CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
The next morning, in David’s car on the way to the funeral, Ellie questioned her decision.
“I really appreciate you taking me to this funeral, David, but I don’t know if this is a good idea,” she fretted. She realized if she kept pulling at a thread on the sleeve of her sweater she’d probably unravel it.
“Nothing is going to happen at a funeral, Ellie,” he reasoned. “If there is one place that people are on their best behavior, it’s at a funeral.”
Ellie had to admit that his logic made sense.
They arrived at the funeral home, and David placed his hand against the small of her back and led her into the foyer. A large placard indicated that the Coulter funeral was to the left. Ellie could hear the distraught weeping from all the way down the hall.
Jenny stood outside the door next to a table that held a sign-in book. She was openly crying, and was being comforted by a woman that Ellie knew all too well: Jake’s mother, Kathryn. Kathryn saw her, and the frown tightened on her face. Both women were enveloped in a deep shade of purple.
Kathryn had never fully approved of Ellie, especially her foster care background. Ellie had always felt like Kathryn had tolerated her for Jake’s sake, but once the decision to divorce was final, she had made it clear that she had no interest in further contact.
Ellie saw Kathryn whisper something in Jenny’s ear, and Jenny’s sobs instantly stopped. They both turned and silently watched Ellie and David approach.
“Kathryn, Jenny,” Ellie said.
“I’m surprised to see you here, Elizabeth,” Kathryn said. She was the only one to ever call Ellie by her formal name.
“Just because Jake and I got divorced doesn’t mean that I didn’t still care what happened to him,” Ellie said defensively. “I feel awful about what happened.”
“Yes. I understand that he was on his way back from having gone to see you,” Kathryn said. “Although in talking with Jenny, we have no idea what about.”
She kept her arm protectively around Jenny, who sniffled and glowered at Ellie, but said nothing.
“We had a few things that came up that he wanted to run past me,” Ellie said. She had no desire to try explaining Jake’s revelations to these two women who were obviously distraught.
“Like what?” Jenny chimed in. “He didn’t tell me where he was going. That seems pretty suspicious.”
“I have no idea why he didn’t tell you,” Ellie lied. “It wasn’t a big deal, but it was really between Jake and me.”
Ellie watched Jenny square her shoulders. Even in her distressed state, she was still lovely. Her heart ached for the baby that was going to grow up never knowing his father.
“Hi, I’m David Mitchell. We met the other day,” David interrupted and drew the women’s attention. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”
He shook both women’s hands, and Ellie watched in amazement as they both started talking over each other in response.
“Dr. Mitchell, it was so good of you to come,” Jenny said breathlessly.
“You were so good to take care of our Jenny the other day in her time of need,” Kathryn said right on her heels.
David nodded and smiled. “It really was no problem. It’s my job. Is this where we sign in?” He pointed at the sign-in book. “We’ll just go ahead and do that and head inside. We don’t want to take you away from your other friends and family.”
Ellie could see that Jenny was going to say more, but then a few more people arrived behind them, and the two women had no choice but to greet the newcomers. As soon as Ellie was inside she felt like she could breathe again.
“See, that wasn’t so bad,” David whispered in her ear as they settled into a pew.
“You apparently have the ability to charm rattlesnakes,” Ellie whispered back. “I’ll have to remember that.”
David flashed her a knowing grin and rested his hand on her knee. She relaxed instantly.
She looked to the front of the room. The casket was closed. It was surrounded by several bouquets of flowers. There were about twenty people already in the room, some sitting, some kneeling and deep in prayer. Ellie recognized some of Jake’s high school and college buddies, but others she could only assume were friends of the family that she had never met. She and David sat in silence and waited for the ceremony to begin.
Ellie knew that she couldn’t put if off any longer. She motioned to David to stay put and then she got up and walked up to the front of the room. She stood in front of the casket and wondered what she was thinking coming here. She saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye and turned her head. There was no one there. Strange.
She finally made the sign of the cross because it seemed the appropriate thing to do and nodded to the casket, and then she turned to walk back to her seat. A somber man in a gray suit passed her and gave her a tight smile. It was Barry James, Jake’s best friend. Barry had always been nice to her, even when things with Jake had gotten nasty. She wondered if it was because he knew about all of Jake’s transgressions and had felt guilty about knowing.
She settled back into her seat next to David, who searched her face to see if she was okay. She patted his arm and then closed her eyes for a few minutes, taking a few deep breaths. She just had to make it through the ceremony now.
A few minutes later, Kathryn and Jenny walked down the center aisle and took their seats at the front of the room. The ceremony was brief. Barry got up and said a few words, and most of the people in the room broke down in tears. Jenny was sobbing again, and Kathryn did her best to comfort her. Ellie felt a tinge of anger that she had never been shown that kind of empathy, even when all of the awful things came out about what Jake had been doing behind her back.
As if he sensed her distress, David moved his arm behind her and she was able to slide closer to him. She had moved on, and she needed to focus on her future. Finally it was over, and she and David slipped out the door while everyone gathered up front around Kathryn and Jenny.
“There, now you can say that you did the right thing.” David squeezed her shoulders as they walked out the front door into the cool November air.
“I guess so,” Ellie said. “Now I just have to work on moving forward and putting this all behind me.”
“I am ready, willing, and able to help with that,” David said. He opened her car door for her and pecked her cheek as she got in.
Her cell phone chirped just as they pulled out of the parking lot.
“Hey, gorgeous. Hope everything was okay today.” Kevin’s voice echoed in the interior of the small car. “You think you’re going to be okay on your own tonight?”
“I think the worst is over, Kevin. I’ll be all right,” she said, glancing sideways at David.
“Everything going okay with you and David?” he asked.
“Just fine,” she replied, blushing furiously.
David looked over at her and grinned. She knew he could hear every word.
“How much longer are you going to keep the shop closed? I heard Melanie is just throwing fits about losing her favorite writing haunt,” Kevin said.
“I think we should be back in business next week,” Ellie said. “That will give me time to get inventory done again, and maybe get the hang of this whole computer thing.”
“Do you think it would be okay then if Eric and I took a little break? Get away for the weekend? We’ve had this little outing planned for the last couple of months, but if you need me, I’ll stay.” The words tumbled out of Kevin’s mouth, and Ellie realized that he had been looking for the right opening to bring it up.
“Of course you should go,” she said. “You and Eric deserve the break. Really, I’ll be okay.”
“Okay, thanks, Ellie. You are a stellar boss,” he said.
They chatted for a few more minutes about things around the store, and then Ellie hung up. “Sorry about that,” she said.
“No problem,” David replied. “I think it’s great to let Kevin have some ti
me off. I’m happy to take his place this weekend. I’ll try to rearrange my schedule so I have the evenings free.”
Ellie’s stomach did a little flip-flop. She could have David all to herself for the weekend? Things were looking up.
“I don’t want to be any trouble,” she murmured.
She felt a finger on her cheek and she looked into David’s eyes.
“You are the furthest thing from trouble I can think of, unless you count the part where I lost my heart,” David said quietly.
Ellie didn’t know what to say, but she knew one thing for certain. “I know exactly what you mean,” she said. She was ready to jump in with both feet.