A few minutes later, an employee from the funeral home came to get them and escorted them to the sanctuary. As soon as they reached the doorway, the congregation stood in silence, watching as the Knox family walked single file down the aisle and took their seats in the front row.

Hunt heard a few shocked gasps and hasty whispers as he was passing. Now they knew he was back. Blessings would have something new to gossip about for a while.

Because he was the last to walk in, he wound up being the one to sit at the end of the pew nearest the aisle, and Birdie was beside him. It seemed fitting that the oldest would be sheltering the youngest in their time of grief.

And so the service began.

Hunt looked once at the closed casket in front of him and then never looked at it again. He felt Birdie trembling and put his arm around her shoulders and left it there. From the moment the music ensued through the reading of the eulogy and the pastor’s message upon the passing of Marjorie Knox, it all felt surreal.

Hunt had been a world away when they buried his father. But he’d seen far too many people die in the last fifteen years to come undone today. His mother’s death was just one more scar to add to his life.

* * *

Birdie began shaking when she saw her mother’s casket, and if it hadn’t been for the solid presence of Hunt walking behind her down the aisle, she might have collapsed. They made it to the pew and sat down, but it wasn’t until Hunt put his arm around her that she regained her composure.

She glanced down the pew to where Emma and Gordon were sitting, and saw Emma clenching Gordon’s hand so tightly that her knuckles were white. Junior had tears on his cheeks, and Ray was staring at the floor. Birdie took a deep breath, and then looked away.

The service began at ten, and by eleven, they were in the family car on their way to White Dove Cemetery.

Marjorie and Parnell had buried their first child, Shelly, in White Dove only four years after she was born. When Parnell died, Marjorie buried him on one side of Shelly, and Marjorie’s final wishes had been to be buried on the other side of her baby’s grave.

Hunt sat beside Birdie all the way there, holding her hand without talking, and because Hunt was in the car with them, the others stayed silent. The day was chilly but clear. A perfect day to say goodbye.

Hunt sat beside Birdie again while the preacher prayed, but was of the personal opinion that there was too much ritual to burying. It just drew out the sadness.