Smith's POV.

I didn’t want to come here.

I had been putting it off for months. Every time Stevie-lou brought it up, I changed the topic or acted like my phone rang. She never pushed. She just looked at me with those calm eyes, nodded, and said, "Okay. When you're ready."

But the truth was, I wasn’t sure I'd ever be ready.

Now I was standing on a patch of grass, next to a headstone with the name Raymond Parker carved into it.

1969 - 2025.

It was a nice headstone. Clean with black granite with gold lettering. There were fresh flowers by the side. A little wooden frame with...