Saving Rain

by Kelsey Kingsley

“I know what to do with pain, Ray,” I said, keeping my tone barely above a whisper. “Give yours to me. Let me carry it, so you don’t have to anymore.”

I shifted my jaw, looking toward the horizon as an overwhelming urge came over me to walk down to the library and burst through the doors while declaring that I had apparently fallen in love for the first time in my life and I had needed a thirteen-year-old to make me realize it.

“Buddy, I don’t need to get married to be your dad. If you want me, you have me. There doesn’t have to be more to it than that.”

“Thank you,” she whispered on an exhale. “Don’t thank me for what I’d be doing anyway,” I replied before kissing her once more.

Those were nice thoughts. But they were nothing but the pipe dreams of a man wishing desperately he had the time left to make them happen.

The Soldier Mason I knew now was a friend, a husband, and a father of two. He was a homeowner and a member of the River Canyon town board. He was a hard worker at the local grocery store and grateful to call himself a partner in the business. He was a proud man, content and satisfied. But most of all, and most importantly, he was good.