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comes to an end!" Joey yells.
    Laughing, Amelia and I fall back onto the couch on each side of him. She leans her head on his shoulder, and I can't help the small twinge of pain I feel in my chest. But I really am happy for them. They have been there for me when I have needed them most. They have put their pain aside to focus on me.
    It's time for them to be happy and live their lives and for me to focus on me.

    ******

    Later that night, after taking much convincing, Amelia and Joey left. Joey was nice enough to bring home the office laptop for me to work on a few orders and payroll so everyone can get paid by Friday. After last night, I wanted a quiet night here by myself.
    I worked through the payroll first getting it out of the way. Then moved on to the ordering. There are a few new releases coming out soon that I wanted to make sure I had by release day, but other than that, we are pretty stocked up. Completing those tasks doesn't take nearly as long as I thought and it's now only seven. Way too early to go to bed.
    Walking into my bedroom, I open the closet and stare at everything on the hangers and floor. It's a combination of my items and Benji's. When I moved in, I packed all of his stuff together with mine and put it all away, like he was on vacation and would be returning home soon.
    But he's not coming home. He's gone. It's time for me to pack his stuff up. Maybe I will just box them and place them in the attic or spare bedroom. Packing them away at this point will be better and easier than giving them away. I know I'm not ready for that step yet.
    As I go through the items, many things are bringing back so many memories. Like this ratty old Chicago Cubs t-shirt that he's had for as long as I can remember. I bring it to my face and breath in as deep as possible, hoping to catch a small whiff of his scent still lingering on the cotton. But there's nothing. Just the smell of my laundry detergent, fabric softener, and me, most likely from being in close proximity to my clothing.
    By the time I'm finished boxing everything up and pushing the tubs into the spare bedroom, not only is my closet bare but I'm beat. Exhaustion overtakes me, and I feel my eyes slowly flutter shut as soon as I hit my bed. As I slowly drift off, I see Benji in the distance smiling approvingly at me. That's the last thing I remember before sleep pulls me under its spell.

Chapter Five
Dalton
    "Hey, man, I think you got an issue over there." Liam points to the ground underneath the older model Lincoln.
    "God dammit!" I yell throughout the garage. I've been busting my ass all day on Mrs. Roger’s car, and I can't seem to keep my focus. First of all, I locked the freaking keys in the car and that was a major pain in the ass to get that taken care of. Then, I tried to put the wrong damn oil filter in the car, and now that I am almost finished with everything I forgot to put the plug in the oil pan .
    "Dude. Chill. It's no big deal. Happens all the time," Liam soothes as he makes his way over to the car. "You seem more out of sorts than normal today. What's up? Mel get on ya about somethin'?"
    Sighing, I flop down on the creeper with the plug in my hand and slide under the car to put it in. "No, he's fine. Same old Uncle Mel. I wanted to get out of here. I have plans tonight."
    He's quiet, but I can sense the smirk. I know exactly what he's thinking. I used to go out. A lot. There was a different lady every night. But it was always a mutual thing. I was always up front with all of the women I was with. Sex only, no relationships. I had too much going on in my life being under Sonny and J.R.'s thumbs to be worrying about someone else all the time.
    "Don't even say it, Liam. It's not like that," I yell from underneath the car.
    "Whatever you say, boss man." He laughs and I hear his footsteps walk back over to the car he was working on as I put the plug in place and slide out.
    I'm a freaking mess. I need to finish up here and get cleaned up to head