Marla was weeping openly now. Her father put his arm around her.
“You’ve got a deal,” Sean said.
Epilogue
On a warm day in late September, two weeks before Sean and Marla’s wedding, Sean and Marla and Bob and Cynthia went out on the bay to scatter Merrie’s ashes. Marla had removed the ashes from the plastic bag and put them directly in the Chinese vase.
When they were a long way from land, in the middle of the bay, Bob turned off the engine. The blue water was calm and a faint breeze flowed across their faces, through their hair and clothing.
“I’m sorry it’s taken so long to get here,” Sean said to everyone. “I know we should have done it sooner.”
“We’re doing it at just the right time,” Cynthia said, hooking her arm through Sean’s. “Now is the time.”
Marla removed the top from the Chinese vase. Sean was the first to put his hand into the ashy mixture that was the last of Meredith’s physical being. Everyone else followed Sean and let the ashes flow gently from their hands into the water. Sean threw white roses into the water and they floated on the surface.
Handful after handful, they put Meredith’s ashes into the water of the bay she had loved. When they were finished, they were silent, but all were crying silently, even Bob. Sean walked to the back of the boat and sat solitarily staring at the bay. Marla did not go to him. She left him in his personal grief.
After a few minutes, Sean walked back to join the rest of them. Bob pulled out a bottle of champagne from a cooler and filled glass flutes. He handed them to Cynthia and Marla and Sean.
“To Merrie,” Bob said. He put his arm around Cynthia and Sean took Marla’s hand.
“To Merrie,” everyone said, clinking their glasses together.
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This is a work of fiction. References to actual people, places, and events are used to lend authenticity to the novel and are used fictitiously. All characters, dialog, and events are from the author's imagination and are not real. Any resemblances to real people, places, events, or dialog are coincidental.
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Jennifer Ransom is the author of Love Weaver and Come Down In Time.
Hand-Me-Down Love Page 18
