Chad eyed the high fence guarding the property. A strange determination and steel had settled into his bones when he'd driven away from Bolton's house. Even when he'd stopped over at a florist and picked out a bunch; his stomach had stayed strong. But now that he was outside the last place he wanted to visit, he was losing his nerve.

He worried his bottom lip and stared at the imposing fence; at the darkening sky. A storm front was brewing. The clouds were pregnant with heavy rain. He had maybe half an hour max before the deluge would start. The wind was howling outside the car and he pulled up his collar to stand, anticipating the chill.

Should have brought a sweater. He eyed the back seat to see if he'd left one back there, but no such luck. His phone vibrated in his pocket. It was Jo. He wasn't in the mood to pick up. He knew what it was about. Jo wanted gossip—on Bolton. And frankly speaking, he wasn't in the mood to talk about that sleaze bag of a man.

He eyed the papers on the seat next to him. Papers he'd found with a quick internet search last night. He hadn't been able to sleep. They were articles about a tragic house fire that killed a husband and wife in their sixties, survived by their twenty-two-year-old daughter.

The fire reportedly started in the girl's bedroom, where a candle was left burning by the open window. Authorities say the fire started sometime around midnight, moments after the daughter reportedly left the house with her boyfriend. They are calling it an act of negligence. An accident that could have been avoided.

Jo called again. Chad cut the call as a distant rumble sounded. The rain wasn't too far off. He had to do this now or come back another day.

Chad psyched himself. "Come on. Let's finish this."

He glanced out the windshield at the swirling clouds. It was only four in the afternoon, but it felt like dusk. Chad grabbed the flowers and exited the car, mumbling to himself.

"It won't take long. Just go, say hello, and do what you came here to do, no matter how silly it feels... then get your ass back in the car before it rains." He shivered at the chill lingering in the wind slithered through his clothing.

His phone incessantly buzzed again. This was no time to feed Jo's curiosity. He ignored it as he entered the driveway and walked up to the caretaker's office.

Minutes later, lightning lassoed the sky a fair distance from where Chad stood; over the graves of Mr and Mrs Amari. Besides them was the grave of someone he knew: Baxter 'Bax' Rollins. A beloved friend and guardian angel.

June had given Bax a funeral with the last of her money. From what she'd told him, she had sold everything of value she had on her, all except her parents' wedding rings.

Chad pulled out a Chrysanthemum from the bunch and laid it on Bax's grave. "Hello, old friend."

He could almost see Bax's face. Almost. How he wished he'd taken a photo with the man when he'd been alive.

'You didn't bring the coffee and croissants, I see,' he could imagine him saying.

"I will next time, old man." Chad pretended to reply. "If I'm feeling generous, maybe I'll even bring you two."

'I'd like that. I miss you, you goof.'

"I miss you too." Chad blinked frantically to keep the tears at bay. "Now, can I get back to the parents? I need to focus, man."

'Oh, yeah. Big job, that one. Go ahead, mate. I'll be right here cheering you on.'

Chad could almost picture Bax standing there, holding two thumbs up, grinning his gap-toothed smile. It gave him a warm feeling in his chest despite the chill. He turned to face June's parents. Feeling awkward for a moment, that this idea had popped into his mind while scrolling the net.

Bax gave him an encouraging go-ahead nod.

Chad pulled in a breath and laid the flowers on the mother's grave. He began. "Hello, Mr and Mrs Amari. I am Chad Gilligan. I'm a writer, that's what I do, and for the past two years, June's been a big part of my life..."

'Go on!' Bax's imaginary figure encouraged him again.

Chad fidgeted a little. It wasn't the talking to graves that was making him uncomfortable. It was the whole situation. Had they been alive, it was something he would have done. And he would have been just as nervous as he was now. It wasn't every day one asked parents for their daughter's hand.

Chad pulled at his collar. He cleared his throat, eyes taking in other headstones instead of the ones in front of him. He cleared his throat again as a loud thunderclap followed a flash of lightning.

Raindrops fell from the sky, promptly plopping onto his brows and then the rest of his body.

Chad had little time.

'Don't be a chicken, kid!'

"You're not even here, Bax!"

'I could be!'

The rain became more urgent and suddenly Chad stood in the cemetery, drenching. His hair sagged down to his eyes, and he brushed it aside. He was already here. He was going to get soaking wet by the time he reached his car anyway, so he might as well finish what he came here to do.

"Mr and Mrs Amari, I'm here to ask for your daughter, Yumi-Joon's hand in marriage. One day—when she says yes and means it—I hope you'll give us your blessings."

Chad waited a moment. For what, he didn't know. He imagined there would be no objection and took the rain falling on him as a blessing.

'I give you my blessing," Bax's voice faintly echoed in Chad's ears. 'Heck, I give you all my blessings!'

Chad chuckled. Accepting that imaginary voice, even if it wasn't real, was good enough.

He glanced one last time at the three gravestones, thanking them individually in his heart, before the rain forced him to race back to his car, shivering.

As soon as the car turned on and heat poured through the vents, Chad's tight chest loosened.

The car's Bluetooth rang. An incoming call from Jo again. At peace with himself for the first time in days, he finally answered because he was close to reuniting with June. He could feel it.

"Oh, my god! What took you so long?!" Jo screeched from her end.

"I'm kind of busy. What do you want?" Chad groaned, rubbing his hands together to warm them.

"You need to get to Mum's right now! Right now. The woman's lost her mind!" Jo sounded hysterical on the line. "The guy's moved in with her. He's moved in!"

Chad chuckled, picturing Jo completely off her handle. "Oh, so you know about Uncle Abe?"

"What do you mean, 'Oh, so I know about Uncle Abe' ? Did you know about this? What the fuck?"

Chad chuckled further. He couldn't help it. Jo sounded bonkers. She had never enjoyed being the last one to know things.

"Come right this instance, Chad Gilligan. Our mother, who already lost her mind remarrying a serial cheater, has now turned the tables and become the cheater! I can't even wrap my head around that! Cia and I nearly walked in on them..."

Chad didn't need Jo to finish that sentence. He knew exactly how it ended. He cut in. "She's an adult, Jo. They all are. They can do whatever they like. I don't care. I gotta go. I have something important to do."

"We need to fix this, Chad." Jo barked. "Come here right now."

"Leave it alone, or handle it yourself, Jo. I gotta go."

"Don't you hang up on me, Cha—"

Chad hung up on her, fully knowing she was going to call back until he got annoyed and picked up. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned the thing off. The only way to stop Jo from bugging him. He hadn't lied when he'd said he had something important to do and it was high time he did it. Finished this whole charade.

With a bit of warmth back in his bone—though his clothes were still soaked, and now, so was his seat—Chad typed in his final destination.

She better be there! Or I'll huff, and puff and blow that god-damn door down. Or at least annoy the heck out of them with incessant knocking...

Chad drove like a grandma—barely able to make out the road in front of him through the hammering rain.