Tyler and I smiled at each other, knowing that now, everything would be okay.

We pulled our pants up and walked to the house, arm in arm. I pointed to the rocking chair I used to sit in all the time before Uncle Ben died. “That’s yours now,” I said.

Tyler sat, placing his bag on the floor. I took Uncle Ben’s old chair, and we just rocked together, saying nothing for a while.

“How’ve you been?” I asked. “You’ve lost weight.”

“It was rough.” That was all he said. There was more to that story, I knew, but he’d tell me in time, if he wanted to.

“How’d you get up here?”