by Erin Danzer
Chapter Thirty Two
Ronnie woke up the next morning to the smell of bacon cooking. She lazily stretched and smiled as she remembered last night. Gavin had been so sweet to her. They made popcorn and watched another movie and then she got ready for bed. Once in her pajamas, she had just started brushing her hair when Gavin took the brush from her and did it for her. She loved the feeling. She hadn’t had her hair brushed since she was a child, when her mom used to do it every night before bed. Once her hair shone, they curled up in her bed together and talked. He asked her every question possible about herself, from her childhood to her favorite color to the type of music she listened to when she needed to calm down. In return, she asked him about growing up in Kalearnia. The only subject neither of them brought up was her adoption. Ronnie knew she wouldn’t get any answers until she was face-to-face with the queen.
She glanced at the clock and was surprised to see it was only nine. Why was Gavin up so early? And where had the bacon come from? She didn’t remember seeing any yesterday when she searched for something for breakfast. That meant Gavin had been up long enough to go to the store and cook breakfast. The thought propelled her out of bed and she shuffled downstairs to the kitchen.
She stopped just inside the room and smiled, thinking it must be a crime to look so good in her mother’s apron. He stood at the stove flipping pancakes onto a plate, humming an unknown tune while he worked. Despite the apron, he looked so normal and was doing something so normal that it seemed out of place in her kitchen. She remembered him telling her about cooking duty when he was growing up and wondered what it would have been like to grow up in his house. He had been loved and felt it, that much she had seen when he brought her to Kalearnia on Monday. She must have made some noise because he turned away from the stove and grinned at her, the plate of steaming pancakes in his hand.
“Come on, Princess, we have to go to church,” he said as he set the plate in the middle of the table. He took off the apron, hung it on a hook in the corner and sat down while she watched. She could easily picture them doing this every day.
“Aren’t you going to eat?” he asked as he sat down, interrupting her musings of a future with him. She blushed and blinked several times, shaking her head as his words sunk in.
“Church?” she asked as she moved towards the table. He grinned at her.
“Yeah, you know that place people go to worship various deities,” he teased as she sat down across from him. “Your mom called and left a message this morning. She said you have to go to church since you, uh, missed last week.”
She smiled as he cleared his throat and his cheeks flushed, thankful she wasn’t the only one still embarrassed about last Sunday morning. Despite the embarrassing episode last week that turned her world upside down, last night and now this morning had been perfect. Even the thought of her mom coming home to find them together again hadn’t scared her enough to send Gavin home last night. It was her last night on Earth and there was only one other person she would rather have spent it with—and she was saying goodbye to that person today.
They ate in amicable silence and then Ronnie disappeared upstairs to change for church, thankful that the service didn’t start until ten-thirty. She decided to wear the same light blue sundress, white cotton shrug and white sandals she wore out to dinner on her birthday. Once dressed, she sat at her vanity and ran a brush through her hair. She was debating what to do with it when Gavin came in. She smiled at him in the mirror as he stepped up behind her, his hands automatically going for her hair. His smile was uncertain and she nodded. Last night he had confessed he had wanted to get his hands on her hair since he first made that partial braid. She knew they had some time now so she handed him her brush. She thought about him doing this every day—and what her friends would say if they could see him now. She laughed out loud.
“What’s so funny, Princess?” he asked, an eyebrow arched as he ran the brush through her hair. She grinned at him in the mirror.
“You could be like my gay best friend, braiding my hair every day,” she teased giggling. He stopped brushing her hair and leaned down so their faces were next to each other in the mirror. The smoldering look he gave her made her freeze as warm awareness rushed through her.
“I am anything but gay,” he told her, his breath warm against her ear. She shivered as he straightened. She let out a breath and sat on her hands to keep from fanning herself. Damn, he was good. Eventually, she would learn to stop teasing him.
She settled back into the chair and let him do his work without further comment. She was afraid if anything else was said, they’d never make it to church. Not that they had kissed or anything yet—even last night had only been about cuddling and comfort—but there was a first time for everything. She shooed further thoughts out of her mind, afraid Gavin would know what she was thinking again and comment on it. The last thing she needed was to have a conversation like that.
When he finished, her hair was plaited in several braids that wound around her head. A little dressy for church, but she liked it. She swiped mascara on her eyes and pink gloss on her lips and was ready to go. She drove through town slowly, taking in all the sights one last time. Even though it was only the middle of September, some of the leaves on the trees were already changing colors, bringing out beautiful reds, oranges and yellows throughout town. By the time they got to church, Ronnie was sufficiently dazzled. She grinned at Gavin as they entered the vestibule—and stopped when she saw Shawn stationed as one of the greeters. She wasn’t prepared to see him. Nervous butterflies fluttered in her stomach as she and Gavin approached him.
“Ronnie,” Andi spoke up behind her. Ronnie spun around.
“Hi. I must have just missed you at home. Did Gavin just pick you up?” Andi continued, her eyes darting towards Shawn. Ronnie nodded and tried to smile.
“Yeah, he saw me on my way to church,” she told Andi. Her tattoo tingled and Ronnie looked over her shoulder to find Shawn watching her. Her smile came naturally and her nervous butterflies were replaced with a hint of excitement when Shawn smiled back. She turned around, linked her arm with Andi’s, glanced at Gavin, and led the way into the church.
“You’re beautiful,” Shawn told her instead of whatever greeting he was supposed to say. Ronnie’s cheeks warmed as she grinned at him.
“Thank you,” she murmured and walked into the sanctuary. She sat between Andi and Gavin and couldn’t help looking back at Shawn as he continued to greet other parishioners.
“That was promising,” Andi commented. Ronnie’s smile faltered as she glanced at Gavin again. Andi saw the look they shared and concern crossed her face.
“Did something happen?” she asked. Ronnie shook her head, feeling a little weird because of how heavy her head was with all of her hair braided on top of it.
“No,” she told Andi. “It’s just that… I’m leaving today.”
Andi’s eyes immediately welled with tears. “No. You said you had time,” she argued and Ronnie touched her arm.
“I did, but something happened and everyone’s being called back. I have to go, too.” Ronnie blinked as tears filled her eyes. “I’m sorry. I just found out yesterday.”
“And you didn’t call me?” Andi shrieked. “You should have called. We should have spent the day together—the night together. Why are you telling me this now?”
Ronnie reached out for her and watched helplessly as Andi stood up from the pew and ran out of the church. She watched Andi go and cringed from the look Shawn shot her before he ran after their friend. Ronnie hoped Shawn would be able to comfort Andi as she turned around again, ignoring the looks of the people sitting near her. Gavin wrapped an arm around her shoulders as a tear slid down her cheek.
“That didn’t go the way I wanted it to,” she murmured brokenly.
“It never does,” he replied solemnly and held her close as she silently cried.
Pastor Pat spoke about serenity and finding peace and courage in whatever faith you
followed. Ronnie listened to her words with a heavy heart, praying for those things as Pastor Pat led them in the Serenity Prayer to end the service. “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.” She thought about Shawn and how things had fallen apart with him. Despite his unexpected greeting, had enough time passed to change how he really felt? Did it matter since she was leaving for another planet in a matter of hours? And once Andi calmed down, would she accept that this was what Ronnie had to do?
A tug on her arm brought her out of her musings. Ronnie looked up at Gavin. He held out a hand for her, his face a mask of concern. She blinked away fresh tears at his kindness as she took his hand and stood up. They followed the crowd out of the church into the bright sun of midday. She walked through the crowd as people around them greeted each other, hugged, and made plans for lunch and the afternoon. Ronnie knew her parents would be doing the same if they had gone to church today. Gavin bumped her shoulder and she looked up at him.
“Everything’s going to be okay,” he promised. Her smile trembled as she nodded and leaned against him.
“We’ll have Rick meet with your parents, have dinner and then say goodbye to Andi before we leave,” he added. Ronnie nodded again.
“You always know how to take care of me,” she whispered.
“Get used to it. This is just the beginning.”
They had just started down the road to her home when Ronnie’s phone rang. A grin split her face when she saw it was Andi calling.
“I’m sorry about church,” Andi apologized the minute Ronnie put the phone to her ear.
“It’s okay. You were right; I should have called you when I found out. I just wasn’t ready to accept it yet,” Ronnie replied.
“I know. I don’t think I am either.”
“Well, do you want to come over? We still have a few hours today.”
“No, I can’t right now. Shawn already said he’s going to hang out with me today to make sure I’m okay. Maybe later.”
A lump formed in her throat as Ronnie tried to say she was glad Shawn was there for Andi. The words wouldn’t come out. Not long ago, she wished Shawn could be there for her whenever she needed a shoulder. Now he was offering that service to Andi. It didn’t seem fair. She swallowed down anger as she realized it probably didn’t seem fair to them that she was leaving to go to another planet with a guy neither of them knew that well. She shook her head and wiped her eyes, trying not to sniffle into the phone.
“Yeah, maybe later. I’ll stop by and say goodbye before I leave,” Ronnie promised.
“Okay. I’ll see you then.”
They said goodbye and Ronnie dropped her phone back into her purse. She swiped at her eyes again, not caring that her mascara wasn’t waterproof; she had ruined it when she cried against Gavin before the service. Taking a deep breath, she told herself to suck it up. Even though it seemed like her friends were moving on without her, she knew it was for the best. They would need each other once she was gone.