The Alternate Journey

Chapter 37

Returning home to New York, to their normal lives was not met without a few bumps in the road. As March faded into April, Bishop struggled with the loss of his mother, he struggled to make sense of it all. There were still loose ends to be tied.

The reading of the will—which bequeathed nearly everything she owned to her son with the exception of a few items that were meant for Ex-Husbands One through Four. There was a small legal matter to handle regarding Kipp who had been driving the boat in Mustique that night. Though he had suffered rather serious injuries, he had walked away with his life. Maddie had watched Bishop struggle with what to do for days; watched him lose night after night of sleep, and had promised to stand by whatever decision he made in regards to a lawsuit.

It was a late Thursday evening in April when he walked in the door, returning from a trip to Greece, and moved instantly to her side. Slumping down onto the couch next to her, he let out a long, slow breath.

Maddie turned off her Kindle, sat it aside and turned her attention to him; waiting for him to be ready. After two long minutes, he cleared his throat, turned to her, and decided.

"I'm going to drop it."

"Yeah?"

"It...it won't bring her back," he shook his head, his shoulders feeling less and less tense as he spoke the words out loud. "Though I would most certainly win a lawsuit, what good is it going to do?" Maddie's hands moved to his shoulders, her fingers stroking up into his hair. "It's not as though I need the money, it's not as though she left behind young children or..." He rubbed his hands together in front of him, his mind working through it right there in front of her. "All it would do is...draw this out...right?" His eyes flashed to hers then; wide and innocent and wanting her confirmation.

"Aw baby," she smiled softly, moving closer to him. "If you want to drop it, if you want to...let it go, then I absolutely think it's the right thing to do."

"Yeah?" His eyebrows lifted and his eyes grew a bit teary.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"I just..." He looked down at his hands, his head dropping forward just a bit. "I don't want him to go away unscathed either. I don't want it to mean...nothing..."

"Hey," Maddie was gentle but firm as she pulled his face to look to her. "He's not walking away unscathed. I...you saw the look on his face Jamie. He's....it means a great deal."

"Yeah," Bishop nodded, took a deep breath, and leaned far back on the couch, his eyes looking up at the ceiling. "All I could think about on the flight home was...which one would help me sleep better tonight, which decision was going to weigh less..."

"And?"

"And I think..." He sucked in another breath. "I think I'm going to let it go."

"Well okay then," Maddie nodded, pulling his hand into both of hers. "Then we let it go."

"We let it go," he nodded, taking a moment to himself before turning a smile to her.

"Feel better?"

"A little," he nodded.

"Would dinner and a drink help that?"

"It would."

"I'm on it..." Maddie squeezed his hand and rose from the couch. On her way to the kitchen, she called back to him. "I tried another one of your Scotch suggestions while you were gone..."

"And?" He called back, toeing off his shoes and propping his feet on the table in front of him.

"Still hate it," she chuckled from the other room.