The Last Song

“Good morning,” he said.

Her shoulders sagged as she turned toward him. “Good morning,” she said, offering the slightest of smiles. She opened her arms, and he wrapped himself around her, grateful for the embrace.

“I’m sorry about last night,” she said.

“There’s no reason to be sorry.” He nuzzled her hair. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Mmmm,” she said. “But thanks anyway.”

“I didn’t hear you get up.”

“I’ve been up for a while.” She sighed. “I called the hospital and talked to my dad. Though he didn’t say as much, I could tell he’s still in a lot of pain. He thinks they might keep him for a couple of days after his tests are done.”

In almost any other situation, he would have assured her that everything would be fine, that it would all work out. But in this case, they both knew the words would mean nothing. Instead, he leaned forward, resting his forehead against hers.

“Were you able to get any sleep? I heard you wandering around last night.”

“Not really. I finally crawled in bed with Jonah, but my brain just wouldn’t shut off. But not just because of what’s going on with my dad.” She paused. “It was because of you, too. You’re leaving in a couple of days.”

“I already told you I could postpone it. If you need me to stay, I will…”

She shook her head. “I don’t want you to. You’re about to start a whole new chapter of your life, and I can’t take that away from you.”

“But I don’t have to go now. Classes don’t start right away-”

“I don’t want you to,” she said again. Her voice was soft but implacable. “You’re going off to college, and it’s not your problem. I know that might sound harsh, but it isn’t. He’s my dad, not yours, and that will never change. And I don’t want to think about what you might be giving up, in addition to everything else that’s going on in my life. Can you understand that?”

Her words had the ring of truth to them, even if he wished she were wrong. After a moment, he untied his macramé bracelet and held it out to her.

“I want you to have this,” he whispered, and by her expression, he could tell that she understood how much her acceptance meant to him.

She flashed a small smile as she closed her hand around it. He thought she was about to say something when both of them heard the workshop door suddenly bang open. For an instant, Will thought someone had broken in. Then he saw Jonah clumsily dragging a broken chair outside. With enormous effort, he lifted it up and tossed it over the dune near the workshop. Even from this distance, Will could see the fury in Jonah’s expression.

Ro

“Jonah!” she screamed, breaking into a run.

Will leapt after her, almost bumping into her as she reached the workshop door. Looking past her, he saw Jonah trying to push a heavy crate across the floor. He was struggling mightily, oblivious to their sudden appearance.

“What are you doing?” Ro

Jonah continued to push at the crate, grunting with the effort.

“Jonah!” Ro

Her cry broke through his tu

“Can’t reach what?” she asked before taking a sudden step forward. “You’re bleeding!” she said, panic rising in her voice.

Will noticed the torn jeans and blood on Jonah’s leg as Ro

His face was tight and red. “Go away! I can do this by myself! I don’t need you!” he screamed.

He tried to move the crate again, but it was pi

“I told you to go away!” he shouted at her. “Dad wants me to finish the window! Me! Not you! That’s what we were doing all summer!” His words came out in broken gasps, angry and terrified. “This was what we did! All you ever cared about were the turtles! But I was with him every day!”

As he shouted through his tears, his voice cracked.

“And now I can’t reach the middle part of the window! I’m too short! But I have to finish it, because maybe if I finish it, then Dad will get better. He has to get better, so I tried to use the chair to reach the middle of the window, but it broke and I fell into the glass and I got mad and then I wanted to use the crate, but it’s too heavy-”

By then, he could barely get the words out, and he suddenly rocked back and collapsed onto the ground. Wrapping his arms around his knees and lowering his head, he began to sob, his shoulders convulsing.

Ro

Still, he stayed while Ro

When Ro

“Can we go in the house for a few minutes? I just want to check the cut on your leg.”

Jonah’s voice was still quavering. “What about the window? It has to be finished.”

Ro

Jonah shook his head. “You don’t know how.”

“Show us.”

After Ro

The window was nearly complete-all of the detailed etchings of the faces were finished, and the reinforcing bars were already in place. The work that remained consisted of adding hundreds of intricate pieces to form the heavenly glow in the sky.

Jonah showed Will how to cut the lead strips and taught Ro

It was hot and crowded in the workshop, but eventually the three of them fell into a rhythm of sorts. At lunchtime, Will ran out to pick up some burgers and a salad for Ro

Darkness fell, and Jonah was yawning steadily by ten; when they went inside to relax for a few minutes, Jonah fell asleep almost immediately. Will carried him to his room and put him in bed. By the time he returned to the living room, Ro

Will took over the glass cutting; he’d seen Jonah doing it all day, and though he made some mistakes in the begi

They worked through the night, and by the time dawn began to break, both of them were dead on their feet. On the table in front of them lay the completed window. Will wasn’t sure how Jonah would feel knowing he hadn’t had a hand in finishing the final pieces, but he figured Ro

“You two look like you’ve been up all night,” said a voice behind them. Turning around, Will saw Pastor Harris standing in the doorway.