On the Edge of Tomorrow Read online

  “Are you sure you should be here?” she asked. “Don’t you need to be resting?”

  He smiled at her. “I won’t spend what little time I have left in bed. Not at least until I can no longer move.”

  He gave a small laugh and set his glass on a coaster. He’d gotten used to that at his house. Mrs. Dalton always insisted on them, even with me.

  “Marge, do you mind if I finish my conversation with Gabe?” he asked, looking at my mother.

  “Of course not. Take all the time you need.”

  Mom ruffled my hair on her way out of the room. I’m guessing she knew exactly what he was going to talk about before I did. He must have run it by her first.

  I put my hair back in place when she was gone, but it was almost unmanageable anyway.

  Mr. Dalton pulled out a note. Charity’s name was scrawled across the front. “Please don’t read it, son. I trust you, but I wanted to ask that of you. Charity’s going to need to know that I love her. She’s going to need some guidance. She can’t do this on her own. When I’m gone, she’s going to need you.”

  That was a lot of pressure, but I swallowed my fear and nodded. Could I be the strong force she needed to get over this?

  “This is just the start. Only give it to her when she needs it most. I trust your judgement.” He paused and handed me a large, manila envelope. This one had my name on it, and it was thick. “These are your instructions. You don’t have to do this, but it would really make me happy if you did. I don’t think Sandra can handle it, either. There’s a letter for her, but nothing quite like what I’m doing for Charity. You’ll see it.”

  The folder felt heavy in my hands with the weight of the burden he was asking me to carry. This was like some twisted spy job, like Mission Impossible or something.

  “I know it’s a lot to ask, but I couldn’t think of anyone better for the job. You’re smart. You care about my daughter.” I opened my mouth to protest, but he held up his hand and smiled. “I’m not blind. I see the way you look at her.”

  I couldn’t say anything. He was right. I cared about Charity, but I didn’t stand a chance with her.

  “I won’t use this to make her fall in love with me.”

  Her dad laughed, and my face burned with embarrassment.

  “I know,” he said. He paused before continuing, obviously deep in thought about something. “Don’t tell her that you’re doing this. I don’t know how she’ll react. She’s kind of got a temper.”

  I sighed as I looked at the letter, remembering the conversation that we’d had. I never thought it would come to this, but I was desperate. I wanted to do this under better conditions, hopefully when she was more settled with the idea that her father was gone, but Mr. Dalton knew his daughter better than me. He had faith that I would know when to do this, and I was fairly confident that the timing was right. But how was I going to get this to her?

  I sighed and shoved the letter back into the glove compartment and pulled out of the driveway. Instead of going home, I drove toward the hospital. I had to talk with Mrs. Dalton.

  “I’M KINDA BUSY, Gabe,” Mrs. Dalton said as she came back to the front desk, a clipboard in her hand and a stethoscope around her neck. Her hair was disheveled, and I could tell that she’d been crying from her red eyes and puffy cheeks. Had that been because of Charity?

  “It’s important, Mrs. Dalton. Please. Can I just have a few minutes of your time? It’s about Mr. Dalton.”

  She looked up at me, her eyes going wide. Charity got some of her looks from her mom, but Charity had her dad’s eyes. I wondered if they were a sad reminder of what happened. Is that part of why Charity couldn’t live with herself now that he was gone?

  “I only have five minutes.”

  She told another nurse that she was taking a quick break and led me to the nearest waiting room. No one was in there, so for the time being, we had some privacy.

  She took a seat, and a small sigh escaped her lips. I wondered how hard she’d been working since her shift had begun.

  “What’s going on?” she asked.

  I took a seat in front of her. “It’s about Charity.”

  “I thought you said this was about Mark.”

  “It’s about both of them,” I said. Guilt worked its way through my stomach, making me sick. I knew that lying to her would get her attention.

  “Have you been to see her?” Tears brimmed her eyes.

  I nodded. “She’s…in a bad place right now.”

  Mrs. Dalton laughed, but it wasn’t jovial. It was more exasperated, like she didn’t have a clue what to do with her daughter. I could relate. Only Mr. Dalton could handle Charity’s wild and free spirit.

  “That’s an understatement,” she mumbled.

  “I think I have something that will help, though. I just need your help.”

  She looked up at me, and with her dark green eyes, she assessed me closely.

  I pulled out the note, the one with her name on it, and handed it to her. She took it warily, and when she saw the handwriting, she dropped it. Her hands shot to her mouth, and the tears she’d been holding back spilled out. I had no clue what to do with women who cried. They made me nervous. Charity was different. She usually pushed me away when she showed any signs of emotion.

  She gingerly picked up the letter, wiping away the tears that had escaped. “Where did you get this?”

  “Mr. Dalton gave it to me before he…before he passed.”

  “He what?”

  I took a deep breath and rubbed my sweaty hands on my jeans. Why did this make me uneasy? I knew that one day I would have to explain everything, but the way that Mrs. Dalton looked at me—well, it made me think that maybe I was doing something wrong, that I was opening up fresh wounds that were actually beginning to heal.

  I cleared my throat, another delaying tactic. “He asked me to keep these until the right time. This is one of the letters he asked me to give to you. I have different instructions for Charity.”

  She bit her bottom lip as she opened the letter.

  I kept talking. “I think that’s an explanation. If it’s not, I’ll try to explain what he’s asked of me better.”

  She nodded, and I stood and paced the waiting room, giving her privacy as she read one of the last letters her husband had written to her before she became a widow.

  I was unsure of what to do while she read; I couldn’t stop glancing back at her, wondering just what that letter said. I really hoped that it was an explanation. I wasn’t sure how to clarify the odd conversation with Mr. Dalton that day. Nothing like that had ever happened to me before.

  “You can stop pacing, Gabe. I understand now. He was always thinking about Charity first.”

  I exhaled loudly and walked to the seat I had previously been occupying. I watched her fold the letter up and hold it close to her chest, like a precious jewel. I supposed that it was.

  “What do I need to do?” she asked.

  I pulled Charity’s letter out of my pocket and handed it to her. “I need to get this to her without her knowing that it was me who did it. Mr. Dalton didn’t want her to know I was part of his place because he wasn’t sure how she’d handle it.”

  “I’m afraid it wouldn’t be good for you, Gabe.”

  I nodded. “I know. We’re already drifting apart. I’m not sure that it can get much worse.”

  “I’m afraid it could. Charity’s already fickle, and without her dad…”

  Mrs. Dalton shook her head, unable to finish her thought. It was okay. I knew what she meant to say. We’d all been thinking it.

  “Can you help? I just want Charity back,” I said, my voice cracking with emotion.

  “That’s what I want, too. When you were there, how was she?”

  “She’s…she’s all right, I suppose. She told me she didn’t need me, so I left.” I stared at the floor, unable to look her in the eyes when I talked about Charity. It killed me that Charity didn’t want to be around me, that she didn’t need me. Espe
cially when I needed her so much it hurt.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay. It just reminded me that it was time.”

  She stared at the note still in her hand. “You’re right. It’s time. We have to do something for her. Part of me wants to protect my little girl from the hurt this will cause, but I want my baby back.”

  “So, you’ll help me?” My eyebrows rose, hopeful that we could actually change Charity. That she would come back to her senses.

  “As much as I can. If this is what Mark wanted, this is what we’ll do. We’ll honor his memory and save my daughter from her misery.”

  4

  GABE

  THE NEXT MORNING, I walked around my room, nervous and expecting a text from Charity any minute. Her mom was due off work at two this morning, giving her plenty of time to sneak the letter into Charity’s room or wherever she decided to leave it. She didn’t say what she was going to do, and that made me even more anxious. I couldn’t sleep last night, tossing and turning, and praying that Charity would be okay. My stomach felt sick, and I couldn’t put my phone down.

  “You’ll wear a hole in the carpet.” My mom laughed at me from the open door to my room.

  I was too tired to respond and kept pacing.

  “She’ll be just fine. You know that.”

  “I don’t, Mom. She’s hanging precariously on the edge, and I’m terrified that this will finally push her over. Have I made a mistake? Was Mr. Dalton wrong in trusting me?”

  I stopped pacing and pleaded with my mother. She stepped inside and walked to me, putting her hands on each side of my face.

  “Gabriel, Mark wouldn’t have trusted you with his last request if he didn’t believe in you. Given everything that you and Sandy have told me, it’s time. Charity needs to move on, and it’s going to take drastic measures. That girl is broken, and the only person who could ever put her back together again and talk sense into her has been her daddy. Whatever he has in store for her, it’s for the best. She needs this. You just have to believe in that.”

  “I do believe it. I’m just afraid.”

  “That she’ll hate you for trying to help?” Mom smiled weakly. She knew I had an insane crush on Charity, and she and Dad certainly didn’t approve. Dad especially made it clear.

  I nodded slowly.

  “She can’t ever hate you, baby. You’re too good.”

  “I’m not good enough for her,” I said under my breath.

  “Then she doesn’t know what she’s missing.”

  Mom kissed my forehead, even though she had to stand on her tiptoes to do so. I was a good foot taller than her now, but she didn’t seem to mind.

  I knew that Charity and I would never end up together. She was more carefree than me. I was uptight, or so she liked to tell me. But, they did say that opposites attract, right?

  “I don’t stand a chance, do I?”

  “That’s not true,” Mom said, slicking down my hair. I hadn’t brushed it since I’d woken up, and I was sure it was a mess.

  “She hasn’t ever looked at me like that. I’m in the friend zone, and I think that’s the only place I’ll ever be.”

  I pulled away from my mom and started walking the room again. I couldn’t stand this. I hated thinking that I could never be with the girl I loved and, by all rights, shouldn’t be with her. I didn’t want to think about the fact that I was hurting her by fulfilling her dad’s last request. I wished Mr. Dalton had never trusted me with this. I wished that he’d left it well-enough alone. Okay. That wasn’t true. I didn’t wish that. I knew that Charity needed this, even if it hurt her at first.

  I sat on the edge of my bed and put my head in my hands. “Do I have to go to school today?”

  Mom sat beside me and patted my leg. “I’ll let you decide that, but I think Charity is going to need you. Even if she doesn’t love you the way you love her.”

  “I don’t love her,” I said, but even I wasn’t convincing to my own ear.

  Mom patted me on the shoulder and shook her head. Yeah. I wasn’t fooling anybody.

  “Okay. Fine. Say I love her, what does that have to do with anything? Wouldn’t it be better if I just distanced myself from her? I could do this for Mr. Dalton, and then that’s it. I don’t have to ever see her again. She doesn’t want to see me.”

  “Is that really what you want?”

  “I don’t know anymore, Mom.”

  I took a seat on my bed and stared at the hardwood floor beneath my feet. Did I want to distance myself from Charity? Maybe. At least then I could just move on. If I stuck around, I was doomed. I already felt doomed, and now this added pressure by Mr. Dalton…

  “I can’t do this,” I said as Mom took a seat beside me and wrapped her arm around my shoulder.

  “That’s not true. You can. You’re strong and smart. You can reach Charity. You’re the only other person that strong-willed child will listen to. Mark came to you for help because he believed that you could do this. He knew that if anyone on this earth could help her, it would be you.” Mom tapped my chest, where my heart was. “You have a heart of gold, but no one is making you do this. You could give everything to Sandy, and let her take care of it. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

  I nodded. Charity pretty much hated me; she hated everything. To her, nothing would ever be the same without her dad, and it wouldn’t. But she needed to find a balance somehow. I could help her do that.

  “If this all blows up,” I joked, “can we move?”

  Mom laughed and squeezed me just a little tighter. “We’ll see.” She kissed my forehead and said, “Your father is waiting. Let’s get some breakfast.”

  I HEARD MY phone from the breakfast table, and Mom looked at me with narrowed eyes. I knew what that meant, don’t you dare move. I’d seen that enough throughout the years. When we were sat around the dinner table, we weren’t allowed to take phone calls, but it was killing me! What if it was Charity? I had to talk to her!

  I moved, like I was about to stand, but Mom said, “It can wait.”

  “But, Mom…”

  “Gabriel, you know the rule,” Dad said. “No phone calls, even at breakfast.”

  “Mom, you know it’s her.”

  “I don’t know a thing, and she can wait. She knows the rule, too.”

  I scarfed down the rest of my breakfast, trying not to get sick as I ate quickly. As soon as I was finished, I could be excused to check my phone.

  “Slow down,” Dad scolded, so I did, much to my dismay. He continued, “So, Gabe, what all do you have planned for today?”

  I set the glass of orange juice I was sipping on down. “Well, after school, we have an extra band practice. We’re practicing for a competition.”

  “Football season is over,” he commented nonchalantly.

  Mom laughed. “It’s not a marching band competition. It’s more like a concert.”

  Dad nodded. I guess he’d forgotten about that. Work kept him busy, so he’d never really been able to come to one, but Mom was always there, seeing as how she didn’t have a job. She and Dad had decided that it was best if she didn’t and was here for me when I was little. I guess it stuck. Dad made really good money as a lawyer anyway.

  “How’s Charity?” he asked.

  I looked toward Mom, and she nodded, wanting me to explain what I had to her. I did.

  “So, it’s time?” he said. “Good. That girl is getting out of hand. I was afraid that I would end up having to defend her in court one day if she didn’t change.”

  Ouch. That was harsh, but really, he was probably right. She was heading down that path. I could tell. Everyone could. Charity was a wild card, always had been, but without her dad, she was reckless.

  “Her mom agreed. She offered to help me.”

  “I knew she would. Sandy’s a good woman. Pity her child is so awful.” Dad didn’t blink an eye as he said it.

  “Dad, Charity just needs a little help. She’s not awful,” I said.
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  “She’s dangerous, son.”

  “She’s never gotten into serious trouble,” I defended her, even though I probably shouldn’t.

  “No, but I know what she did on the weekends with some of her other friends. I’m just glad that you were smarter than that.”

  Mom and Dad had no idea that I joined Charity at some of her parties, but I wasn’t about to correct them. I never drank, but I went to make sure that Charity didn’t drive home plastered.

  “Has she been partying since Mark died?” Mom asked.

  “I don’t know. She doesn’t have much to do with me anymore.”

  “Good,” Dad said, drinking the last of his coffee. When he set the mug back down on the table, he stood and kissed my mother.

  “Have a good day. I love you,” he said to her.

  “I love you, too.”

  He patted me on the shoulder and said, “Have a good day, Gabe. I love you, too.”

  “Love you, Dad,” I muttered, thinking about his words. How could he not want me to hang out with the girl I loved?

  When Dad left, Mom said, “He worries about you, Gabriel. We both do.”

  I nodded. “I know, but I’m a big boy. I can take care of myself.”

  “You’re only seventeen. That’s not old enough to do anything. It’s our job to protect you, and your dad’s right. She’s dangerous. This may push her over the edge. Just be careful.”

  “But you said…”

  She held up her hand. “I know what I said. I meant that too. I’m just saying be careful. Your heart is invested in this. You’re my baby boy. I worry about you. That doesn’t mean I don’t think you can’t reach her. I still think you can. I just—well, you’ll understand when you’re a dad someday.”

  She stood and gathered our dirty dishes. I excused myself and went into my bedroom to check my phone. It wasn’t Charity. It was another friend of mine.

  I sighed and tossed my phone on the bed. Dad obviously didn’t like Mr. Dalton’s plan. I was still on the fence about it, and I wasn’t sure how Mom felt. She had conflicting emotions. Apparently, I did, too.