I laughed. “He would never hit you – he’s not like that.”
Or at least he used to be not like that.
“I hope you’re right,” Daven mused and dropped his arm from around my shoulder.
I smiled. “He’s just protective I guess.”
Daven’s lip quirked. “After all these years, if he is still that way with you, then it seems like he has a thing for you.”
I felt my cheeks heat up. “Give over.”
Daven laughed at my embarrassment over his teasing. “Are you staying for long?” he asked, then winced. “Sorry, that was nosey. You don’t have to answer; it’s none of my business.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, waving him off. “I am staying. I decided to move back.”
Another stunning smile spread across Daven’s face.
“You know what this means?” he asked.
I blinked. “What?”
“We’ll have to hang out and become the proper friends Lavender always wanted us to be.”
I smiled warmly. “She used to blow a fuse when we’d be at each other’s throats.”
Daven laughed and looked down at her picture. “She was perfect, wasn’t she?”
I nodded. “She was; her heart was my favourite thing. She was just brilliant.”
Daven smiled, then looked back to me. “You’ll have to meet my wife and kids – they’ll love you. They’ve heard about you from my stories about Lavender, so they’ll want to meet you.”
Daven worked his way into my heart with that one sentence.
“You told them about Lav?”
“Of course.” He nodded. “My wife is the one who pulled me from my depression and helped me start living again. I love her with all of my heart, and I’m a lucky son of a bitch to have her. My boys have seen some pictures of Lavender, and they know of her as my good friend who is in heaven.”
I placed a hand on my chest. “Daven, I might cry again. It touches my heart that you keep her memory alive when you don’t have to.”
He smiled sadly. “I acted foolish when I was younger, but I was so in love with her, Lane. She was my world, and when she died, I wanted to die too.”
“Me too,” I whispered.
Daven suddenly chuckled and wiped at his eyes. “She’d be laughing her arse off if she were here right now.”
“Don’t I know it.” I chuckled and dried my face once more.
Daven looked up then and said, “There’s your Kale, walking in the gate.”
My Kale. I felt my face flush but didn’t correct Daven. I looked up and saw he was right. Kale was walking up the left pathway that would lead him to the section where Kaden, my uncle and my aunt were buried.
“It’s really sad what happened to his kid. I can’t imagine what he must be going through.”
I liked that he said “going” instead of “went”. Daven knew that losing someone wasn’t a particular feeling that lasted for a certain amount of time; it was something you had to live with for the rest of your life. I looked from Kale to Daven when he cleared his throat.
“Give me your number,” he said, grinning, “so we can set up a playdate.”
I laughed again and called out my number to him, watching as he saved it into the contacts on his phone. He winked at me and then gave Lavender’s picture a kiss.
I heard him murmur, “Catch you later, babygirl.”
When he stood up, he wiggled his phone at me. “Speak to you soon.”
“I look forward to it,” I said.
Daven left then; as he walked down the pathway towards the cemetery exit, I switched my gaze to Kale. I found him standing in front of Kaden’s grave, his hands in his pockets as he stared down at the headstone. I wanted to go over to him, but I didn’t want to intrude. Instead, I sat back down on Lavender’s grave and smiled at her picture.
“You’re taking care of Daven, I see.” I shook my head. “I’m sorry I never saw what you did, but I’m seeing him now, and you were right: he is pretty fabulous.”
I chuckled and then sat in silence for a while, picking blades of grass out of the ground and cutting them with my nails. I was about to talk some more to Lavender when a shadow fell over me. I looked up and Kale was standing over me.
“Hey,” I said, smiling, and got to my feet, brushing my jeans down as I stood.
He nodded and joined me in looking down at Lavender’s grave. I frowned as I stared at the picture of my beautiful friend who was taken far too soon.
“I saw Daven Eanes over here with you,” Kale mentioned after a moment. “Did he give you any trouble? I know you never got on well with him.”