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Something catches my attention out of the corner of my eye just at the crest of the hill. Baseball players—current ones under his coaching and, right now, mine. Each one of them, including Beau, is wearing their letterman jacket instead of their suit coat and a Meadows Ridge Wildcats ball cap.
The minister pauses when he looks up from his bible at the new attendees. The crowd watches in silence as each player hands Ellie and Melody a single rose before taking a stance beside the casket in the open space separating us.
I may have only been their coach recently, but I have never been more proud of each one of them.
I meet Beau’s gaze and nod, an unspoken conversation telling him how much their being here means to everyone.
Before I know it, the funeral director is standing before us and informing everyone that this now concludes this part of the service. He gives details of the gathering being hosted at the high school after this.
The crowd slims down as folks say their last goodbyes, but I can’t get my feet to move, so I stand and wait till it’s only me left. I’m not ready to say goodbye.
Chapter 35
Riley
“Youwantmetogo up and check on him?” Austin asks from beside me as we both stare up at the hill where Cooper has yet to come back down.
My car and Austin’s are the only ones left. Everyone else had already set off for the reception.
“No, I’ll go.” I glance over Austin’s shoulder and find my sister and Ace, who are standing close together, having a hushed conversation. They stop talking when she looks over and finds me watching. “In fact, why don’t you guys head on over to the school? We’ll just meet y’all there.”
“Are you sure?” Sutton asks, walking forward toward me.
“Yeah, we don’t mind waiting,” Ace adds.
I shake my head. “No, we won’t be that far behind.”
Austin tugs me into a tight hug. I know that today hasn’t been taxing on only Cooper. I’m pretty sure that today has dredged up memories for Austin as well. There have been many times in the past few days that I’ve caught him staring out at nothing, similar to Cooper, consumed, deep in thought. I wrap my arms around his waist and bury my head into his chest. With a kiss to the top of my head, he steps back, and my sister swarms me.
“Thank you for coming,” I say.
“Of course. I’m glad to be here for you guys.”
I turn to Ace. “You too. I know Cooper might not say it aloud, but it means everything to him—” I pause. “—and to me that you’re here.” I can see why Cooper formed such a close friendship with Ace. It may have just been a few days since we met, but it feels like it’s been much longer. He just meshes well with us all.
“That guy might be a dick, but hey, he’s my dick.” Leave it to him to deliver the joke that seems to ease some of the tension of the day.
“Well, he’s my dick now,” I say behind my giggle. And this is another reason I’m thankful that he’s here. Ace has brought much-needed comic relief to our house.
“Alright, enough dick talk. This is a cemetery, for God’s sake.” Austin laughs awkwardly, gripping the back of his neck. “We’ll see you soon, Ry.”
He turns and heads toward the driver’s side while I watch Ace place his hand on my sister’s lower back, and she glances over at him with a smile. After he helps her into the passenger seat, he gets into the back seat, and they’re off.
I drop my purse off at my car and turn to look up the hill, hoping Cooper has had his moment and has already made the trek down, but no such luck. Honestly, I’m rather worried about him, but no matter what, I’m going to be there to help him through this.
I cross my arms over my body and take the same path we took up to the gravesite. When I reach the top, I hesitate. Cooper has finally moved from where we stood for the service to now sitting on his knees with his head bowed, reading a piece of paper. He doesn’t look up as I make my way over to him and take a seat beside him.
“Hey, sweetheart,” I say softly, but he doesn’t respond. “Everyone left to head over to the reception. You wanna go over?”
He shakes his head and finally speaks. “Can we wait just a little longer?”
“Sure.” I place my hand on his thigh. He continues to stare at the piece of paper. “Whatcha got there?”
He straightens up in his seat. “Melody, Coach’s daughter, gave it to me. He, umm—” He chokes on his words. After clearing his throat, he continues. “He, umm, left it for me.”
My breath catches in my throat. Neither of us speaks.
“Here.” Cooper extends the letter in front of me, and I try to push it back to him.
