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Although I’d given Riley a card, a bouquet of daisies, and a box of Godiva assorted chocolates, I still felt like I’d done an inadequate job of showing her how much she meant to me. So, on that February 14th evening, I sat at the desk in my bedroom with a pen and notebook paper and wrote a Valentine’s Day love letter to my high school sweetheart.
It was past her curfew when I arrived at her house, but I didn’t care. I had to see her again. As I’d done before, I threw a pebble at her bedroom window to get her to sneak out. She saw me, waved, and in less than a minute, she stood before me. Then I handed her my letter.
When she finished reading it, she touched the two linked hearts I’d drawn next to my signed name and smiled at me with tears falling from her beautiful emerald eyes. I loved Riley so much back then, and I still did. I also still had her letter, along with the others that followed. I wondered if she still had mine.
Before cleaning up the sugar on my counter, I took a picture of what my ghost had done. I wanted to text it to Riley, but there was no point. She’d probably think I drew the double hearts and was trying to prank her.
It was getting late, and I needed to go to bed. After grabbing a shower and brushing my teeth, I stretched out across my cool sheets but couldn’t sleep. I kept tossing and turning because I couldn’t get my mind off Riley. I kept thinking about her leaving town on Sunday.
I didn’t want her to go back to Fort Worth. I wanted her to stay here and for the two of us to keep spending time together. I had missed our friendship tremendously. I still missed the physical intimacy that we once shared. The sex that we used to have didn’t only feed my body. It also fed my mind and my soul.
It was a little after midnight when my cellphone pinged. I reached for it on my nightstand, wondering who would message me so late.
Riley:Are you awake?
I sat straight up in bed.
Me:Yes. Is everything okay?
Riley:I don’t know.
Me:What do you mean?
Riley:I’ve just been thinking about you. Me. Us.
Me:What about us?
Riley:Spending time together. I don’t want to lead you on.
Me:You’re not.
Riley:I don’t know what I’m going to do with my life at this point. Nothing other than going back to Fort Worth on Sunday and then going to work on Monday.
Me:I understand you don’t know what to do with your life right now. Until you do, I’d like us to keep hanging out while you’re in town and whenever you come back.
Riley:That would be nice.
Me:Are you feeling better about everything?
Riley:Yes. Thank you.
Me:That’s what friends are for.
Riley:I’ll let you go now. Sorry if I woke you.
Me:You didn’t. See you tomorrow. Go dream about Irish nachos.
Riley:You too.
I tossed my cellphone onto my nightstand and laid back down. I knew whenever I fell asleep, I wouldn’t be dreaming about food. Riley would be what filled my dreams. She was always in them.
CH 14 - #oursecret
Riley
Song: “Give It All We Got Tonight” by George Strait
RHYS AND I had been at Gallagher’s for only a few minutes. It was my favorite restaurant in Cypress Hills because of its delicious food, rustic décor, relaxed atmosphere…and ghosts. They’d been pulling pranks since the building’s construction in the 1800s.
