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“Let her grieve. Let her have these last moments with her. I’ll talk to Stacy about the arrangements.”
He turned and left while Silas and Rayen stood helpless as their sweet little bird clung on to her dead sister. Not wanting to stare at her and make her feel uncomfortable, Silas walked over to the window. He leaned against it and started studying the pictures that hung all over the room while Rayen sat on a chair and stared into empty space. Gwen’s sobs quieted and her heart slowed as she drifted off into a light sleep.
After a while, Amon quietly stepped into the room and leaned over Gwen.
Running his hand over her back, he whispered into her ear, “I’ve arranged for the funeral home you have chosen to come and pick up Evangeline tomorrow morning. Do you still want her to be cremated?”
She nodded. “Evie hated graveyards.”
“I told them that I would confirm that with you. We can go tomorrow and choose an urn for her.”
“I don’t care which one. I just wanna take her to the beach.”
“We’ll do whatever you want, Gwendoline.”
She sighed more tears running down her cheeks. “This is stupid.”
“It is not,” Amon whispered against her cheek.
Silas’s throat tightened. She was probably only saying that because he was here. He’d planted that thought in her head, and now his soul flooded with even more regret.
“I know you don’t want to think about this right now, but the room will have to be emptied by Wednesday. Do you want us to do it with you or do you want me to hire someone?”
“I want to do it,” she said in a raspy voice.
“We’ll be by your side every step of the way.”
She nodded and kissed Evangeline’s cheek before sitting up. Her red eyes looked around the room as if she wasn’t sure what to do now.
“You can see her again at the funeral home,” Amon tried to soothe her.
“No,” she whispered. “I don’t want to see her again, not somewhere she would feel uncomfortable. Those places creeped her out.”
“I’ll talk to them and will ask for them to cremate her as soon as possible so we can pick her up and take her to the beach.”
Silas watched as Gwen threaded her fingers through Evangeline’s hair one last time before sliding off the bed and to her feet. Amon laid his arm around her right away, stabilizing her on her wobbly feet.
“I love you,” she whispered before she turned to the door and walked out.
On the ride back home, she fell asleep holding Silas’s hand, her head resting against Rayen’s shoulder. At home Rayen gently shifted her into his arms and carried her up to the bedroom.
“Can I take a bath?”
“Anything you need,” Silas reassured her.
He started filling the bathtub while she undressed herself. He then took her hand, helped her step into the rising water, and leaned down to kiss her forehead.
“We are downstairs if you need us.”
“I changed my mind,” she whispered as she leaned back. “I want her urn to have a light color. Nothing bright but nothing too dark either.”
“Amon will talk to the funeral home.”
She nodded and closed her eyes, the tub slowly filling up around her.
Downstairs, Silas sat with Amon and Rayen as they listened to her heart rate and breathing. She seemed to be playing with the water, the splashes of it echoing through the house.
Rayen broke the silence first, “What else needs to be done besides emptying her room out?”
