“Girl, I love what you’ve done with your hair. You need to wear it like that at the Christmas ball at the club.”

Barb stared at the woman as if she’d lost her mind.

“Shirley, see that casket you’re leaning on?”

Shirley gasped. “Oh, I’m so—”

“No, you’re not sorry Niles is dead. None of you are sorry, and Christmas balls are obviously the last thing on my mind today,” Barb said.

Shirley’s eyes narrowed angrily, but before she could voice what she was thinking, Wynona slipped her arm through Shirley’s elbow and smiled.

“Your welcome just ran out, honey. Let me show you to the door,” Wynona said, then proceeded to walk the woman out as if they were old friends, talking as they went. Except Wy was the only one talking, and Shirley was too humiliated to make a scene.

And all through the visitation, if one of the people who’d betrayed Barb arrived, her family stepped up and stepped in.

Barb was numb, exhausted, and struggling hard not to cry as the evening was coming to an end. There was less than thirty minutes left, and fewer than ten people in the room.

But outside in the parking lot, Melissa and Sully were just getting out of the car.

“You sure you want to do this?” Sully asked.

“I have to, Sully. Just thank you for coming with me.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said, and reached for her hand.

They were still holding hands when they walked in. Melissa breathed a sigh of relief that the casket was closed as they headed straight for Barb.

A hush went through the room when everyone saw them walk in.

Barb gasped, her shock evident.

“Is this bad?” Wy whispered.

“Not like you mean. That’s Melissa Dean, the woman Niles nearly killed.”

At that point, her family turned to watch the tall, dark-haired woman coming toward them. The bruising on her face was obvious. They waited, not knowing what this meant.

But the moment Melissa walked up, she reached for Barb’s hands with tears in her eyes.

“Barb, my deepest sympathies,” Melissa said softly, then addressed the family with her. “To all of you. I am so sorry for your loss.” She put her hand on Sully’s arm. “This is my friend, Sully Raines. He’s the man who saved me. I asked him to come because I wanted him to meet you. Ever since this happened, I’ve been heartbroken. Up until I inherited Mr. Mathis’s house, Niles was my landlord.”

Barb frowned. “I don’t think I knew that. He did all the business for the properties, and I didn’t know who the renters were.”

“One of them was me. I lived in the same little house for twenty years, and rain or shine, no matter what went wrong, one call to Niles and he was immediately on-site, making sure whatever had gone wrong was corrected. When I had hard times, he let me carry my rent over until I had enough money to catch up, and never a word from him of being late. I just wanted you to know how much he was appreciated. This is a tragedy. He will be missed.”