Loving War(72)
Chapter 23
KODE
“Have you talked to her?” Dale asks while sitting down beside me in the back of the enormous church. It wasn’t too long ago we were here for Thomas Colton.
With the amount of people here, the chapels just don’t have the necessary seating. But this massive church was built with the town, so it has become the rock for a lot of people in times like this.
“Not much. She’s been staying with Eleanor for the past couple of days, and she hasn’t really been in a talking mood.”
I try not to let anyone see how fucking stressed out I am. Tria is shutting me out, and I don’t know whether to let her or stop her. I’ve always sucked at this sort of thing, and since she’s been at her Mom’s, I haven’t really had the chance to see her. I should be doing something, but I’m clueless as to what.
This is yet another suit I won’t be able to wear again. Once they’ve been tainted by a funeral, they go into the discard pile. I don’t want those memories burned into the threads I wear. Especially this one.
Rain and Dane walk in from a door at the front of the church, emerging from a private room where the immediate family has been stashed. He’s holding her hand, and she’s looking over her shoulder at Eleanor who is clutching the hands of both of her sisters. Her eyes are rimmed red, swollen, and full of tears. I guess she hated him a lot less than she loved him.
But my eyes move away from her when I see the girl with her head bowed, her face clean with no tears. She’s staring at her hands as she walks behind everyone, not bothering to make eye contact with a single person.
My eyes never stray, and she sits beside one of her aunts near the front as the minister moves behind the podium to speak. Seeing her look so broken and alone is too much.
“Fuck this,” I mumble before getting up.
With long strides, I abandon my cousins and round the back of the church to move toward the girl who has no one holding her hand right now—the girl too afraid to cry on someone’s shoulder.
Eyes fall on me from all around as I move into the pew, and Tria’s tired gaze meets mine. Her hazel eyes go wide in her face, but then her look softens as I sit beside her and put my arm around her shoulders, pulling her to me before kissing her softly on her head.
It’s like something inside her snaps, and she buries her face in my chest as her body starts shaking. Silent sobs wrack her body, and I pull her to be almost in my lap, wrapping her up in both arms as the minister continues to praise the life of the man who destroyed his family.
“I’ve got you, Tria,” I whisper softly.
She fists a handful of my shirt as she weeps against me, and I continue to rub soothing patterns on her back. Eleanor looks over with glassy eyes, noticing her child’s pain for what seems to be the first time, and her tears start falling harder before she mouths, “thank you,” to me.
But when my gaze meets a set of cold green eyes, I realize this day is going to get dramatic. Dane is staring at me with a murderous glare and a clenched jaw, looking every bit ready to punch me in the face.
Rain’s eyes are wide in shock, her mouth slightly open in disbelief. I’ll deal with them when I have to. This is about Tria right now. Not them.
My eyes go back down as Tria clings to me, and I do all I can to make it easier. For the first time in my life, it’s not hard to comfort someone. My movements aren’t forced or awkward. I’m not looking for a way to escape. This is exactly where I want to be right now.
By the end of the service, Tria’s sobs have gentled, and she’s leaning against me as the minister carries on. She threads her fingers through mine with one hand, keeping it in her lap. I use the arm wrapped around her to run my fingers through the soft strands of her hair, trying to relax her any way that I can.
As the service wraps up, I stand with Tria, keeping her hand in mine, and lead her through the church. We stop as people try to offer their condolences, and I wait, never letting go of her hand the entire time.
When we finally reach the outside, my arm slides back around her shoulders, and I tuck her against my body. “I’ll drive you to the cemetery.”
She looks up with her sad eyes that have me wishing I could do so much more.
“Thank you,” she says hoarsely, swallowing back another sob.
After opening the door for her and helping her in, I make my way around to the driver’s side. My eyes catch Dane’s cold glare, but I don’t acknowledge it past that.
Tria’s hand finds mine the second I’m in the car. I only let go to shift gears, but I keep taking her hand back in mine in between shifts as we follow the line behind the Hearse to the graveyard.