Escape Velocity
Laura thought that because he didn't want to discuss her impending death he wasn't listening. But when she said she liked that type of service, he made note. Because he wanted to know what she liked.
One night she whispered into his shoulder her desire to be buried on Earth, and he kept this knowledge close to his heart.
Although it made his stomach churn to imagine actually doing so, he found himself composing her eulogy which he would deliver himself. Long ago she had confided that she liked his voice. And Bill wanted to give her what she liked.
"Oh dear. Are you going to be able to continue?"
As if he could refuse her anything.
He had lied when he said he hadn't finished this book, he had and the ending had not been the easy, happy resolution he had hoped for. Each time he reread this book he stopped at the same chapter, unwilling to relive the painful finale.
And so it was for them; knowing how devastating the end would be, Bill was willing to forgo the inevitable, but Laura pushed him, forcing him to acknowledge that the book had an end, and so did she.