"How is she?"
"Better than you, that's for damn sure."
"Language, Eli."
"Damn, fuck, shit, piss."
Tyree opened his eyes wide. "What the devil's wrong with you?"
"There." Eli pointed a finger at him. "That's the question. What's wrong with you?"
Tyree drew in one long breath, then let it out slowly. "I'm in a funk. I know it, but I'll get out of it. I just need a little time. A little space. Everyone needs a little space sometimes."
"Elena says you need a kick in the balls."
The words almost made him smile. Instead, he said, "Let's temporarily remove your sister from the role-model list, okay?"
"Do you remember the last time we went to Mom's grave?"
Tyree's head whipped up, both at the mention of Teiko and at the complete non sequitur. "Of course. That was the seventh anniversary of her death."
"No," Eli said. "No more of that shit."
The words stung. More than that, they confused. "What are you talking about?"
"Anniversaries are for celebrating. I'm not gonna celebrate losing my mom. Not anymore."
"Eli--"
"No. Listen to me. I'm not going there anymore. Not like that, anyway. Not like it's a ritual."
"Be careful, son." Tyree's whole body felt cold. Tense. "You're treading on very thin ice."
"I've been thinking about it. I don't think she'd like it. I remember her every day, Dad," he said, his eyes shining now. "I don't have to go to a grave to do that. And you know what? She wouldn't want me to."
A tear trickled down the side of his nose. "She'd tell me I was rearranging my life for a life that didn't exist anymore. She'd want me to stop. Like with my jeans."
He'd been about to explode. Now he felt deflated and confused. "Jeans?"
"Yeah." Eli nodded. "You said she wouldn't care what I wore that day, remember? And you were right. She doesn't care what we wear, Dad. She just wants us to be happy."
Tyree sat for a second, his eyes unnaturally wide, fighting his own urge to cry.
"You aren't happy, Dad."
And, dammit, there went the tears. He drew in a wet, stuttering breath. "It's not you, son. You know that, right? You're the best thing in my life. You and Elena."
"Yeah, yeah. I get that. So does she. But Dad, come on. It's kind of obvious. And you know what? Mom would get it, too."
For a moment, Tyree simply sat there. A little shell-shocked, the world feeling hollow around him, muffled. Like the eerie silence after an explosion. Then he drew in a breath, gathered himself, and faced his son. "I think your mom would have liked Eva."
The corner of Eli's mouth twitched. "Yeah. Me, too."
He thought about Eva. About the life she had in San Diego. About how he must somehow convince her that things had changed. That he loved her fully and completely and without reservation. That he wasn't going to give up on them, no matter what the price and no matter how long it took to prove it to her.
Then he looked at his son. "Did you mean what you said the first time we had Elena and Eva over to the house? About thinking it would be cool to live in California?"
"Are you kidding? Surfing? Hell, yeah."