seemed to help him quiet his sobs. It certainly didn’t help Wes, whose chest now heaved, and he hadn’t even started yet.
He closed his eyes so he wouldn’t have to see anyone else’s reaction, and he bowed his head. There were no jokes today. No funny cowboy hats. No hugs with loud clapping on the back.
“Dear Lord,” Wes started, and he couldn’t quite continue. He swallowed and breathed and reached for Bree’s hand. With her fingers between his, he could go on. Another breath, and he said, “We thank Thee for an opportunity to get together as a complete family unit. We love Thee with all our hearts, and we ask Thy spirit of comfort and peace to be with us in abundance today.”
Gray could listen to his brother pray forever. Wes possessed a power and leadership that made others flock to him, Gray included. He’d always looked up to his oldest brother, and today was no different.
He had no idea how to comfort Hunter, and Elise had done her best.
Wes’s prayer was so beautiful that Gray actually felt his heartbeat calm as Wes asked for the Lord’s blessing on any in the family that needed that sense that all was well, that He was in charge and He now encircled their mother in His loving arms.
Gray let his own tears fall silently down his face. He told himself he was allowed to cry at his own mother’s funeral.
“Bless Dad with an outpouring of love, and bless each of us here to remember him in his time of need. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
“Amen,” Gray said, drawing in a deep breath and wiping his eyes quickly. He held the hand of each of his little boys, with Jane stuck to Tucker’s side. Elise had told the children to do exactly as she said, and she’d instructed Deacon and Tucker to hold Gray’s hands, and for Jane to never stray more than three feet from Tucker.
Elise could be commanding when she wanted to be, and Gray watched her look up at Hunter and wipe his tears and say something to him. He nodded, and she hugged him. It was odd seeing her be the strong one out of that pair, as Hunter was at least twice as big as Elise in every way.
“Please line up in order,” Dad said. “Wes, Gray, Colton, Ames, Cy.”
“Grandpa,” June asked, her voice so tiny and so sweet. “Can I walk by you?”
“June,” Ames barked. “Leave Grandpa alone.”
“It’s okay,” Dad said, waving away Ames and his fury. He bent down and looked at little June. “You can walk right beside me, darling. Will you hold my hand and make sure I go where I’m supposed to?”
The four-year-old nodded, and she linked her hand into Dad’s. He straightened and nodded to the funeral director. He and another man began to wheel the casket toward the door.
Gray tugged on his boys’ hands and they joined Hunter and Elise in the proper order. The walk down the hall seemed to take an eternity, and he hated more than anything else he’d done in his life walking into the chapel at the funeral home through the back door. He had to walk up the aisle to the front rows that had been reserved for the family, and everyone stared at them.
Dad sat right behind the casket, and Wes’s family filled in the bench on his right.
“Go around to the left,” Gray whispered to Hunter, and he led the family to the left side of the bench, sitting right next to his grandfather. Everyone else, including Dad’s siblings and their children, and their children’s children, filed in behind them. It seemed to take forever for the Hammond family to fill the benches, and then Pastor Benson stood up and positioned himself behind the mic.
The man had obviously been crying too, and that only made Gray’s breath freeze in his chest, as if someone had taken their giant boot and stomped on his lungs.
“Welcome, everyone,” Pastor Benson said smoothly. “What a beautiful, solemn occasion. I can feel the intense love this family has for Beverly Hammond.” He looked down and shuffled his notes. “We’ll start our program today with a life sketch by Colton Hammond, son of Beverly and Christopher Hammond. After Colton, we’ll have a musical number by Ava and Ella Hammond, two of Beverly’s granddaughters.”
He looked up and out into the crowd. “We’ll go to that point.” He sat back down, and behind Gray, Colton stood up and made his way