He thought about the diner and the porch light and the fundraiser and the word neighbor and the word girlfriend and the distance between them. He thought about Clare's curtains always open. It's good, Diane, he said. It's actually good. A long pause.
She makes you laugh? Diane asked. Yes, Mia likes her. Maya evaluated her based on her curtain taste and gave her a passing grade. Diane laughed.
Rene's laugh was in there. He could always hear it. The particular rhythm of it. That's my grandbaby. Another pause.
Softer now. Renee would be she stopped. She would want this for you. You know that. I know.
He said you don't have to carry the guilt of being happy. Darius, that was never part of the deal. He pressed the back of his head against the wall, closed his eyes. Felt the truth of that sentence land in exactly the place it needed to land. "Thank you," he said.
"Don't thank me for basic things," Diane said. He opened his eyes. "Where did you clare says to you when you thank her?" A smile in her voice. "I liked it."
He stood in the hallway for a moment after they hung up. Just stood there feeling the particular clarity that comes when the people you love most look at your life and tell you it's okay to want it. He went back to the kitchen. Maya didn't look up from her leaf cutting. She says, "Hi, Darius" said, "I know."
She texted me while you were in the hallway. Maya held up a leaf. Is this maple or oak? He looked at it oak. Maples are more pointed.
I knew that. She put it in the oak pile. Is Grandma Diane okay with Clare? Yes. Maya nodded.
Went back to cutting. Good. I told her she would be. Darius sat down across from her. You told your grandmother about Clare before I did?