By the time I finished annotating in the margins, Josh was flipping the sign on the front door to let everyone in town know that we were going to get some dinner, but would be back in about an hour.

"You ready to go, Jess?" He asks

"Yeah." I say rubbing my temples and standing up

"Come on" he says, wrapping his arm around my shoulders, "some food will take care of that headache".

We walked over to Karen's Café in comfortable silence. Once we got their and ordered food, the great book debate was in full swing.

"Rand is a political nut. Every time I read her books I feel like my brain is walking through quicksand. I have no idea what she's talking about half the time." I say biting into my grilled tomato and cheese sandwich.

"Jess, it's not my fault that you aren't intelligent enough to understand her." He says with a smirk and biting into his sandwich

"Excuse me?! Josh, you know damn well I'm intelligent. I'm sorry that I can't seem to get through crazed political shit." I say

"You like 1984 don't you?" He says, "That is full of political shit."

"Yeah, but it has allusions to the Bible, Jesus, Osama Binladen or Saddam. The political stuff in 1984 can apply to your own life and the way that it is written doesn't make you feel like you want to die. That is why I love Orwell" I say with a smile

"Well, I'm glad that you love Orwell. Good man, even better author. Aren't you glad I threw 1984 at you two years ago? What would you do without me?" He asks

"Waste away from lack of literary stimulation." I say

He laughs nodding his head and then looks at me seriously saying, "There's a word for us you know."

"Insane?" I say with a smile

"No. Individuals like you, Lucas, and myself. Individuals who are well educated, interested in literature, and have debates about authors and literary works." He says

"Yeah, literati." Lucas says coming up to our table and putting a mini chocolate cake close to the outer edge of the table, "What did I miss?"

I stared at Lucas, "Luke, why the hell am I the only one who didn't know about this term for crazed bookworms."

"Because Josh and I are older…which means we're wiser." He says, "Josh, please tell me that you more copies of The Anthem, Rand in my favorite political nut job.

Josh laughs while I glare at Lucas.

"I'm just kidding, Jess. Although, I do like Atlas Shrugged." Lucas says

"Ok, fine. I'll give you that. Atlas Shrugged was good, but The Fountainhead and The Anthem? I wanted to die." I say putting my head on the table.

"Ok, enough about Rand before she starts banging her head into the table. What did you think about The Diaries of Adam and Eve, Jess?" Luke asks

I bring my head off the table, "Mark Twain is my hero. Anyone who makes the woman the smarter of the two sexes is always amazing."

"Feminist" Josh coughs.

"You gave it to me, Jerk!" I say with a laugh "Plus, Adam thought that Cain was a fish. Come on!"

"He has nothing else to compare Cain too." Luke says

"Hello, he could have compared the skin and hair of the child to himself and Eve, but the idiot wanted her to stay out with the other animals." Josh says

"Good point. Damn you, Adam. You should have used your powers of observation." Luke says

"He was too damn lazy for that." I say

We were interrupted by Karen's voice. "Guys, you know how much I love you and I enjoy hearing your banter, but I really have to get home."

"Okay, Karen. I'm sorry. Here we'll get our plates and then get out of your hair." I say getting up.

One our plates were washed and put into the washing machine, Josh and I hugged Karen and Luke, thanked them for the night, and started towards Nathan's apartment.

Josh puts his arm around me. "That was really fun. I missed that so much. I mean, Luke and I would get together in the shop and debate, but it felt wrong without you. It was so nice doing what all three of us used to do.

"I really missed it too. I'm so glad I came into the shop today." I say putting my arm around his lower back as we continued our journey through town.

Again we lapsed into a comfortable silence enjoying each other's company as well as the sights around us. I had forgotten how beautiful the river made everything at night. I was so wrapped up on the sights that I didn't realize how we had gotten home so fast.

Josh pulled me into a tight full body hug and I didn't even think twice about it, didn't freak the hell out. That was so nice. When he lets me go he says, "I have something for you and pulled a book from his back pocket.

"This self help book helped me when my parents died. I figured that it might help you too. Please take it and work through it. You'll be surprised at what you find."

"Thanks Josh. I'll definitely work through it." I say with a smile

"Have a good night. If you need anything, call me." He says turning and heading back to his house on the beach.

Once I get in the house, Nathan looks up from the homework he is currently doing saying with a smile, "How was your time with Josh? Luke tells me the debate went till Karen kicked you guys out."

"It was really nice, just like old times. He also gave me this self-help book. He said that it helped him get through his parents death and he thought that maybe it could help me. If it's alright I'm going to go take a shower and head off to bed, maybe work through some of this." I say wrapping my arms around his shoulders and squeezing him tightly.

"Alright, honey. Good night. I'll be up if you need me." He says as I head to my bedroom taking off my shirt so I could hop in the shower.

As the shower's heat enveloped my muscles I couldn't help but think what the hell Josh meant when he said, "Work through it, you'll be surprised by what you find". Once I got out of the shower, brushed my teeth, and put on pajamas I went over to my desk and opened the book Josh gave me. In it, I found the usual crap "It's not your fault. Faith is a good foothold to have, etc" , but at the end of the chapter, written in neat handwriting, was a note from Josh.

Jessie,

I've known you for quite some time. Ever since you were born I have seen your intelligence and your strength and I am so glad that you have those things now that this horrible this has happened. When I first got the news I wanted to run to the hospital and make sure that you were alright, but I knew that they would only allow immediate family in the room and I didn't want to cause a scene. I should had a feeling something was wrong when I didn't see you walk past the shop, but I figured I was just being crazy. I figure that I'll just stay out of your way until you wander into my shop again, when we have our first "Meeting of the Literati" that's when I know it'll be safe to be around you without triggering anything…yes…I looked PTSD symptoms. I love you dearly and I can't wait until you walk through my shop doors again. If you need anything or you want to talk at all, I'm always around.

~Josh

PS. The rain ...falls upon the just and the unjust alike; a thing which would not happen if I were superintending the rain's affairs. No, I would rain softly and sweetly on the just, but if I caught a sample of the unjust outdoors I would drown him.
- Mark Twain, a Biography