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I don’t want to go home. Not a bit, even though it’s the only thing I’ve wanted since I got off that plane in Lima. I don’t want to face my work family and tell them I failed. I don’t want to have to hide so many really huge things from Allie. But most of all, I don’t want to say goodbye to Ty and never see him again.
But that’s exactly what’s going to happen in just over an hour. After the leap of faith, it was a surprisingly short walk to the road where two Jeeps were waiting to take us back to the lodge where we showered, ate one last meal as a group, and talked about the adventure we’d just had. Now we’re on a chartered plane to Lima, where we’ll all go our separate ways.
Ty and I are sitting together—he gave me the window seat. Damn him for being a gentleman. He’s making this so much harder than it has to be. Rohan is across the aisle from us with Niles next to him. Karen and Savannah are in front of us. Thiago is fast asleep across a row at the front.
There’s no Wi-Fi on the plane, so instead of diving into the thousands of emails waiting for him, Ty has been chatting with Rohan for a while. I’ve been resting my eyes and trying not to eavesdrop but at this point, I really can’t shut it off. Ty asked Rohan what he’s going to do now that Richard is gone and Rohan just told him he has no idea.
“Do you want another executive assistant job?”
“I don’t know. I’d kind of like to stretch my wings a little. Maybe try something bigger.”
“Good, you should do that, Rohan. You’re definitely capable,” Ty tells him. “If you want to stay on at the company, let me know and we’ll see what we can find for you.”
“I’d appreciate that, sir,” Rohan answers, and even though I’m not allowing myself to look over at him (because I’m giving them their privacy), I can tell by his voice he’s honestly touched.
“And I want you to know I feel bad about chasing away so many people at the start of the trip,” Ty says.
“I understand why you did it.”
“It was selfish of me. I should’ve let Richard have his send-off the way he wanted it.”
Ty Sterling, you son of a bitch. You’re going to make me fall even more in love with you.
“I want to have a memorial for him in a few weeks. Something over the top,” Ty says. “Bring in people who knew him from all over the globe, get some A-list celebrities to sing.”
“That sounds like something he would’ve loved,” Rohan says.
“I think so too. And I’m wondering if you wouldn’t mind heading it up.”
“I’d be honored.”
“Excellent. Let’s set up a meeting for the end of the week so we can throw a few ideas around,” Ty tells him.
They’re quiet for a moment, then Rohan says, “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“Why do you call him Richard when everyone else calls him Dick?”
Ty pauses for a second, then says, “What makes you ask that?”
“I don’t know. I always thought maybe it was to bug him a little. You know, get under his skin since he did such a good job of getting under yours.”
“I could see why you’d think that, but that’s not why I did it,” Ty says. “I called him Richard because it’s easy to laugh at a guy named Dick. A lot of people did, especially when we were in college. But he was never a joke to me.”
His words hang in the air for a moment and I feel a lump in my throat as I take them in. I can feel the swell of emotions that I know he’s experiencing right now as he thinks about his friend. His partner. His loss.
“If you don’t mind me saying, I really had you figured wrong all these years,” Rohan says.
“You mean you thought I was a total asshole.”
Rohan laughs. “Well, not total, but … yeah.”
“Yeah, I know I can give off that impression,” Ty says. “In fact, sometimes I am one. I know that.”
“Well, it’s been a privilege to get to know this side of you.”
“Thank you, Rohan. I appreciate you saying that.”
