“Tully, let’s go over my notes for Dan’s service,” Edna said as she patted the ottoman in front of her. Tully sat down on the footstool, much like he did when he was little. Tully was overwhelmed with memories because Dan wasn’t there to give his usual running comments.
Edna’s hand shook with age as she held out a piece of paper for Tully to look at. With her crooked index finger, she pointed to the first item on the list.
“The songs. Dan wanted the Reagan boys, minus you, of course, to sing ‘How Great Thou Art.’” Dan loved how the men’s voices resonated the notes.
“The congregation is to sing ‘The Old Rugged Cross’ and Holly to play ‘Amazing Grace’ as a solo on her violin as Dan’s casket is being carried out.”
Edna’s voice wavered a second as she bit her lip, trying not to cry.
Tully looked over at Holly, her belly swollen with her fourth child.
“Holly, will you be all right playing for your in-law’s funeral?”
“Dan asked me to play ‘Amazing Grace’ for his funeral the first time he heard me play it seven years ago when I traveled home with Nolan from the Montana Territory. I can do it.” Holly acknowledged with a sad smile.
“Edna, do you want a song sung at the burial?”
“Not a song to sing but I want Marcus Brenner to play ‘Extinguish Lights’ on his bugle.”
“Has anyone asked for him to do that yet?” Tully looked between the women. Daisy shook her head.
“Well, I’ll check in with him then,” Tully said then cleared his throat. “I’m sure he’d be honored to play for Dan.”
“Scripture verses? I see you’ve written down your choices,” Tully noted as he followed Edna’s finger. He’d be sure he’d mark the pages in his Bible, so he didn’t flub them up.
“Most important is the eulogy, Tully. I know you could reminisce about Dan forever, but please keep it under thirty minutes,” Edna said as she got her composure under control again.
She was worried he’d talk over thirty minutes? Tully was afraid he’d stand in the pulpit, staring at the casket and not be able to utter a word.
Edna must have seen the worry in his eyes as she leaned forward to whisper, “Don’t worry, Tully, Dan had faith you’d get through it, and I do too.”
Faith? Right now, Tully’s faith was at an all-time low.
Chapter 4
Tully’s face lit up when he spotted Violet in the line of people outside the church waiting to go inside.
Father and son stood side by side to greet the parishioners as they met for Dan’s service.
The older pastor was broader in his middle section than Tully because the man was in his fifties, but the two standing side by side…Tully would look so much like his father in thirty years it was startling.
“How are you doing?” Violet and Tully said at the same time when Tully grasped her hands. Violet smiled up at Tully, glad to see he was in better shape than he was at the depot a little over twenty-four hours ago.
“Ladies first,” Tully squeezed her hand before letting go.
“Loving being back on the Cross C, visiting family, and putting on a split skirt and going for a ride yesterday evening. How are you holding up?”
“Much better after visiting with Edna. Hopefully, her planning of Dan’s funeral and confidence in me will get me through the funeral.”
“You’ll do fine, Tully. Now let Violet and her family go in,” Pastor said softly out of the side of his mouth. “We’re going to have a packed church, and you’ll be late starting the service if we don’t greet people and get them inside.”
Tully rolled his eyes, then winked at Violet. They both knew services never started until Tully’s mother quit visiting and finally sat down.
“We’ll visit after the service, Tully. You’ll do fine.”
“Sit where I can see you from the pulpit, Violet. You’ll be my focal point when I needed to get my bearings.”
Violet’s father took Tully’s hand and gave it a firm shake. “We’ll be in our usual pew unless we’re late and it’s already filled. Move on, Violet. You can visit later with the new preacher.”
Violet looked back at Tully as her family entered the sanctuary, but she couldn’t see past her brothers’ matching heights. Luther and Anton had grown since she’d seen them a year ago, now taller than their father.
Everyone left the ranch early, knowing it would be a big funeral, but the church was already three-fourths full. Their family, the Brenner’s, Isaac and Cate Connely, and a half dozen ranch hands that came along with the families, could easily pack another two rows.
“Let’s squeeze in on the Wilerson’s row. Our usual seats are taken,” Violet’s father motioned for Violet to go in the pew first. Then her mother would come in next with her father, then the boys would sit by the aisle.
“No, go ahead and sit down. I want to sit on the end by the aisle,” Violet stepped back so the others could move in front of her.
Her parents might have argued with her, but there was a line of people looking for places to sit, and they needed to get out of the aisle.
Now she had a clear view of the altar and pulpit, and Tully could see her too.
Dan’s immediate family sat on the front left pew, leaving space open for Kaitlyn and Pastor to sit with the Clancy’s when they were done welcoming the guests for the service.
Dan’s closed casket was already in place in front of the altar.
Violet thought the pallbearers might be the Reagan brothers, but instead, other men sat in the first pew on the right. Gabe Shepard and his younger brother, Tate. Elof Lundahl. Marshal Adam Wilerson. Jasper Kerns.
And…Kiowa Jones? The blacksmith rarely stepped inside the church, but if Edna asked him to be a pallbearer, he’d do it.
The quiet murmur among the congregation fell silent as the ushers closed the entrance doors and Pastor, Kaitlyn, and Tully walked up the aisle. Violet turned to look back, hoping to catch Tully’s glance, but he was staring at the casket in front of him.
Pastor and Kaitlyn sat down with Edna. Tully walked on to pick up the service book laying on the edge of the altar and then turned to stand with the casket in front of him.
Violet stared at Tully and took a deep breath along with his own before he started the service.
“We’ve gathered today to say goodbye and bury Daniel Clancy. Until I arrived in Clear Creek yesterday as a newly ordained minister, I had no idea Dan had died, let alone requested that I conduct his funeral service.
“But before Dan died from his injuries, he asked that I perform his service. I am touched and honored to so do for the man who touched all our lives, with his stories, and his cooking.”
Violet smiled as a few people chuckled as Tully started his service. There probably wasn’t anyone in the church pews who hadn’t eaten at Clancy’s Café over the past twenty-plus years.
The service continued with Tully reading scripture passages, the Reagan brothers singing a soothing harmony version of “How Great Thou Art,” and the congregation singing “The Old Rugged Cross.”
Violet wiped her cheeks with her damp handkerchief as she watched Tully walk the three steps up to the pulpit.
Tully scanned the front row to acknowledge Edna and her family, his parents, and then finally locked eyes with Violet a moment before looking down at his notes.
When Tully looked up and started speaking, his voice was loud and clear.
“Daniel Clancy was born December tenth, 1810 in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, to Clarence and Blythe Clancy. He married Edna Ramsey in 1832 and celebrated sixty years together this past February. Although Dan and Edna grieved losing their only son, and their daughter-in-law, they truly treasured raising their grandchildren, Nolan and Daisy.
“Dan is survived by his wife, Edna, grandson Nolan Clancy, his wife, Holly and their three children. And their granddaughter Daisy, her husband, Angus Reagan, and their two children.
“Dan was the son of a fisherman off the coast of t
he Atlantic Sea, but he steadily moved west cooking for the Army and then for the railroad as it was built across the United States. The Clancy family was one of the first that settled in Clear Creek, opening the Clancy Café, in 1868.”
Violet watched people as Tully talked through his eulogy, now telling stories about the man everyone knew. Many nodded, or chuckled, depending on the tale Tully wove about the departed man’s life.
When Tully finally ended the service with a prayer, Violet realized she, and everyone else knew that Tully was an excellent speaker. So many people expected the trouble-making preacher’s son to fail, but he passed his first funeral with flying colors.
Would this first experience change his mind about being a pastor, or not?
Violet bit her lip when Holly started playing “Amazing Grace” on her violin. How could Holly play when the pallbearers were moving into place around the casket?
Probably just like Tully, because Dan or Edna had requested it.
Violet exchanged her wet handkerchief for a dry one from her reticule after the casket passed her. She, Tully, and Dan’s family still had to get through the burial in the cemetery.
*
Violet listened to the committal with a bowed head, trying to keep her composure as Edna sobbed loudly, almost drowning out Tully’s words.
Tully stopped and handed his closed service book to his mother before moving to stand at the foot of the grave.
“Lord, we praise you as Dan enters his final rest and reaches the promised land. Thank you for each memory of his life on earth as we grieve, heal, and wait to meet Dan again in heaven.”
Tully made the sign of the cross in the air above the grave.
“May the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up the light of His countenance upon you and give you peace, now and evermore. Let there be peace for Dan. Let there be peace for Edna and her family. Let there be peace for all. Amen.”
Violet watched Tully through her tear-stained lashes as he stepped back from the grave, took a deep breath and closed his eyes, probably saying a quick prayer of thanks that he got through the service. Pastor touched his shoulder and nodded toward Edna. Tully walked over to the grieving woman, wrapping his arms around her short, tiny frame. He leaned over to hear what she was saying and then smiled as he stood up to talk to the crowd in the cemetery.
“Attention everyone,” Tully called out, “Edna and her family would like to invite you all to the café for coffee, cookies, and for fellowship time. She knows you won’t all fit in the café, but please stop by for a moment anyway. Thank you.”
Violet visited with family and friends as she waited for Tully to finish talking to the long line of people congratulating him on his new career and how well he’d done for Dan’s service. Tully calmly took it all in stride. Was he pleased with his performance, and what could be his career, or was it his training as a preacher’s son that kept the polite smile on his face?
“I did it!” Tully beamed as he picked up Violet to give her a tight hug. He probably would have whirled her around too, except they were still standing in the cemetery.
“Yes, you did, Tully. I was so proud of you, and Dan would have been too.”
“Da told me I owed it to Dan for all the free cookies I ate in the café kitchen over the years. And I must admit, that logic put everything in perspective and helped me get through the service.”
“Does this mean you want to become a pastor full-time?”
Tully sobered, and Violet hated that she asked the question now. “Never mind, I—”
“No, Violet, that’s a good question to ask. I still want to do my other job, but if I can occasionally preach, perform ceremonies…I think I’d like that too.”
“Have you mentioned your plans to your parents yet?” Violet tentatively asked.
“No. Between getting ready for Dan’s funeral…and being chicken…” Tully shrugged his shoulders and looked around.
“We better walk over to the café. I heard the Paulson girls baked cookies for the fellowship time, using Dan’s favorite recipes.”
“The Paulsons better bring coffee cups over from their dining room too since the café wouldn’t have enough for the number of people who will stop by.”
“Glad I don’t have to wash dishes besides give the service,” Tully said as they walked down the boardwalk. “Dan always had a pile of dishes us boys were supposed to wash before we got our handful of cookies.”
“It is so good to be back in town, even though we didn’t get to see Dan before he…fell off a chair, stupid man.” Violet’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh, I shouldn’t have said that!”
“Don’t worry, you’re just repeating what Edna said at least a dozen times yesterday when I was with her. It’s a wonder she didn’t bring her frying pan along and throw it at the casket.”
“What! Was she that mad?”
“No, I’m, well, kind of joking, but she did bring it up about wanting to hit him over the head for climbing up on the chair.”
“Can you imagine being married to someone sixty years? Dan and Edna were the only people I know with that long of a marriage.”
Violet knew who she’d love to be married to that long. Tully. And that brought up the telegraph she’d put in the back in her mind until the service was over.
“Tully, once we get our refreshments, can we sneak out somewhere we can talk privately? I need to tell you something before my family, and my ride heads back to the ranch.”
Tully’s face turned pale. “Is this about our supposed vows or my job no one knows about yet?”
“Both, plus something else,” was all Violet told him as they entered the noisy, crowded café.
Chapter 5
There were dozens of people who wanted to talk to Tully and vice versa, but all he could think about as they wove through the crowd to the table laden with cookies was that Violet had terrible news to tell him. He just knew it.
Someone had found out about their fake wedding. Had Violet shown it to her mother or girl cousins? Tully still wasn’t sure if it was legal or not.
But the main thing he worried about?
He’d taken a job his parents wouldn’t approve of. Tully would have to pay back Isaac Connely for the money he’d given him to go to seminary. It was only fair.
What would his parents say when Tully told them he omitted the real reason he was heading north? It wasn’t to be a church’s pastor as they assumed.
But Violet had something else to spring on him? What could it be?
“How about we pick up a cup of coffee, a handful of cookies, and keep walking out the back door of the café?” Tully said low while leaning down so only Violet could hear her.
Gosh, she’d dabbed his favorite Wild Violet Cologne behind her ear. He took in a deep breath, wishing he could follow the scent down her tantalizing throat to—
“Tully, are you sniffing me?” Violet turned to stare at him, annoyed or pleased? He couldn’t really tell.
“Well…I really like your cologne, Violet.”
“But this isn’t the place or time to be nibbling on my neck. Let’s go out the back door before anyone sees us leave.”
Leave? He was still thinking about her suggestion of “nibbling.”
After Tully was sure the no one was in the alley, they sat side by side on the outside stairs that led up to the apartment above the café. Tully’s brother, Cullen, had lived up there before he married Rose, but Tully wasn’t sure who lived in the apartment now. But the door and windows were closed, so Tully assumed no one could hear them talking below.
“Ahh. I’ve been looking forward to this cup of coffee for over an hour. My throat is parched from talking.” Tully took a sip of the hot coffee and took a big bite of an oatmeal cookie—Edna’s recipe—not Dan’s, when the back café door opened, and Tully’s five brothers strolled out, all eyes on him.
“Oh Lord, please protect me from the beating of which
I’m about to receive…”
“Huh. I haven’t heard you utter that prayer in a long time, little brother,” Cullen said as the five men made a semi-circle around the base of the stairs, cutting off any escape.
“You did a good job with Dan’s service, Tully. We’re all proud of you,” Angus said, and the rest nodded.
Tully looked at his brothers. All their stances mimicked their personalities. Angus and Fergus, the oldest of the two sets of brothers, were in charge of the six and stood upright. Seth was quiet and leaned back on the café wall to let the others speak. Mack, taller and broader than all of them, had his hands in his pocket but was tapping his foot, anxious to start jabbering since he rarely quit talking. And Cullen, the closest in age to Tully, was the fighter of the group but he never revealed a secret. His arms were crossed against his chest.
“But I’m guessing you come out here for another reason too?”
Violet carefully rose from the step, holding the cup of coffee out in front of her, so she didn’t spill it on her dress. “I’ll leave so you boys can have a nice chat.”
“Don’t—” Tully, and Angus said at the same time.
“Please sit back down, Violet. I need some support here,” Tully touched her elbow, and she slowly eased back onto the step.
“Yes, please stay, Violet. I think you know what we’re about to ask anyway.”
“What do you want to know?” Tully asked, resigned he’d have to tell them whatever they cornered him to find out anyway.
“We thought you’d come home, bragging about your new job, but you haven’t said a peep. Don’t you have a church yet? We thought a pastor usually had a placement before they left the seminary,” Angus asked.
Tully finished his cookie and took another sip of coffee to swallow it down.
“I have a job, but it’s not what anyone would expect me to do.”
“When were you going to tell the folks?”
“Soon…or never…”
Cullen snickered, and Tully had the urge to stand up and punch him, just like when they were little, and Cullen had taunted him about something.
Tully's Faith (Grooms with Honor Book 11) Page 3
