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Immersed in his words, I walked without looking. Do I accept his apology? Yes, but…“Can I forgive him?”
“Getting any good answers?”
“What?” Nearly stumbling into Luke, I blinked.
“You were talking to yourself.” His smile was good-natured.
“Sorry, my mind was elsewhere.” I held up the letter.
His smile dimmed. “From Cody?”
I nodded. “He’s started therapy. Sounds like he’s coming to terms with his PTSD.”
“For his sake, I’m glad.” Luke met my gaze. “But does that change how you feel?”
****
The following week, a minister joined us to celebrate the graveside service.
Luke transferred the decomposed soil from its temporary container to a woven casket.
I removed the lock of hair from the brooch. Adding it to the humus, I caught Luke’s gaze. “It’s only right that all Kenneth’s remains be buried.”
Nodding, he sealed the casket for reburial and covered it with a spray of stargazer lilies, white roses, and irises. Then he set the basket beside the grave for the reinterment ceremony and joined me.
Rosie stood beside us with her hands folded.
The somber, gray-haired minister began the prayer. “This soil is hallowed ground. Bow your heads.”
Vapors from a low-lying fog rose slowly beneath the loquat tree. The air shimmered and stirred within the mist.
Shapes seemed to materialize, but I dismissed the movement as warm ground air displacing cooler air above.
The minister raised his hands over the casket as he recited from Ecclesiastes. “A time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to uproot. A time to tear down and a time to build…”
The wind rustled, and wisps of mist swirled above the grave. The eddying haze gathered slender tendrils of fog, twisting them like silk fibers, until the vapor became a rotating spiral.
I blinked, and when I opened my eyes, three translucent forms emerged: Mateo in his uniform; Marianna in her bridal gown; and their bundled baby in her arms. Recognizing the quilt from the threadbare remnant, I pressed a hand to my heart.
Then Marianna met my gaze and smiled. Clasping the baby, she leaned against her husband as he placed a protective arm about her shoulders.
His eyes tightly shut, the minister continued to intone. “We can’t see on the other side, but we believe the eternal light penetrates the darkness. Neither do we know what this spirit’s afterlife will be, but we have perfect trust that You will welcome home the soul of Kenneth Ramirez.”
An intense light shattered the air like sunshine ricocheting off mirror splinters.
When I opened my eyes, only our small group gathered about the grave.
Luke lowered the small, flower strewn casket into the earth, then handed Rosie and me each a pink rose.
Rosie released hers, then I let my rose fall on the woven coffin.
Luke turned a shovel of soil over the casket before handing the spade to Rosie first, then me.
The minister read from Genesis. “For dust you are and to dust you shall return.”
After I scooped soil over the casket, Luke filled the grave and set the original stone upright.
“Now Kenneth can rest in peace.” Rosie wiped her eyes.
