The summer breeze blew through the leaves of the trees surrounding the area. Almost fall. That would make it... eight years now? Almost to the day. Eight years and his heart still ached when he saw the sheet music to her song near the piano. Every once in a while, he would wander over, play a couple notes, and feel as though she was still there teaching stubborn little Nancy how to play. He would sit in the living room and listen on to Kate play the notes, and then Nancy pound on the keys, but Kate was patient with her and played the song slowly so she'd hopefully understand the beauty of the notes. He knew she wanted to add words to it, but she never thought they'd work and just when she thought she had the right ones-
They were gone.
She was gone.
He reached the one he was looking for. A small, rounded gravestone.
KATHERINE GRACE AUSTIN DREW
BELOVED MOTHER, DAUGHTER, AND WIFE
Then the dates. Her short life, carved in the marble.
The flowers in his hands were white daisies, her favorite. He lay them against the gravestone.
"Hi, Kate. I know it's been a few days since I've visited, but I've just been so… I've been worried. Nancy decided to run off in the middle of the night. To Scotland. Normally I just shrug my shoulders, whatever, I'm used to it, you know. But this is… this is different. The circumstances are different. I lost you to them, and I'm not prepared to-" He put his hands in his pockets.
"I'm not ready to lose someone else. She's the closest thing I have to you. She looks just like you. Sounds just like you. And she still wears a shirt similar to that horse shirt you hated when she was in kindergarten. Sometimes I hear her humming your song and then I start humming it and I can just see you on the piano playing it and smiling. But then I remember that you're not here.
"I know that I have to be strong. Because I'm her father and she has Hannah, but I'm her father. And I get that she knows that I'm hurt by everything that happened, but she doesn't get it on this scale. She was - is - your daughter. I'm your husband. Am I overreacting?" He took one of his hands out of his pockets and touched the gravestone.
"She went to Scotland though. She left in the middle of the night. Going to figure out why you died. Why you were killed. I guess it's good that she went instead of me because if I was the one to find out who killed you?" The hand on the gravestone involuntarily curled into a fist that he shoved back into his pocket.
"She's going to find out who killed you and why, but what if they kill her? What if I lose her, Kate? She's... she's everything to me. And that's why I'm upset. I'm upset because she left without telling me and because I can't lose her. She doesn't see that."
His phone rang and he excused himself for a moment. He listened to what the other person said, nodded, and put the phone back in his pocket.
"Someone just called, and apparently Ned is breaking into the house. I'll be back though." He kissed his hand and touched the gravestone again. "I love you, Kate."
