Walking on Water: A Novel by Richard Paul Evans Read Free Book Online Page B

all the references to the end of life?” I said. “You’re still young.”
    “Don’t worry about it. It’s the heart attack talking.” He took another one of my pieces. “The other day I had this thought. If you look around, there’s an order to things. The way the planets revolve around the sun is remarkably similar to the way electrons revolve around a nucleus. If science proves anything, it’s that nothing comes from nothing. Something caused those things to act. It’s not too hard to believe in the creator of that order. If you want to call that God, then maybe I do believe in God.”
    “What about an afterlife?”
    “What about it?”
    “Do you believe in one?”
    “What you’re really asking is, is there such a thing as a soul?” He looked over his move for a moment, then said, “It’s hard to believe that there’s nothing more to us than electrical impulses.”
    “Where do our souls go after death?”
    Still looking at the board, he said, “Toledo.”
    I laughed. “Toledo?”
    “Why not? It’s as likely a destination as any.”
    We played a bit more in silence. As usual, I found myself in trouble.
    “You’re too impatient,” he said. “You shouldn’t move until you know it’s right.”
    “Obviously I thought it was right.”
    “It wasn’t,” he said.
    “I can see that now.” I looked over the board. “I think I’m dead.”
    “You are.”
    “Speaking of dead, I read in your family history last night.”
    “That’s an interesting segue. How far did you get?”
    “I got to where your grandfather committed suicide.”
    He frowned. “Dead is right. It was tragic. Such unnecessary pain.”
    “Were you close to your grandmother?”
    “No; I met her only once. At my mother’s funeral. She was very old. I think she was just too mean to die. Or maybe it was her curse to see all her children die before her.”
    “Did you speak to her?”
    “I told her that I was Peter’s son. I thought it was pathetic that I had to tell my grandmother who I was. I still do.”
    “What did she say to that?”
    “Nothing. She just grunted. Her selfishness carried its own punishment. She died alone. They found her body by the smell. They guessed she had already been dead for at least five days.” He moved his queen. “Check.”
    I shook my head again.
    “You’re too impatient,” he said again.
    “It’s my curse,” I said. “Always has been.”
    “It’s not a curse, it’s a habit.”
    “Same thing,” I said.
    “Sometimes,” he replied.

    My father took a nap around ten thirty. Nicole arrived a little before noon. My father was still sleeping, so we went down to the cafeteria for coffee. She asked how my father was, but for the most part she was quiet. She looked as if something was bothering her. I finally asked her what was wrong.
    “Nothing.”
    “Want to talk about it?”
    “No.”
    “If you change your mind, I’m here.”
    “I know.”
    An hour later, we returned to my father’s room to find him awake. He looked especially happy to see Nicole.
    “Hi, handsome,” Nicole said. She leaned over his bed and they embraced. “How are you feeling today?”
    “Like a million bucks,” he said.
    “Really?”
    “Yeah. But a million bucks ain’t what it used to be.”
    Nicole laughed. They talked for a long while. Twice I walked around the unit to stretch my legs. About six o’clock my father was getting sleepy again.
    “You two run along,” he said. “I’m going to rest a little. Or maybe a lot. Go to a movie or something.”
    “We’re not going to a movie,” Nicole said. “There’s nothing I want to see.”
    “It doesn’t matter what you watch, as long as it’s more interesting than me.”
    “What could be more interesting than you?” She kissed him on the cheek. “Good night, Bob.”

    As we walked out of the hospital I asked Nicole if she’d like to get some dinner.
    “Thanks, but I think I’ll just go back to the hotel.”
    I looked at her quizzically.