Theo continued.
“So I promised.”
He looked down at his dress.
“And now I’m here.”
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then Theo reached into a pocket sewn into the dress.
“There’s something else.”
He unfolded a small piece of paper.
“Jack wrote this for me. He made me carry it home and told me not to open it until I needed it.”
He smiled sadly.
“Knowing Jack, I think he wanted to make sure I couldn’t pretend I’d forgotten.”
He cleared his throat and began reading.
“’Theo, if you’re reading this because I died, first of all, that’s embarrassing for me.’”
A ripple of laughter moved through the room.
It sounded so much like Jack that I could almost hear his voice.
Theo continued.
“’Second, you promised. Red dress. Don’t chicken out just because my relatives are judgmental.’”
Daniel made a sound that was half laugh, half sob.
