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“One more thing. Don’t you dare push her away when she comes to you.”
“Who, Matilda?”
Cecile rasps out a laugh. “No. You know who I mean.” She turns her face to the sunlight streaming in through the window. “I will be glad to see my girls again. Lynette. And yes, even Edie. Maybe death has the power to strip away the evil and leave only the good.”
At the mention of my dead aunts, my gaze shifts to the framed photo propped up on the neighboring nightstand. Four little girls once smiled on a beach with their young, beautiful mother. Two of those girls are dead now and their mother is about to join them.
I’d like to think Cecile’s hope is true, that there are other journeys ahead when the end comes.
Too bad there’s no one to ask.
She’s lapsed in oblivion again, sinking back on her pillows. Resting two fingers lightly on her neck, I detect a fluttery pulse.
She’s alive, just resting. For now.
Getting closer to her ear, I hope these words find her in the last of her earthly dreams. “I love you, Cecile.”
Then I touch my grandmother’s hand for what I suspect will be the last time.
“Be sure to say hello to Ethan for me.”
Chapter21
Tess
Ifind Dani in the kitchen amid stacks of food. “Here, let me help.”
She piles a tray with sandwich wedges and stands back. “It’s not exactly art but every decent caterer was booked.”
Rolling the sleeves of my black dress up to my elbows, I pump soap into my hands and run the tap. “Gage is taking care of the beverages. Conner and Micah ran to the store for additional provisions. We can get these trays finished in no time.”
She gives me a tired smile. “Always love your optimism.”
I wink at her and get to work.
Dani sighs and gazes out the window as she fiddles with the ruby pendant around her neck, a long ago gift from Cecile. “It was a nice ceremony, wasn’t it?”
“Cecile would have been pleased. Especially by the part when Gage released the doves right in the middle of Matilda’s eulogy.”
Dani chokes out a laugh and keeps her voice low. “She does tend to ramble.”
“My feet were falling asleep,” I whisper back.
She grins, then tilts her head, observing my every move in silence.
I select the sharpest knife to slice up raw veggies. “Something you want to say, BFF?”
“I was watching you with Micah.”
“Mmmm.” A noncommittal noise because I don’t know what else to say.
Micah didn’t move away when I stood right beside him during Cecile’s funeral. That cemetery has deep meaning for us both. My mother, his father, both buried there.
The whole time I stood at Micah’s side I was tempted to take his hand. I should have done that.
Dani gently prods. “You two still haven’t talked?”
“We’ve talked.”
