I gasped. “It’s Danny.” I said quietly. Joan was his mother, who had adored me and took every opportunity to tell me she hoped I’d become her daughter-in-law someday.

“Is there some way Amelia can hear this too?” Dad asked gently.

I turned on the speakerphone. “Okay dad, it’s on speaker,” I said as loudly as I could in my shaken state.

“He’s been in Kosovo.”

“I know.”

“You do?” Dad was obviously confused, but didn’t push the issue. “I’m sorry, Em. There was a car bomb. He died instantly.” I put my free hand over my mouth as loud sobs racked my body and hot tears flooded my cheeks. Amelia hugged me fiercely and rested her head on my shoulder as silent tears fell down her own face.

After several moments, I managed to croak out a “Thank you for calling, Daddy.”

“Where are you hon?” He asked.

“Paris.”

“I always knew you’d be a world traveler. I just didn’t expect it to happen quite like it did. Let me know what I can do to get you home for the funeral. I assume he’ll be at Shurtleff’s,” he said, referring to the only funeral home in our tiny hometown. “I’ll call you when I know about the arrangements, okay?”

“Okay dad.”

“I love you, Rosebud.”

“I love you too, Daddy.” As I hung up the phone and started to bury my face into Amelia’s shoulder, there were three loud raps on the door.

“Everything okay in there?” It was Howie.

“Don’t answer it. I really don’t want anyone to see me like this,” I pleaded.

Now the knocks were louder. “Let us in!” AJ’s voice bellowed. I remembered that the two of them were rooming next door and Amelia and AJ’s shenanigans earlier in the night had proven that the walls were paper thin, so they must have heard my cries.

Amelia pulled away from me, sniffled, and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I’m going to answer it before he breaks the door down.” I nodded and flopped down on the bed, burying my face in the pillow. I really didn’t feel like seeing anyone at the moment.

When Amelia opened the door and AJ saw her tear-stained cheeks, his face immediately fell. “What’s wrong?” he asked solemnly.

“Um....Emily’s dad called a few minutes ago. You remember Danny that we ran into in Berlin?” AJ and Howie nodded. “He um...got killed by a car bomb.” She blinked rapidly to try to quell the tears, but there was no use. They once again streamed down her face and AJ pulled her into a protective hug.

“Where is she?” Howie asked, his face ashen. Amelia nodded into the darkened room towards the bed. He reached me in just a few long strides and knelt down beside the bed where my face was hidden in the pillow, my body still shaking with sobs. “Em, I’m so sorry.” He pushed a piece of hair behind my ear and rubbed my back as I cried. Honestly, I was trying my best to ignore him. That was how I dealt with grief-- by closing myself up from the outside world.

“Go away, Howie,” I mumbled.

“Not happening, Em.” I sighed and attempted to crawl away from him, but he wrapped his arms around my waist and held me tightly in place. “What can I do?” he asked quietly, his lips close to my ear.

“Nothing!” I sobbed, my voice muffled by the pillow.

“Okay. Fair enough.” He reached out and flipped the lamp on the bedside table on. His hand rubbed a large circle along the space between my shoulder blades. After several minutes, I raised my head up from the pillow, mainly to get some air. When my eyes met his and saw the genuine kindness and concern in them, it just caused a new onslaught of tears. I buried my red,blotchy face in my hands and he pulled me into a warm embrace, still standing on his knees beside the bed. Reluctantly, I linked my arms around his neck and sobbed into his shoulder. “Do you want me to, um....I could call Kevin...” he said gently.

“No, no. Kevin’s...complicated.” I hastily wiped the tears from my cheeks with the backs off my hands. “I just need a friend tonight.” I looked up at Amelia, who was still standing by the door, her hand clasped in AJ’s.

“I need to go tell the others,” she said meekly.

“Do you want me to go with you?”

She shook her head quickly. “No, I can do it. You okay?” She cocked her head to the side and studied my face closely.

“No, not really, but......yeah, go ahead.” It didn’t really make any sense, but she understood. She nodded and turned to go out the door with AJ trailing behind her.

I looked back to Howie, who gave me a sympathetic smile and gently nudged me so that I scooted over in the bed. He climbed in beside me and gathered me into his arms so that my head rested in the crook of his neck and his legs were entangled with mine. He stroked my forearm slowly and dropped a kiss on my forehead. “You should try to sleep,” he whispered.

“It wouldn’t work anyway,” I sighed. I noticed that he was wearing pajama pants and nothing else. Ordinarily, it may have been awkward, but I only found comfort in the warmth of his skin and the gentle thump of his heartbeat against my shoulder.