She brought the fragrance-less rose up to her lips and kissed it gently, as if she were kissing Wren’s cheek for the last time. She couldn’t look at the gaping hole, so she threw her not-sunflower in blindly where it would forever lay on top of Wren, the two of them decomposing together.

Two familiar faces were missing from the crowd of mourners. Justin and Wade. Both still in hospital. She’d hadn’t been fit to go and see either one of them yet; she wasn’t ready to see the survivors of the crash that had taken her boy from her. Why hadn’t Justin just hit the fucking deer? Why did he have to swerve? Why didn’t Wren have a seatbelt on and why didn’t the airbag go off? Why was he depressed? Did they even notice? What had happened with Olivia? So many questions, but still no answers.

Vanessa noticed that neither of their moms showed up either to represent the boys. Joan, she hadn’t expected to see, but Phillipa? Yeah. Had the roles been reversed, Vanessa would have been there to support them.

She turned to walk away, her back to Wren, when she saw him. He was standing there, hands by his sides, a haunted look in his eyes. Their eyes connected. She shrugged Billy’s hand off her shoulder and walked quickly over to the man.

‘Mrs Wright, Vanessa,’ he said, before slipping his arms around her. She finally gave herself permission to cry. This man, arms wrapped around her, understood her completely. She was touched that Principal Holmes had come at all, given how hard this must be for him. She had been told that Olivia would be buried in two days’ time. There had to be an inquest as she had died at home and due to the circumstances surrounding her death. Vanessa had decided to attend the funeral, no matter how difficult it would be for her. They hadn’t been in town long. He had no wife and now no daughter and no answers. She hugged him tighter.

She had no idea how long they stood there, wrapped in their bubble of disconnection, but eventually she became aware of eyes on them. She stepped back and turned her head slightly. Only her family remained, Billy watching them intently. With a hoarse voice she said, ‘Thank you for coming, Principal Holmes. I know how hard this is for you to be here.’

‘Please call me Ryan.’

They were bonded by their grief now, and Vanessa knew that they would help each other through their shared tragedies.

She walked away from Ryan and back toward Billy. ‘Time to go back home to the wake, love. Just hang in there a little longer. Maggie is already at the house taking care of people, but we really should go.’

Can’t be late for her own son’s wake.