One look at his younger brother’s face, and Gray was beyond relieved his name had not been in his mother’s final letter, at least not for a major part in the funeral. She’d assigned all the talks right there in her notes to her sons, and Gray’s part was to feed everyone and make sure she was buried on the farm, not in the town cemetery.
That had been trickier than Gray had anticipated, because there were laws about where bodies could be buried. Gray had managed to ensure his mother’s wishes would be honored, and he and Elise had enough food to feed the entire town of Ivory Peaks at the church, and they’d spoken to Margie Benson about helping to get it all set up while the family was at the cemetery.
Colton looked up, his dark eyes bright, and Gray thought, Bless him, Lord.
Colton Hammond had loved his mother with a love that couldn’t be described. As he looked at the rows and rows of family members, he wondered if his mother could see them too. His eyes caught Annie’s, and her slight nod gave him the courage to say what he needed to say.
“Beverly Trudy Clarke Hammond was born right here in Colorado,” he said, his voice steady and clear. “As a little girl, she loved to watch the sun rise, and she used to get into trouble for leaving the house before dawn.” He smiled, thinking he’d gotten the best job at the funeral.
“In fact, Mother used to get into a lot of trouble. She once brought bubble gum to school and got it stuck in her hair. When her mom came to get her, she threatened to cut her hair clean off because of it. Thankfully, my grandmother was good with a pair of scissors, and Mom didn’t have to lose much hair.
“Later, though, Mom climbed onto the Ridgeway Bridge and jumped into the river below.” He chuckled and shook his head. “She ‘accidentally’ told two boys she’d go to the same prom with them. She forgot to fill her radiator with antifreeze and broke down on the side of the road.” He cleared his throat.
“The man who rescued her became her husband about six months later, and Bev became a Hammond on February eleventh, during the biggest snowstorm the Rocky Mountains has ever seen. She and Dad couldn’t leave the reception venue to go on their honeymoon. Dad decided they couldn’t stay in a ballroom, and he drove them to a local hotel, nearly crashing the car a dozen different times.” He grinned out at the crowd. “Of course, the more Mom told that story, the more times Dad almost killed them.”
Everyone twittered, and Colton consulted his notes again. “Mom and Dad wanted a big family, and they tried hard to get a girl.” His throat closed, because he loved his brothers with every bit of his heart. “Instead, they got five big, loud, strapping, complaining, dedicated sons.” He took a moment to look every one of his brothers right in the eyes. Wes looked one breath away from collapse, and that surprised Colton. He was always the most put together; the strongest.
Right now, though, it looked like Gray had taken that role. Cy hadn’t looked up once, and he didn’t now either, and Colton knew he’d need to make sure his brother went to counseling every week for a while. Ames held his head high, his jaw so tight, Colton thought it might break by the end of the funeral.
“We put our mother through several disasters,” he continued. “I think she prayed daily for her own sanity while we were teenagers, and then once we became adults, she’d beg the Lord to send us a good woman so she could be a grandmother.” His throat clogged again, and he swallowed to get the lump to go away. “Gray was her favorite son, because for many, many years, he was the only one who had made Mom’s deepest wish come true. He gave her Hunter, and—”
Colton couldn’t go on. He’d looked at Hunter, and that was a huge mistake. The man cried openly, and Colton wanted to wrap him in a tight hug and hold him until all the pain went away. He’d tried to do that for the boy when he was a child, and it felt like this was too big, too all-encompassing for anyone to ever make right.