Page 76 of You'll Be the Death of Me

“Before we get to that, I want to tell you something. We got a message back from your mom.”

At this, Robbie sat straight up. He turned his head like he meant to look at her, but he didn’t know where to look. “You did? What did she say?” The excitement in his voice was one part nerves and three parts hope. It squeezed Dell’s dead heart.

Dell thought back to what she’d seen on Cole’s tablet last night. “She said she misses you and Grandpa Charlie too, and she’s glad you have each other. And she’s very proud of you.”

Robbie’s throat tightened; Dell felt it like it was her own. A warm rush of tears filled his eyes, but the burn felt sweet, almost. A special kind of longing that ached for a memory but cherished it even more because it was all that was left. Dell realized what she was feeling was grief.

She sat with it in silence, feeling it with Robbie like a set of waves that kept coming but had the ability to change in size. At that moment, they were gentle. Not big enough to knock anyone down or drown them, but strong enough to feel the tug of the tide. She waited until he was ready to keep talking.

“Thank you for that,” he said with a sniffle.“I like to watch the sunrise because it reminds me of her.She used to say, every day is a new chance for something good to happen.”

Dell smiled to herself, realizing she woke with the same mentality. “I think I would have liked your mom.”

“Everyone liked my mom,” he said warmly. “It was impossible not to.”

“I’m sorry you lost her, Robbie. And I’m sorry Jason and I were ever rude to you.”

He snorted. “Iwas the rude one. I should be apologizing to you. I am sorry for all the mean things I’ve said. My therapist says it’s a defense mechanism to keep people from getting close.”

“You’re forgiven,” Dell said. “And I accept on behalf of Jason.”

“Also forgiven,” Robbie said with a nod. “So, what can I help you with this time?”

“Well, I actually need to look up some information that might be hard to find.”

He perked up again. “Hey, now we’re talking. You’ve come to the right place.”

“What exactlyisyour job?”

“That’s classified, but I can find anything you want online. Follow me.” He stood from the bench.

“Robbie, I’minyou, remember?”

“Don’t make this weird, Dell. Do you want my help or not?”

She felt his fingers twitching like he couldn’t wait to get to a keyboard. “I mean, I think we’re well past weird, but yes, I do want your help. Where are we going?”

“Back to my place, where do you think?”

“Right. I’m going to pop out and meet you there. I have to talk to someone else for a minute and explain what we are doing.”

He stopped walking and swiveled his head around. “You mean there’s another one of you ghosting around here too?”

“Technically, yes. It’s the person I need your help finding information about. We are working on a theory.”

“Uh, okay. Whatever you say. Let’s go.”

“Okay, see you there.”

Dell freed herself from his body by planting her feet in the grass and letting him continue to walk. She popped out with a stumble, and Cole was right there to catch her, like always.

“What happened?” Cole asked.

“He’s going to help; we’re heading to his house. I just needed to talk to you first.”

Cole looked at her expectantly.

“I told him about the message from his mom, and he was really thankful.”