What He Left Behind

7. Cody

The rest of the morning was spent in comfortable silence. We enjoyed the rest of our coffee, occasionally bringing up stories of my brother as the people of the town passed us by. It wasn't a surprise that Ezra knew a few of them, a handful waving or saying hello.

"Shall we take a walk?" He asked after fiddling with his empty coffee cup.

I couldn't stand up any faster, knowing my legs would fall asleep if I sat any longer. Neither of us was in a rush, casually taking the gentle path in the park. As Ezra made small talk, I couldn't help but imagine a trail of footsteps carved into the concrete—Clary's footsteps. It wasn't until I nearly bumped into Ezra's chest did I realize he had been walking backward, watching me step cautiously as if a child would hop into their parent's footprints in the sand.

He laughed, and I could feel the blush creeping on my face.

But instead of him teasing me, he went back to walking normally, periodically turning back to see if I was following. There was no reason to, but it was comforting.

"Tell me about this map. Was it really his idea?" I finally asked as we reached a quieter part of the park. "Clarence always had difficulties choosing favorites. I can't imagine that he managed to narrow it down."

Ezra turned around with a grin on his face. "I helped him, but it was all him. We did have to remove some of the places he originally wanted. If he had added all of them, I feared you wouldn't be able to see the map at all. It would just be all stickers."

I unfolded the map. "The coffee shop, I can understand. The coffee was amazing. I can't picture him calling a hiking trail one of his favorites."

He told me about the hiking trail. It was an easier trail near them, a twenty-minute drive from the apartment. The view was no Hollywood sign, but like the briefly viewed images on my phone last night, it appeared to have a great sunset-viewing spot. Imagining Ezra carrying my brother on his back down the trail was comical, but I'm glad Clarence had someone to go with him.

Though Ezra didn't elaborate, mentioning Clary's condition made it evident that it affected Clary much more than I originally thought. It was a beginner trail that advertised itself as easy for the elderly. I only hoped that maybe he let Ezra carry him back down as a precaution, not because of a near heart attack.

Fortunately, Ezra swiftly changed the subject, discussing the abundance of museums around the neighborhood. Most were along streets near their college, ranging from specifically curated Chinese artifacts to general art museums. "I had to tell him to limit his favorites to three for the map. That or buy a larger map," he explained.

"Not a dinosaur museum?"

"None nearby, sadly. There's one, maybe two hours from here. We went to see it but they were closed for renovations. He didn't include them because they hadn't let the general public know, and he hated that I drove him there for nothing."

Looking down at the map, I could spot it in the upper left corner, a hand-drawn sad face near it. "There's a spot nearby it."

"The rose garden. It didn't seem inviting, but the food truck place we stopped at suggested it," he said. "Sans the near bee attack I faced, Clary had a great time. Who knew roses could smell so nice?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Bee attack?"

He shrugged. "Clary says it was the flowers on my shirt, but they seemed intent on sticking by me the entire time. I don't even know if I'm allergic. Eventually, Clary rescued me and coerced them onto a rose bush."