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“I’m not calm. I’m”—anything but—“resigned. Dad screwed up but Mom needs us to help her. To get her through this because she obviously can’t cope with it on her own.”
“Yeah, well, like I said, a fugue state would be welcome right now.” Dara ran her hand over the braid hanging over her shoulder. “Screw it. Let’s get that one,” she said, indicating the one Devon had chosen. “So we can call this done and get out of here.”
Decision made, they turned to go back toward the office when the director appeared, Michael and Oz in the office doorway behind him, reenforcing Devon’s belief that there were cameras in the room.
The next step was choosing flowers, music, those who would speak. Finally the chore was finished, and as soon as the body was released, they could go about the business of burying their father.
They walked out of the funeral home and into the heat of the day, waiting beneath the covered awning while the guys walked to the car and brought it up to the entrance.
“The air’s a lot different than the streets of New York, huh?” Dara stated.
She hadn’t realized the breath she’d inhaled was so loud. “I’d forgotten how fresh salt air is.”
“You’ve stayed away too long.”
“See one, see us both,” Devon said, quoting their mantra from their teen years when attendance was required at different events and one didn’t want to go.
“It’s good to be back, though, isn’t it?” Dara asked. “Even though it’s for this?”
The last ten years had consisted of exactly two short trips home to Carolina Cove. Both times she’d managed to avoid Oz, though she told herself she would’ve been fine had she seen him.
It was a lie though. She’d glimpsed Oz’s expression after she’d left the message on Ted’s machine, and despite Oz’s attempts to hide his thoughts, he’d failed.
Her telling Ted she’d give the ring back had apparently brought their past to mind, and Oz wasn’t as over it as he said he was.
And she felt bad for that. He was a good guy. Did he date? There were plenty of women who’d accept an invitation if he asked.
“I’m saying,” Dara continued, “it’s home.”
It was. And she’d missed it. But sometimes you couldn’t go home again. Like the saying not all who wander are lost… She’d found her way, taken her own path.
“There they are. Are you hungry?” Dara asked. “You’ve lost weight since I saw you last.”
“The cameras add it on, trust me.” And with all the gorgeous up-and-coming wannabes, she needed to keep in top shape.
“Yeah, well, you need at least one solid meal before we head back to the house. Maybe your old favorite of a Tanglewood burger and beer-battered onion rings?”
Rayna Jo tried and failed to fight her fatigue. She didn’t remember ever being this tired in her life, not even when the girls were babies and on opposite sleep schedules.
While Tessa and Cheryl talked about Tessa’s upcoming date with her ex-husband, Rayna Jo felt Adaline’s gaze on her. Her sister seemed a bit off, and Rayna Jo blamed it on Addy’s worry. “Stop staring. I’m fine. Nothing a nap won’t fix,” she said.
Tessa and Cheryl stopped talking and now Rayna Jo held all of their attention. “Girls, what is wrong with all of you? I’ve been under the weather before. You need to go home and stop worrying about me.”
“We’re just visiting,” Mary Elizabeth said. “We’ll leave you be once the twins get back.”
Rayna Jo pushed herself up from the settee and hated the head rush that resulted. The room spun like a kaleidoscope, but when it settled, she moved toward the bathroom. Along the way, she paused at the window. “They’re still down there,” she murmured, seeing the television vans below. “I know Devon’s big-city job offer is amazing for a small town, but I wouldn’t think it would be that newsworthy. Aren’t there other more important stories to be covered?”
“It’s a mystery,” Mary Elizabeth said as she moved to where Rayna Jo stood. “Let’s get away from the window.”
Urged toward the bathroom, Rayna Jo continued on, closing the door behind her. She paused again when she spied herself in the mirror. When had she gotten so old? The wrinkles and lines and bags beneath her eyes, the gray she needed to have colored. She should see if Tessa could squeeze her in before Richard returned. She wanted to look her best for him.
Minutes later she left the bathroom and frowned when the conversation among the Babes stopped. “What’s going on? What are you whispering about?”
“We’re just saying you should try to rest,” Cheryl said.
“Actually, I was hoping Tessa might color my hair. Richard will be home soon, and I don’t want to have to go one evening when we could be together. He travels so often these days.”
“What a great idea,” Tessa said quickly. “I’ll run down to the shop and get what I need.”
