Chapter 8
Ephram stares down at the grave stone with the words Hailey Ophelia Brown carved into it with the words "Our Angel" carved right underneath. The funereal had been over for hours but Ephram could dare drag himself away from the grave sight for fear that moving away would be letting his baby girl go.
"Come on Ephram, why don't we get back to the house?" Andy is suddenly standing right next to Ephram, gently touching his arm.
"No." Ephram jerks his arm away not losing eye contact with the headstone.
"Ephram it's freezing out here, why don't we go. Amy's waiting for you at the house, she's worried."
Amy, the picture of his wife, dressed in black her eyes swollen with tears crosses through Ephram's mind and for the first time in hours he breaks direct eye contact with the headstone and face his father. "Is she all right?"
Andy nods, "she's all right, but she needs you right now."
"But I can't leave her here..." Ephram murmurs his eyes falling on the gray stone again.
"You need to be with your wife." Andy insists.
Ephram finally nods, "you're right, let's go."
Ephram wakes up with a jolt unable to recall where he was for several moments, until his eyes adjust to the dark around him. The warm body next to him surprises him also but as his eyes begin to adjust the night before finally comes back to him causing Ephram to quickly slip out of bed and pull on his clothing, regret quickly washing over him. Ephram had never been able to explain his relationship with Amy before so there was no way he could have explained the night before even if he wanted to. And as much as he wanted to he couldn't blame everything on the wine, because neither one of them had had enough to be drunk.
Ephram knew that leaving without saying good-bye was low and cruel but he couldn't bring himself to wake Amy up and have to see the look on her face as she remembered everything too. He knew the pain that was in her eyes and he didn't want to have to be there to face it so instead her gathered his things and quickly moves into the kitchen. Without making a sound Ephram sweeps up the broken shards of glass that had been left there the night before and then scouting around Ephram finds a notepad and a pencil. Quickly scrawling out a message he leaves the piece of paper in an obvious place and grabbing his rental car keys he slips out the door.
Amy is fully awake, conscious and aware of what had happened the night before when the phone rings. Hoping it's Ephram with an explanation for his disappearance Amy answers the phone, "hello."
"Hi Amy, sweetie, you didn't call when you got in yesterday so I just wanted to make sure everything went all right on the drive home."
Amy sighs, it was her mother, "hi Mom, sorry I didn't call you when I got in. The drive was fine, uneventful."
"Did Ephram's flight get off all right last night?" Rose questions.
Not wanting to explain anything about the night before Amy responds, "yeah, I assume it was fine. He dropped me off here before he went to the airport."
"Oh, so you guys didn't hang out or anything?" Rose asks.
"Mom," Amy sighs, "it's still Ephram. Nothing has changed."
"Right of course." Rose falls silent on the other line.
"Mom, I have to get going I have a class in an hour."
"Right, of course. Amy it was really nice having you home for the weekend, maybe you could come up again soon." Rose suggests.
"Sure Mom, maybe." Finally off the phone with her mother Amy hangs up the phone and pulls her robe around her heading to the kitchen in search of some sign that Ephram had been there the night before. She finds it in the kitchen, the broken glass is swept up and gone and a note is tape to the refrigerator door.
Amy stares at the handwriting before she even reads it, she could remember the notes she and Ephram used to leave each other taped to anything with a surface. Some notes just professing love, some notes with grocery lists and other notes with a million different topics. Finally pulling the note off of the refrigerator Amy reads it:
Amy,
I'm sorry I couldn't stick around and say good-bye but we both know that's probably not for the best. Neither one of us are in a place for this to have happened so I thought I would save us both some heartache and lame excuses and leave without saying anything. I know we are going to run into each other again, our sister and brother are getting married so maybe if we just forget that this even happened it will be better for all of us.
Sincerely,
Ephram
Ephram stares down at the grave stone with the words Hailey Ophelia Brown carved into it with the words "Our Angel" carved right underneath. The funereal had been over for hours but Ephram could dare drag himself away from the grave sight for fear that moving away would be letting his baby girl go.
"Come on Ephram, why don't we get back to the house?" Andy is suddenly standing right next to Ephram, gently touching his arm.
"No." Ephram jerks his arm away not losing eye contact with the headstone.
"Ephram it's freezing out here, why don't we go. Amy's waiting for you at the house, she's worried."
Amy, the picture of his wife, dressed in black her eyes swollen with tears crosses through Ephram's mind and for the first time in hours he breaks direct eye contact with the headstone and face his father. "Is she all right?"
Andy nods, "she's all right, but she needs you right now."
"But I can't leave her here..." Ephram murmurs his eyes falling on the gray stone again.
"You need to be with your wife." Andy insists.
Ephram finally nods, "you're right, let's go."
Ephram wakes up with a jolt unable to recall where he was for several moments, until his eyes adjust to the dark around him. The warm body next to him surprises him also but as his eyes begin to adjust the night before finally comes back to him causing Ephram to quickly slip out of bed and pull on his clothing, regret quickly washing over him. Ephram had never been able to explain his relationship with Amy before so there was no way he could have explained the night before even if he wanted to. And as much as he wanted to he couldn't blame everything on the wine, because neither one of them had had enough to be drunk.
Ephram knew that leaving without saying good-bye was low and cruel but he couldn't bring himself to wake Amy up and have to see the look on her face as she remembered everything too. He knew the pain that was in her eyes and he didn't want to have to be there to face it so instead her gathered his things and quickly moves into the kitchen. Without making a sound Ephram sweeps up the broken shards of glass that had been left there the night before and then scouting around Ephram finds a notepad and a pencil. Quickly scrawling out a message he leaves the piece of paper in an obvious place and grabbing his rental car keys he slips out the door.
Amy is fully awake, conscious and aware of what had happened the night before when the phone rings. Hoping it's Ephram with an explanation for his disappearance Amy answers the phone, "hello."
"Hi Amy, sweetie, you didn't call when you got in yesterday so I just wanted to make sure everything went all right on the drive home."
Amy sighs, it was her mother, "hi Mom, sorry I didn't call you when I got in. The drive was fine, uneventful."
"Did Ephram's flight get off all right last night?" Rose questions.
Not wanting to explain anything about the night before Amy responds, "yeah, I assume it was fine. He dropped me off here before he went to the airport."
"Oh, so you guys didn't hang out or anything?" Rose asks.
"Mom," Amy sighs, "it's still Ephram. Nothing has changed."
"Right of course." Rose falls silent on the other line.
"Mom, I have to get going I have a class in an hour."
"Right, of course. Amy it was really nice having you home for the weekend, maybe you could come up again soon." Rose suggests.
"Sure Mom, maybe." Finally off the phone with her mother Amy hangs up the phone and pulls her robe around her heading to the kitchen in search of some sign that Ephram had been there the night before. She finds it in the kitchen, the broken glass is swept up and gone and a note is tape to the refrigerator door.
Amy stares at the handwriting before she even reads it, she could remember the notes she and Ephram used to leave each other taped to anything with a surface. Some notes just professing love, some notes with grocery lists and other notes with a million different topics. Finally pulling the note off of the refrigerator Amy reads it:
Amy,
I'm sorry I couldn't stick around and say good-bye but we both know that's probably not for the best. Neither one of us are in a place for this to have happened so I thought I would save us both some heartache and lame excuses and leave without saying anything. I know we are going to run into each other again, our sister and brother are getting married so maybe if we just forget that this even happened it will be better for all of us.
Sincerely,
Ephram