At First Sight - Nicholas Sparks [114]
He smiled, thinking she was the most beautiful child in the world.
“It’s time to go.”
Her eyes were still closed as she answered, “Okay, Daddy.”
He sat her on the bed, slipped her rubber boots over the thick pajamas she’d worn to bed, and draped her jacket around her shoulders, watching as she slipped her arms into the sleeves. He slid on her mittens, then her hat, and picked her up again.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
She yawned. “Where are we going?”
“We’re going to take a ride,” Jeremy said, carrying her through the living room. As he adjusted her in his arms, he patted his pocket, making sure he had the keys.
“In the car?”
“Yes,” he said, “in the car.”
She looked around, her face showing the youthful confusion that he’d come to adore. She turned toward the window.
“But it’s dark,” she said.
“Yes,” Jeremy said again. “And it’s foggy, too.”
Outside, the air was crisp and moist, and the lonely stretch of road that passed by his house looked as if a cloud had been dropped upon it. In the sky, neither the moon nor the stars were evident, as if the universe itself had been erased. He shifted Claire in his arms so that he could reach for his keys, then placed her in the booster seat.
“It’s scary out here,” she said. “Like on Scooby-Doo.”
“Kind of,” he admitted, buckling her in. “But we’ll be safe.”
“I know,” she said.
“I love you,” he added. “Do you know how much?”
She rolled her eyes as if she were an actress. “More than there are fishes in the sea and higher than the moon. I know.”
“Ah,” Jeremy said.
“It’s cold,” she added.
“I’ll turn the heater on just as soon as I start the car.”
“Are we going to Grandma’s?”
“No,” he said. “She’s sleeping. We’re going to a special place.”
Beyond the window of the car, the streets of Boone Creek were quiet, and the town seemed to be asleep. With the exception of porch lights, most of the homes were dark. Jeremy drove slowly, navigating carefully through the fog-covered country hills.
After pulling to a stop in front of Cedar Creek Cemetery, he removed a flashlight from the glove compartment. He unbuckled Claire from her car seat and headed into the cemetery, Claire’s hand wrapped in his own.
Checking his watch, Jeremy noted that it was past midnight, but he knew he still had a few minutes. Claire was holding the flashlight, and as he walked beside her, he could hear the rustle of leaves underfoot. The fog made it impossible to see more than a few steps in any direction, but it had taken Claire only an instant to realize where they were.
“Are we going to see Mommy?” she asked. “Because you forgot to bring flowers.”
In the past, when he brought her here they always brought flowers. More than four years ago, Lexie had been buried next to her parents. It had required a special dispensation from the county commissioners to have her buried here, but Mayor Gherkin had forced it through at the request of Doris and Jeremy.
Jeremy paused. “You’ll see,” he promised.
“Then what are we doing here?”
He squeezed her hand. “You’ll see,” he repeated.
They walked a few steps in silence. “Can we see if the flowers are still there?”
He smiled, pleased that she cared and also that coming here in the middle of the night didn’t frighten her. “Of course we can, sweetheart.”
Ever since the funeral, Jeremy visited the cemetery at least once every couple of weeks, usually bringing Claire with him. It was here she learned about her mother; he told her of their visits to the top of Riker’s Hill, told her that it was here he’d first known he loved Lexie, told her that he’d moved here because he couldn’t imagine a life without her. He talked mainly as a way of keeping Lexie alive in his memory, doubting whether Claire was even listening. Yet even though she was not yet five, she could now recite his stories as if she’d lived them. The last time he’d brought her here, she’d listened quietly and seemed almost withdrawn by the time they’d left. “I wish she didn’t die,” she’d said on their way back to the car. That had happened a little after Thanksgiving, and he wondered whether