As they replayed the message for a second time both unsure if they had heard correctly on the first instance, Shane had the foresight to grab a pen and paper to jot down the number Howie had left at the end.  Meanwhile waves of relief swept through Alice’s body, her heart began to slow to a more normal rhythm, her lungs finally allowed her to breathe freely and her legs turned to jelly as she collapsed back onto the sofa.

“Shit Shane that really fucking scared me” she gasped resting her head in her hands.  She felt the change in weight on the sofa beside her and felt Shane’s protective arm snake around her shoulders. “It’s ok Al. Tasha’s ok.” She said gently as she flopped their two bodies back against the sofa allowing Alice’s head to rest on her right shoulder.

They stayed like that for a few minutes as Alice felt herself calm down completely.  Shane sensed the writer’s body begin to relax and tentatively asked “So Al, Any idea what Howie might want?”

“Not a clue” came the reply.  “Maybe he read my article the other week about the top ten eligible gay men in this city and he wants to use my connections to get him some loving!” Alice suggested grinning.

“Have you two kept in touch since eh you know Dana and all?”

“No, not at all actually” Alice replied solemnly.  Shane sensed Alice was lost in thought and had more to add so she rested her chin on her best friends head and waited.

“I really regret not inviting him you know” Alice said softly a tone of resignation in her voice.

“Inviting him where?”

“To the memorial we had for Dana up at the waterfall.  Remember that day in the church at the stupid service; he knew it wasn’t what she wanted either.  He was just as pissed as we were that his parents chose to do it that way.  We should have invited him to come with us.  Dana would have wanted me to invite him – I let her down”

Shane waited a moment to collect her thought before replying.  “In retrospect with the benefit of time and distance I think you’re probably right that we should have asked him to come but we discussed it then and we had our reasons.  Howie’s a great kid but his loyalty was always going to be to his parents over us and even though now I think he probably would have been on board with what we did we couldn’t afford to risk telling him we’d taken some of Dana’s ashes.  If he’d told them her parents would have totally freaked.  As for letting Dana down Alice if there’s responsibility to be borne it’s not yours.  You were her rock for so long Alice.  She was able to depend totally on you and when she was gone you weren’t thinking straight so it was up to the rest of us to give you better advice.  You tried to do your best for her.  How could anyone feel let down by someone who cares enough to steal their ashes in a portable coffee cup from under her parents’ noses?  Dana Fairbanks loved you Alice and she would never have felt let down by you”