AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Too late … Please, don’t leave me,” he begged. “Don’t take off like this. Let’s go back to the hotel and talk.”
Megan couldn’t hold back her tears. Not wanting him to see, she dropped her arms from around him. “I don’t trust myself in a hotel with you. That’s why I wanted to meet you here.” Unable to control her bottom lip trembling, she bit down on it. “I’m weak where you’re concerned.”
Turning to face the empty playground, she moved to stand by his side. “Look at how beautiful the snow is. You need a woman like that to love … not someone like me. Your stepfather nearly destroyed you; I’ll be damned if I finish the job for him. I’d rather leave you brokenhearted for now, so you can find a woman who deserves you.”
She guessed she did have another piece of her heart to lose.
Megan started to move away from his side, but Cole caught her by the arm. His expression tore at her heart.
“Here I thought you brought me here to give me my Christmas present,” he said hoarsely.
“Me leaving is my gift to you.”
Twenty-Two
Tired, Megan brushed her curly hair then checked the mirror before gathering the clothes she had slept in last night. Shoving the sweater and jeans into a plastic bag, she looked down at herself. The simple black dress she had bought off the clearance rack in town was shorter than she would have liked, but once she put on her black coat, she felt better about her appearance.
A knock on the door had her taking a final glance before unlocking it.
“Sorry …”
The teenager didn’t appear interested in any excuse she wanted to make. She just wanted her out to use the restroom.
Megan moved toward the beverage station to pour herself a large coffee and chose a cheese Danish to eat on the way to the Coleman’s.
“You look pretty today,” Joel complimented her when she went to pay. “You heading to the church?”
“You could say that. Any problems getting the car transferred over?”
“No, I made it just in time before the office closed. I don’t know what the rush was that I needed to get it done on my lunch hour, but I got it done.”
“It saves me money on my insurance,” she lied. Megan didn’t want any loose ends when she left town. “How much do I owe you?”
“Nothing. The coffee and the Danish are on me. Merry Christmas.”
“Thank you. Merry Christmas.”
She walked to her car parked at the pumps and got in. The car was fueled and ready to go once her daughter’s funeral was over.
Eating the Danish without tasting it, she drove to the Coleman’s property. The pastor was already there, talking to Silas.
She got out of the car and went to the back seat to open a small box. Taking the teddy bear, she clasped it in her hand as she closed the door.
As she walked to where the two men were standing by the porch, she managed a smile. “Good morning.”
“Good morning,” both men returned her greeting.
“Are you ready to begin the service?” the pastor asked.
“Yes, whenever you are.” She nodded at the pastor then turned to Silas. “We won’t be long. I don’t want to hold you up from where you’re going.”
Silas frowned, looking confused. “I wasn’t leaving. I’m going to your daughter’s funeral, if that’s all right?”
Megan pressed her lips together, trying not to cry. “That would be more than all right.” She gave him a watery smile.
“Good.” Silas encouragingly patted her shoulder. “I won’t be a minute.” Moving away from her, he went up the steps to his porch to open the door.
Thinking he was going inside to grab a thicker coat, she was shocked when, one after another, the Colemans stepped outside, dressed in dark suits, like Silas was. Even Ginny and her husband came out, making her hold the teddy bear closer to her at their kindness. When the last person walked out, she nearly lost the control she had managed to hold on to so far.
Cole approached her with a somber expression, holding out his arm for her to take.
Blinking back tears, Megan curled her arm through his as the pastor led the way to the small cemetery.
As the cemetery came into sight, the tears she had fought so hard to hold back began to fall. Townspeople were lined up, making a path for them to walk through. Then, as they passed, they fell in, creating a progression to the small hole that had a white casket waiting to be lowered into the ground.
Taking the handkerchief Cole handed her, she moved to the casket to place the teddy bear on top.
“Let’s begin.”
As the pastor spoke, Megan imagined what might have been, what her daughter would have looked like, imagined her as a toddler, at two, five, eight, even imagined how excited she would have been to receive her first kiss, graduated high school, college, trying on her wedding dress, her wedding day … all the same dreams she’d had for her when she was pregnant. That she had never seen those beautiful dreams come true was a sorrow she would carry for the rest of her life.
