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Dad steps forward and kisses esture to let me know I’ve won At least for now Mo that so more in control of my destiny

"So, we’ll work this out?" I say to Eli

He nods "We’ll work this out"

Oz

OLIVIA DIED ON a Tuesday It was sunny A clear blue sky and a rare seventy-six-degree day in a late Kentucky July All the ere open in the house Almost all the people she loved the athered in her room

Everyone but Emily

The moment Olivia took her last breath, the shades of thein her room billowed out with the breeze and the room filled with the scent of honeysuckle Cyrus crouched beside her bed, placed their combined hands over his heart and then leaned down and laid his head on her chest As he waited for another beat, another rise of her body for air, I counted

One into to into three Three into she was officially gone

She was fifty-eight years old and had lived a life so full that for a feeeks after her death everything surrounding me felt empty

Empty until now

My motorcycle rumbles beneath me and the wind blows onis therapy for et Helpsht around o of the handlebar and squeeze Emily’s knee She’s ho to cherish

We’ve flown past the cabin, the pond, the house my parents have started construction on and the trailer that now serves as our te farther and faster than we’ve been before and I love how she sits high on the back ofthe sensation of freedoears then ease to a stop I kick down the stand and E with lances around the thick woods "How far of a hike is it?"

"A half mile Maybe three-quarters I can do this alone if you want"

Emily’s lips flatten to a fine line "No, Olivia left this forhtly smiles with me We text Talk on the phone Video chat e can There’s not a day that we aren’t in contact, but having her here, being able to touch her body, seeing the emotion in her eyes, it’s a million times better