A joint funeral was held for Ted and Harley, the afternoon after Ted died. It was a cold, gray day, with another dusting of snow on the ground. Trey had built the two coffins, and a handful of local men who hadn’t volunteered in the past dug the graves at the edge of the cemetery, using nothing more than shovels and their own strength. They were alarmed by what had happened and had been pretty much shamed into making the decision to become involved.
There was strength in numbers, and they now added themselves to the list to be called on.
Most of the valley community turned out for the funeral. Sela studied the faces in the crowd. Some she knew, many she didn’t, but almost everyone who’d heard what had happened attended. Many wore black. Most had walked, while a few had used precious gasoline to drive here. Sela had driven herself, with Barb, Meredith, and Olivia in tow. She couldn’t see either of the older women handling the walk well.
Meredith had stopped crying a while back, though her eyes were red and she trembled. She had been Ted’s reason for everything and, imperfect as he was, he had been her center. Barb stood to one side of the new widow. Leigh Kilgore was on the other side, a steadying hand resting on Meredith’s arm. Harley’s widow had similar support, both physical and emotional.
Carol had insisted on attending the funeral, but Sela and Barb had insisted more urgently that she stay in bed—at Sela’s house, until the evidence of violence in her own home could be cleared away—and rest. There were too many gentle hills in the cemetery, too many potential pitfalls. The last thing they needed was for her to take another fall.
As the preacher’s words came to an end, Barb stepped forward and began singing a hymn in her sweet voice, a familiar one most of the funeral goers would know. People began joining in, their voices rising in the cold air. Sela tried to join in but her throat was too tight, and she couldn’t get the words out. She reached out, grabbed Ben’s hand. He threaded his fingers through hers and held on tight. His hand in hers grounded her, and when the time came she was reluctant to let him go.
When the funeral was over, Ben hung back while Sela made the rounds, hugging Meredith as well as Harley’s widow, offering her condolences and her prayers. Olivia got a big hug, too, many of them, from a lot of different people. She was a kid and she’d had too many harrowing experiences in the last few days. There was a new look in Olivia’s eyes, an older, fiercer expression. Death had touched her at a young age, when she lost her parents, and now this.
Ben stayed close behind Sela and the others as they walked toward the car, sharply watching over his . . . well, hell, his family. They, and Meredith, were crowded into Sela’s small house. No one wanted Meredith to go home alone, to that empty house on the mountain. It was a nice house, but it was also isolated with all those empty rental cabins in the neighborhood. Ben’s house was the closest one that was occupied, and wasn’t exactly easy to get to.
Sela fished her keys out of her pocket; Ben reached out and snagged them from her and she gave him a surprised look. “What—?”
“Olivia,” he called, and the girl turned toward him. He tossed the keys to her.
She deftly caught them, her gaze flaring with joy. “Yes!” she hissed, clutching the keys.
“Ben!” Sela said in alarm. “She’s fifteen!”
“Has she had driving lessons?”
“A few. She got her learner’s permit a few months back. But—”
“Think she can handle the short distance to your house?”
“It’s not that far,” she conceded. “And Lord knows there isn’t much traffic.” There were a lot of pedestrians, though, and she wasn’t sure how much of a danger Olivia would be to them.
“Let her drive. You come home with me.”
Come home with me. That phrase was as tantalizing as the When we have sex that had haunted her for . . . well, hours, before it had actually happened.
“I really should see everyone settled.”
“You really should come home with me and let me take care of you for a while. Olivia can handle the rest. We’ll come down and check on them tomorrow morning. Promise.”
Olivia had been listening. She spun around and mouthed to Sela, “We’ll be