“Why? What makes you think he won’t see me and get mad?”
He grinned, causing his braided beard that was lying flat against his chest—something he did when he was about to ride—to shake, and gestured for me to sit up.
He sat down next to me, pulling me into his chest like a brother would—though I could only guess since I didn’t actually have a brother—and started to talk.
By the time he was finished explaining the merits of going versus not going, I was convinced that he was right.
I should go.
“Now I just need to find something to wear.”
That turned out a lot harder to do than making the actual decision to go in the first place.
Chapter 9
If you’re going to get in trouble for hitting someone, you might as well hit them hard.
-Fact of Life
Truth
My parents and my brother and sister made it in time. Even though we weren’t quite sure if my sister would or not.
I suppose that was to be expected when you were in the middle of the ocean on an aircraft carrier, and it wasn’t as easy to leave as someone who was on land could.
My brothers were at my back: Sean, Aaron, Big Papa, Ghost, and Tommy Tom.
The rest of the community—those who adored my Pops and Grams as much as I did—were also there.
Police officers. Paramedics. Firefighters. Plumbers. Even the fuckin’ mayor was there.
The hall that we’d settled on to hold the service in was filled to maximum capacity, and my heart swelled knowing that the place was packed.
I heard a familiar voice say ‘excuse me’ from somewhere behind me, and I turned in my seat next to my mother, freezing at the sight that awaited me.
Verity, in a black dress that hugged her curves and came to a stop right above her calves, was taking a seat about four rows from the back, next to a few of my Grams’ bingo partners.
They smiled at her, scooted over, and made her feel welcome, causing my chest to ache.
I should’ve called her myself, but if I was being honest, I was using the death of my grandparents as an excuse. A convenient excuse that allowed me the time I needed to figure out what exactly I was going to tell her.
She looked up then, her eyes searching the room, and froze when she found me already looking at her.
She smiled and gave me a small wave.
I continued to stare, causing her eyebrows to furrow.
Then I lifted my hand and motioned my fingers at her, ordering her silently to come to me.
Her eyes widened, and she shook her head furiously.
The old ladies around her, though, saw that I wanted her, and all got up as one and ushered her out of her seat.
Not even five seconds later, Verity was on her feet in the middle of the aisle.
She was left standing there, looking at where she used to be sitting, wondering whether she should run for it or follow directions.
I leaned forward in my seat, then stood, gesturing to my mom to scoot down, which she did without another word.
“Verity,” I said, my voice barely audible. “Sit.”
She turned on her heel, and walked up to the pew I was standing in the middle of.
“’Scuse me,” Verity said to my brother.
My brother stood, swiping his tie down against his chest as he did, and moved without a word.
Kenneth, who was on the end of the pew behind me, stood, and stared at Verity with a look of shock crossing over his face.
She looked damn good.
I agreed with his assessment.
What I did not agree with, however, was him reaching for her.
“Trent,” I said quietly.
Trent, seeing that Kenneth was reaching for Verity, moved in front of Kenneth and blocked his way, allowing Verity to slip past him and my sister, Marnie, before coming to a stop beside me.
She smiled timidly at me, and I dropped my mouth down to hers, giving her a quick, soft kiss.
She had no clue, but she’d just saved my sanity.
Having to deal with my sister, brother, mother and father, as well as having Kenneth and my cheating ex at my back, was hard in and of itself.
But having to do that while also laying my grandfather and grandmother—people who had been like second parents to me—in the ground was tipping me over the edge of reason.
I didn’t have any patience today, and I hadn’t had much for the last five days since my grandparents had been murdered.
“I’m glad you’re here,” I told her, taking her hand, and pulling her to the pew beside me.
She crossed her left leg over her right and leaned into me.
“Are you okay?” she whispered in my ear.
I squeezed her to me, wrapping my arm around her shoulders, and held on tight.
My sister, who was curious by nature, stared at me over the top of Verity’s head, and I winked at her.
She stuck her tongue out at me, and I felt something tight in my chest relax.
Marnie, Trent, and I had had a knockdown, drag out fight with our parents over the last two days about whether we should cremate my grandparents or not.
They agreed with our aunt, Kenneth and Eugene’s mom, that they should be buried in a cemetery next to each other.
I’d argued that that hadn’t been what the two of them wanted, and Trent and Marnie had agreed.
In the end, my parents finally settled with us, and we’d outvoted our aunt, but it hadn’t been because they were agreeing with us. It’d been because the lawyer had butted in and informed my dad and aunt of their parents’ wishes.
The music that’d been playing changed, and my body jerked at the realization that the service was about to start.
The funeral home had gone over everything that they were going to do, down to the last detail, and I knew the sound of my grandparents’ wedding song signaled the beginning of the service.
My eyes went to the screen above the microphone, and my heart ached when I saw the first picture was of my grandfather and me fishing.
The next was of my sister, him, and my grandmother riding on a motorcycle, almost exactly like the one that had been plastered all over the Internet with a rude, derogatory comment right above Verity’s ass.
As the pictures flowed through the slideshow, Verity leaned her head against my chest and rested her hand on my thigh, completely ignoring the angered eyes of Kenneth.
I turned my head slightly once to see him staring at Verity, and I turned back. Without flipping him off, might I add…though it was close.
As the slideshow came to a close, another song started to play, and I immediately stood, as did the men two pews back.
The National Anthem.
My grandfather had served twelve years in the Army while my grandmother had served eight. It’d been where they met.
My grandfather had come to my grandmother, a nurse, after a suspicious case of gout had nearly brought him to his knees.
And the rest was history.
They spent nearly every waking moment together from that point on and had even died on the same day.
Which, I guess, was a blessing.