AFTER RECEIVING PROFUSE thanks from everyone, Jess bid her goodbyes and climbed into her car. I stood on the doorstep, watching the white Punto rumble down the drive. The scent of cooking bacon and potato cakes wafted through from the kitchen, courtesy of Beth. The initial hint of morning broke into the sky above, but as Jess’s tail lights disappeared from sight, the great weight of my emotions descended.
Jess’s departure made it definite. She knew no other way to wake him. None other than those she’d suggested and tried.
Yet, I couldn’t bring myself to go in the house. To go inside and close the door would be like shutting the door on so much more than the damp frosty air, the lightening sky, the outside world. It would be like closing out Josh, and I couldn’t do that, even if it would
