All clear. Ready for take off. Alice replied.

Bette laughed, even though it pained her. She walked past them and said, Well, I guess this is it.

Dana and Alice grabbed onto her and held on tight, hugging and squeezing, never wanting to let go. Alice couldnt hold onto her composure any longer and let the tears fall freely. Dana joined her and soon all three women were crying.

I wish you didnt have to go. Alice said, wiping the tears from her face.

Me too. Dana sniffed.

Its been a long journey, but our roads are destined to part.

You sound so melodramatic, Bette. Alice said. Youd better keep in touch.

I will. I have one more goodbye to make after this, but now I think Id like to say goodbye to the house alone if you guys dont mind.

Dana and Alice shook their heads, hugging Bette one last time before turning and driving away forever from that street. They knew she was referring to Tina and that saying goodbye would be difficult. Bette watched them go and sighed as she walked into the empty house, not even attempting to stop the tears any more. The house still smelled like home, the home she shared with Tina before she left. It took all her strength to not lay herself face first on the floor, trying to find a glimpse of Tinas leftover scent. Instead she stood in their once upon a time bedroom and traced the walls with her fingertips as she lingered around the open space. She laid down where the bed once had been and flattened her body on her back. Facing the ceiling, she reached her arm over to where Tina used to sleep and found the emptiness nauseating. Her arm was cold and bare against the hard floor as she reached for a ghost of a memory. She felt like her heart fell from her chest, only the thin skin of her back holding it from being left behind on the floor as Bette stood.

If she closed her eyes, she could still hear laughter echoing from times spent with friends and family. Once opened, her eyes forced her to face the reality of stark circumstances. Impulsively, she raced out to her car, rummaging in the back seat for something. A thought just struck her and she wanted to act on it before she left. As she walked into the back yard, her arms held several objects that she placed in a metal box that was sitting empty on the patio. She took her old gym padlock and clasped it shut. After she dug a deep hole on the border of the neighbors yard, she placed the box there and buried it, placing a large rock over it. She wrote down the combination and stuffed it in her purse, just in case someday she had the urge to dig it up.

This is it. She quietly whispered as she moved back through the house towards the front door. May you always hold happiness and joy, never to experience any more pain or betrayal.

Bette spoke to the house, hoping whoever inhabited it next would have good fortune. She thought that blessing the house with those words would help in some way, though later she thought of it and felt silly. As much as she and Tina took care of that house… cleaned it, fixed it and kept it up, that house took care of them as well. It protected them from the weather, tucked them in at night and never betrayed their secrets. That house saw passion and witnessed more love than not. Each person that entered the house knew the walls would hold their confidential problems and trusted the confines set up by their friends, Bette and Tina.

And now, as Bette uttered her goodbye to the house, the legacy of Bette and Tina ended at the last step on the front porch. She closed the door, trusting the house would remember only the commitment and hope between the women, never having to see what happened after the fact. Bette slid her sunglasses on and slowly rolled out of the driveway, launching the car into gear and headed to one last stop before her adventure out east.

***

Bette looked at her watch and realized she was going to be late for the next item on Shanes agenda. Standing, dusk surrounded her as she walked back to the car barefoot, her shoes in her hand. She missed nights like these, barefoot and carefree. New York held too much clutter and uncongenial inhabitants. She thought of the box buried in the backyard and pondered whether or not she should dig it up, opening up old memories and all too many wounds that had healed on the outside, but on the inside, scars ran deep.