Four Weekends and a Funeral

by Ellie Palmer

“I love that you love that I hate butterflies and that you’re afraid of gremlins. I love that you can’t help but tell me when you think I’m being ridiculous or too rigid. That you want me to move forward with my life, but you want me to want it for myself. I love everything about you, Alison. I only want to be with you. Exactly as you are.”

I bound up the steps two at a time, unable to waste another second, because I know I love him too. The feeling doesn’t hit me like an oncoming train. It slipped inside my heart long ago when I wasn’t looking. When I didn’t think I deserved it.

He smells so familiar. Like a warm drink on a cold day and a bonfire on a summer beach and a workshop garage in Duluth. Like Adam, everywhere I want to be, every time of year.

I wanted to invite you over for something very romantic that I still haven’t planned, if I’m honest.

“I’m going to kill you, dismember you, and sell you both for parts,” Mara says simply. It successfully puts an end to our nausea-inducing love fest.

“Third’s good, right?” Adam asks. Mara pats his cheek. “Oh, Adam, you sweet, gorgeous dummy. There’s only winning and losing.”

“God, I love you so much,” he says when he breaks the kiss to search my eyes. “Please tell me if this is too much, too soon.” “This is the exact right amount of ‘much.’ ”

He sighs like I’m the most infuriating woman he can’t live without—it’s the loveliest sound.

He’s my favorite person and—as he’s constantly telling me—I’m his.