Chapter 19

“I’ve lived a wonderful life.” He took her hand. “And Smarty and his running fellow, they can take over as Don’s pillars of romance once I’m not here.”

“Clarence…”

“What?” He took his wife’s hand. “They’re almost as good looking as you and me.” He kissed her there, on the back of it, in perfect time to the song lyrics telling him to. “You can even get married now. How about that? I’m glad to see it in my lifetime…for you,” Clarence said to me.

“Well, we may be getting a little ahead of ourselves, but thank you. I am, too. And…hang in there. Fight as hard as you can.”

“I will,” Clarence pledged. “If I have any say, I’m not giving up a single moment I can spend with this one.”

Gordon arrived right on time. I was a little bit sad still. I was a lot sad. I smiled at him, and he took me in his arms and kissed me on the cheek. I would never tire of the way he felt and smelled right after a run, or the way I felt in his arms. “That’s not it, is it?” I asked.