"I'm disappointed, Tim.” Sadie raised his chin with her finger. “You know better than that. So does Aanders. We let him sit in on our round table sessions so he can learn the rules. If he's going to be a credible death coach, he needs to either help you find someone on the brink or let you finish your business."
Sadie realized her original concerns were coming true. She resented the fact she had been sent an immature death coach. Aanders was no more ready to take on the responsibility of recommending death alternatives than she was ready to relinquish the deed to the resort to that no-good Carl Swanson.
Aanders had no interest in learning. He was more interested in cramming a lifetime into the short span he had left with his friend. Reality would soon set in. The death-coach-in-training was too young to comprehend the gravity of this new responsibility. Tim's loss would set him back even further.
With tears welling, Tim said, “Aanders doesn't want me to leave."
Hearing Tim's outburst, Michael buried his face against his mother's arm.
"I know he doesn't. But he doesn't have a choice. Neither do you.” Sadie tugged at Tim's chair, pulling it closer to the table. “I'm concerned about how weak you're getting. You need to concentrate, and Aanders is going to have to understand."
"But I don't want to go. He's my best friend and he'll be alone when I leave.” Tears dripped onto Tim's lap.
Michael laid his cheek against the table as he listened. “No he won't. He'll make new friends. Every time we moved, I made new friends. Dad made us move lots of times.” Michael continued with excitement, “When we moved, I walked up to a kid and asked him if he wanted to be my friend. Then we played."
Lora pulled Michael back onto her lap and smoothed his hair. “You're a wiggle worm. You've got to sit still.” Turning toward Tim, Lora said, “Michael and I made our declaration. We've chosen to go back through the light to find Michael's father."
Michael pulled away from his mother's grasp. “No, Mom. I don't want to.” A look of terror overtook him as he tugged on her blouse. “I want to go to that other place. Please Mom? Can't we go there instead?"
"I can't believe you said that. We don't have a choice, Michael. We have to find Dad."
Thrusting his head back Michael cried, “Nooooo! Please can't we go to the other place?"
"He'll be mad if we don't find him.” Lora held her sobbing son. “He'll be glad to see us. I promise."
Sadie watched apprehension settle over Lora.
The inner room door banged open against a side table and rebounded toward Rodney as he bolted into the room. “That's all you do is whine, you stupid woman. I'm sick of it. Make a decision so you and that brat can get out of here."
Lora grabbed at Rodney's arm as the enraged man rushed toward her.
Rodney caught her arm in motion. “You try that again and I'll make sure you don't go anywhere."
As Theo opened his mouth, Sadie held up a finger. “Don't say a word. We don't need any more conflict."
Attempting to curtail her frustration, Sadie turned to Lora. “You really need to take Michael's opinion into consideration. This is his decision, too. Michael's got reasons for not wanting to find his father."
"Let the loser go,” Rodney said. “If she's that stupid, then that's what she deserves. Good riddance."
"Noooooo,” Michael moaned, clutching at his mother.
"He'll change. I know he can change.” Lora pleaded with Michael to stop crying. “It'll be different. I promise."
Sadie crouched by Lora's side “Don't make promises you can't keep. Michael deserves better than that."
"But he'll be mad if we don't join him."
"It's not his decision, Lora. It's yours and Michael's.” Sadie put her arms around the desperate woman and hugged her. “Why would you subject Michael to that when you have another option?"
"Because she's stupid. And so are you if you haven't figured that out yet,” Rodney said.
"I've had enough.” Sadie emphasized each word. “If you don't stop…"
"Go ahead and tell me what you're going to do,” Rodney said. “You can't hurt me. I'm already dead. If you think I'm going to leave peacefully before I go to the parallel world, you'd better think again."
"Just how big is the parallel world?” Theo asked.
"Will Rodney be there?” Michael's voice cracked as his lower lip curled upward.
"You don't need to worry about it, Michael,” Lora said. “We're not going to the parallel world."
"Oh yes you are,” Rodney said. “I'm taking you with me."
"That's enough,” Sadie said. “Go back in the inner room and quit wasting your energy. Instead of arguing, you should concentrate on finding someone on the brink."
"I have,” Rodney challenged. “I found you."
"You can't go through my light. I'm not dead."
Rodney held Sadie's gaze. “Not yet."
14
Nan watched the bank information disappear from the computer screen and tapped her finger on the log-off bar. She moved to the next item on her list. Because her to-do list was always in flux, a day of leisure was rare. Nan jotted an appointment on her calendar for Mrs. Fading Sun, who wanted to make a final payment on her husband's funeral bill.
Smiling at Paul as he walked through the office door, Nan closed her laptop. “I received a few more payments today. If I have another good month like last month, I can make a down payment on the mortuary land."
"I already told you I'd loan you the money,” Paul said. “If you'd quit being so stubborn and marry me, you wouldn't have to worry about money."
"We already talked about that. I need to do this myself. Marrying you and getting a loan are two entirely different things."
Nan stood. Paul pulled her close and kissed her forehead. “Does that mean you're still considering my offer?"
"Maybe,” she answered, tapping his nose with her index finger and wriggling free. “Sadie and Jane had some devastating news. But I guess you already know about it."
Laughter filtered into the mortuary office followed by mumbled words and the sounds of engines racing. Paul turned toward the sound.
"That's Aanders,” Nan said. “He's in his room playing one of his video games."
"Who's with him?"
"Nobody. He must be talking to the characters. You know how he gets into that stuff."
Paul lifted one of the mini blind vanes before turning the wand to let the sunshine in. The highlights in Nan 's blond hair shimmered in the rays of light settling on her shoulders. His gaze turned to concern. “How's Aanders doing since he lost his friend?"
"Actually, he's doing amazingly well.” Nan paused, concern pushing confidence into a dark corner. “I expected more tears. I think his way of dealing with it is to play video games. That was their favorite pastime.” Nan placed two documentation sheets inside a folder, wrote a name on the tab, and filed it in the drawer. “It's going to be pretty harsh when reality sinks in."
Turning her chair to face Paul, Nan put her hands on her desk and clasped them in a fist. “How come you didn't ask about Sadie's bad news?"
"I got distracted by Aanders."
Nan nodded briefly toward the apartment and lowered her voice. “Did you know Carl is trying to get the resort away from the Witt sisters?"
"He mentioned it last week."
"Last week? You mean you knew about this for a week and didn't tell me?"
"It's never going to happen. Carl's obsessed with making the Witt sisters miserable, it's just a phase."
"Miserable?” Nan gazed again at the apartment. Leaning closer to Paul she said, “I would call losing a livelihood more than miserable. They've lived at that resort their entire lives. What do you think they'll do if they lose it?"
Paul gently folded Nan 's pointed finger back into her hand. “You're angry at the wrong man. I'm not the bad guy.” Placing his hands on her shoulders, he guided her around the desk and eased her into one of the visitor's chairs. “Just because Carl is my friend, doesn't mean I agree with what he's doing."