Rafe sends me a head nod as he turns his hog around and rides away, stealing one last glance over his shoulder.

“Who was that?” Lucy asks.

“My brothers,” I answer from habit.

“Like my dad,” she says. I give her a tight-lipped expression and a nod.

“Yeah, kinda like that.”

Chapter 13

“She would have hated all of these,” Ruby sneers at the fourteenth sample we’ve seen.

“Probably,” I agree, then smile at the man showing us the samples. They were nice enough to bring some samples to us here at the house, just another one of those perks for being ridiculously wealthy.

Murph and Ryder have spent the last hour sitting silently in the back of the room, not making any suggestions or giving any input, but in their defense, this really isn’t their style. I highly doubt they’ve been to a real funeral, let alone helped design one.

“I think we’ll go with this one,” I say, pointing to the pine sample. It’s a neutral choice, but it was the closest thing to not hating it.

“Yeah, fuck it,” Ruby spit. My eyes went side and behind me, I heard the boys laughing under their breath. The man from the funeral home tried to maintain his composure as he set the sample down with the others.

“We should bury her at sea, like a goddamn Viking,” Ryder added from the back.

“That would be more appropriate,” Ruby replied.

“So, let’s say fuck the funeral and throw her a howler.” Murph’s voice from behind me made me smile.

“Instead of hors d'oeuvres, we could serve gin and skinny cigarettes,” I add. Everyone chuckles.

“We can play her favorite music and all get royally tanked.”

“You should wear that dress,” Ruby added, looking at me with tears in her eyes. “The one you wore to the gala.”

“Okay,” I answer with tears brewing behind my lids.

“What about her remains?” the man asks, pulling our attention back to the task at hand. “She has a plot at her family’s cemetery.”

“Give her the pine casket,” Ruby says with a straight face. “And after we bury her, we’ll host the party here.”

“Perfect,” I say, taking her hand in mine.

After the man leaves, Ruby gets busy planning the funeral-turned-party. She’s decided it should be the fanciest, roaring 20’s style party, just like Hazel would have liked. No black, no crying. Only drinking and laughing, like she lived.

She’s in the office on the computer while the rest of us are huddled around the fireplace we don't need because it’s June, but it’s comforting anyway.

Ryder handles the lawyers who keep trying to come over, but we’ve managed to stave them off. But just before the day comes to an end, he walks in with his cell phone in his hand.