Chapter 16
The next dinner honoring Roland was very different.
For one thing, he attended alive.
That helped.
Adelise insisted we keep the framed photograph from the old memorial.
Roland hated it.
“I look dead.”
“You were.”
“I was in Idaho.”
“Same emotional effect.”
He glared.
She smiled.
Good.
The medal sat on the side table again.
Inside its velvet case.
No coins.
No mockery.
Guests who had attended the earlier dinner looked awkward.
Some apologized.
Most did not know what to say.
Roland saved them.
“I recommend not holding memorial dinners before checking Idaho.”
Laughter.
Tension broke.
Then he became serious.
He spoke for less than a minute.
No heroic speech.
He said loyalty does not mean staying silent when the person you protect does something foolish.
Several people looked at me.
I raised a glass.
Fair.
He continued:
“And protection is not the same as disappearing without giving the people you love a choice.”
Adelise’s eyes filled.
That part was for her.
Roland had saved her from one threat by creating another kind of wound.
He knew.
Then he handed her the medal.
“For real this time.”
She stared.
“I thought it was yours.”
“It was.”
“Then?”
He smiled.
“Apparently dead fathers finally provide something.”
Silence.
Then Adelise laughed so hard she cried.
May you like
He had taken Ismeralda’s cruel sentence and stripped the poison from it.
That felt like victory.
