epilogue
May, 1969
The procession of cars rolled slowly down the quiet country road, tires crunching gravel as the vehicles followed the silver hearse. Connie stared out her side window, noticing the spring green of the trees, their leaves unfolding fresh and new on this beautiful, sun-filled day.
The cemetery came into view ahead, but as non-family they were considerably back in the line, and when Greg pulled over to the side of the road, she could just see the others gathering to walk in behind the hearse.
She stepped out of the passenger side of the car and waited for him. He stood tall and handsome in his dark suit and tie, and when she reached out to take his arm, she felt a surge of pride in being with him. He smiled at her, and she smiled back as they set out together toward the group congregating on the grass at the cemetery entrance.
The hearse was the only vehicle that had entered the small cemetery itself, the other cars remaining at the entrance and lining up along the road. Connie and Greg were among the last to walk in under the arched entrance gate, and when they reached the gravesite, the pallbearers had already placed the casket on the scaffolding suspended over the open grave. A throng of people dressed in dark colors were gathered on three sides, leaving the space at the head of the casket for the priest and the two altar boys in white cassocks who assisted him.
Connie and Greg stepped into place beside Mamma and Papa. Gianna and David stood behind them. Near the head of the casket, on the opposite side, Angie, in a dress of black, stood between Ethan and Francis LaCroix, her head down as she held their hands.
The ceremony at the gravesite, presided over by the priest, was short. The funeral Mass had been held earlier and the eulogies delivered. It was time to surrender Marie Francoise Morrisette LaCroix to her final resting place.
Angie stepped forward and placed a spray of fresh pussy willows on the gray metal casket; she had gathered them from the woods behind the LaCroix homestead. The priest anointed the casket with holy water and led the group in prayers before reciting his final blessing over the remains. Little by little, the people around the casket moved away to embrace the grieving family members before heading to their cars.
Instead of leaving, Mamma and Papa strolled deeper into the grassy recesses of the sunlit cemetery, and Connie and Greg followed them. Connie read the names on the flat headstones, names she had read once before without knowing their significance, for the name Morrisette had held no meaning for her then.
Mamma stopped walking about two-thirds of the way down the last row; they were almost to the back corner of the cemetery. She stood still for a moment, then turned to Connie and gave her a melancholy smile.
“This is where it started.” She spoke in Italian. “Right here. They met us here and gave her to us to take care of for them. Poor Marie cried so hard. And I was so worried you girls would wake up, I just wanted to take her and hurry back to the car, but they were having such a hard time letting her go.” She turned to Papa, her eyes shining with tears. “She was so tiny, remember? And now she’s all grown up and leaving us.”
“Only for the summer, Mamma,” Connie said. “They need her right now. And she’ll come visit us on weekends.”
Mamma nodded and turned away to cry where they couldn’t see.
Connie glanced at Greg standing quietly beside her and translated for him what her mother had said. He smiled at her, then reached down to take her hand in his. The diamond on her ring finger caught the sunshine, sending rainbows of light back at them, and he gently brushed it with his thumb as his fingers curled around hers.
So many things are changing, Connie thought as she looked down at their joined hands. But most of the changes were good and exciting and promised better times to come.
The four of them turned and walked back toward the entrance. Angie—who now wanted to be called Hope Marie—stood with Gianna and David at the base of the stone angel that extended its arms in peace over everyone gathered there. She turned toward Mamma and Papa as they approached and gave each of them a hug, then embraced Greg and, finally, Connie.
“I got a letter from Paul,” she said into Connie’s ear. “He’s stationed in Germany for now. He says he doesn’t know how long he’ll luck out, but so far, so good. I thought you’d want to know.”
Connie stepped back and smiled at her. “Thanks. I’m glad he stays in touch with you.”
“He’s going to be okay, Connie. Just like Nino and Frankie.”
“We’re all going to be okay.” Connie smiled into her younger sister’s red-rimmed eyes. “Both you and this place are called ‘Hope.’ That’s not a coincidence.”
She smiled at Greg, then reached out to take his hand again, her heart swelling with love for him. He smiled back, and contentment filled her. She looked up at Hope’s angel. The benevolence in its face was just as she had remembered it.
The End
Other books by Rosemary Fifield available on Amazon:
Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground
Stephanie knows she should avoid the family of Ellis Walker. Her late boyfriend was responsible for the drunk-driving accident that caused Walker's death. But his family members keep coming into her life, and when she falls in love with one of them--a performer with a popular country band on the East Coast--she can no longer keep her distance. He's even willing to accept the unborn child she carries, not realizing who the father is.
But some secrets have a way of making themselves known, and some people should never be lied to.
Lonely Souls
Blinded and disfigured by the accident that took the lives of her husband and unborn child, Shelby Weaver-North seeks to start a new life in the small town of Chatham, Vermont. She soon finds others like herself--lonely souls haunted by their personal demons. Some wear their pain on their sleeves. Others carry their anguish deep inside. Shelby's young housekeeper, Cassie Marsh, harbors a painful secret of her own, embodied in the illegitimate child she carries. When unspeakable tragedy shatters the lives of her new friends, Shelby must face her own inner torments in order to help her friends deal with theirs.
A Road Well-Traveled
Becky Slater and her husband have purchased a burnt-out old farmhouse in a small Vermont town, where they plan to rebuild and make a new life for themselves. Before they get very far, however, Becky's husband leaves her. Now living alone in a trailer on a backroad, Becky knows only the dairy-farming O'Connor family and Hayden Flynn, the quiet young handyman from a frighteningly dysfunctional family down the road. Her friendship with the O'Connors--brothers Dean and Chip and their wives--becomes central to her future as she seeks to sort out her relationship with Hayden, who both fascinates and frightens her.
As the truth about the O'Connors begins to unfold, however, Becky finds herself fluctuating between being the counseled and the counselor. An unexpected pregnancy changes everyone's lives and threatens the survival of this otherwise closely knit farming family. For Becky, the startling revelations only reaffirm her doubts about commitment and fidelity, sending her down a road from which it will be difficult to return.
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