The Wrong Path - By Vivian Marie Aubin du Paris Page 0,70

was sorry to Will.

Trevor had figured it out.

A part of her was so relieved that she wanted to laugh, and yet so sad she wanted to cry. Trevor really was a nice guy. She was lucky that she had gotten to go out with him. He had been a wonderful boyfriend to her. She would always be happy she had dated Trevor.

But Trevor wasn’t the one she wanted to be with. And Trevor had figured it out and let her go.

To be with Will.

She turned to him, tears of relief flooding her eyes. Will was still marveling at the phone, as if he couldn’t believe what he already knew. Annabelle couldn’t resist laughing, throwing her arms around him. Will fell back on the couch, clutching her tightly.

Nothing left to keep them apart.

Chapter Eighteen

The next morning she stood with her parents outside of the chapel at Mrs. Scarlett’s funeral. She couldn’t remember ever going to a funeral before, but it wasn’t quite as depressing as she had imagined. As they waited for the ceremony to start people stood clustered together, talking and laughing. Annabelle looked around for Ebony or Will’s other friends, but stopped when she realized Will wouldn’t have invited them. He wouldn’t want them there. He would want to do this alone. But, as she scanned the crowd of familiar faces for Will, she reminded herself he wasn’t alone. He had her.

They had spent the night in the barn, curled up together on the old, dusty couch. Annabelle had been reluctant to leave his arms even to bid him goodbye that morning, especially at the somber, heavy look in his eyes. But Will had given her a light kiss goodbye and they had driven off, Annabelle to return her father’s car after being out all night.

Her parents had been drinking coffee in the living room when she came home to face their wrath. To her surprise, her father had stood and offered her his mug of coffee, then asked if she had scratched the car. When she had said no, he had told her she would be hand washing it as soon as things settled down.

And she had hugged him as tightly as she could, overcome with love for her understanding, forgiving parents.

She finally spotted Will standing to his father’s left by the chapel’s front doors, Trevor on Mr. Scarlett’s right. They were all wearing black suits, accepting condolences from family and friends. Trevor and Mr. Scarlett both appeared to be on the verge of tears, ready to break down at any moment, but Will merely stood by passively, a blank, expressionless look on his face.

It was an expression Annabelle was all-too familiar with. She longed to throw her arms around him and comfort him.

But she couldn’t. Even if Trevor knew about her and Will, she couldn’t do that to him. Not at his mother’s funeral. It would be impossibly cruel. She could never forgive herself for something like that.

So instead she stood between her parents, silently sending her strength and support to Will.

“Oh, there’s Patrick,” Annabelle heard her mom say, surprising her. “Let’s go see how he is.”

Annabelle felt her heart fall into her stomach as she dutifully followed behind her parents to go talk to Mr. Scarlett. She wanted to hide behind her mother’s skirt like a little girl as they approached, her mother hugging Mr. Scarlett and her father shaking his hand. She hesitantly lifted her eyes to Trevor, unsure about what type of greeting she would receive.

To her vast relief and overwhelming appreciation, Trevor smiled tiredly at her, nodding. She returned the greeting, then looked over at Will. He stared emptily at their parents, watching their exchange through emotionless, unfeeling eyes.

As a new group of people joined them, Annabelle seized the opportunity and slid quickly over to Will’s side. Under the cover of hugs and greetings between the others, she reached out and squeezed his hand.

Will stiffened in surprise, but then, to her vast relief, he relaxed slightly and squeezed back.

Her parents excused themselves from the group, and reluctantly, Annabelle tore herself from Will’s familiar side to head into the church. As people filtered in, filling up the expanse of pews, Annabelle felt an overwhelming sense of saddened pleasure at the number of people who had been touched by Mrs. Scarlett. She really had been an incredible woman.

The procession started with the Scarlett family—Mrs. Scarlett’s brother, sisters, nieces, and nephews. Then came Mr. Scarlett, followed slowly by Will and Trevor, who led in the casket.