Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 93270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Colt leaned against the wall and slid down, his own tears coming in hot streams.
It wasn’t only Colt, Devorah, and Maren who’d lost someone at that moment; their entire community had.
Devorah finally asked Maren to go upstairs. She didn’t have to go back to sleep, but Devy and Colt had to talk and take care of adult things. Things a nine-year-old didn’t need to hear about or be a part of.
When she heard the bedroom door shut upstairs, Devorah recounted the noise she’d heard and how she’d crept downstairs. “If I wasn’t afraid, maybe I would’ve gotten to him sooner.”
“Don’t you even blame yourself, Dev. He didn’t exactly take care of himself.”
She nodded, but the guilt was there, building with no end in sight. Just when she thought she’d found her footing, her father had to die on her.
Now what?
Devorah brought her knees to her chest and sobbed. Despite their strained relationship, he’d been a rock for her the past few weeks, reminding her to put herself first and to grasp all the happiness coming her way.
Colt moved next to his sister and wrapped her in his arms. “It’s going to be okay,” he said to her, but she didn’t believe him. She didn’t know how.
Crow hadn’t been gone an hour before the news spread, and people began showing up. One by one, the Crafty Cathys entered the house on Main Street and took over while Colt, Dev, and Maren mourned.
When Hayden walked in, he found Devorah on the couch, with her knees tucked under her. She was exhausted, and her eyes burned from crying. He sat down next to her and said nothing. He didn’t have to, because everyone else in the house had said it already.
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
Twenty-Four
Hayden
In the week since Tremaine “Crow” Crowley—the long-standing and beloved sheriff of Oyster Bay—passed away, life in town had come to a standstill. Everyone mourned the loss of Crow. Residents and businesses on Main Street draped black coverings over their windows, and the governor had given the town special permission to fly their flags at half staff. Crow’s passing had made statewide news, and thousands were expected to attend his funeral.
Hayden finished tying his tie and then helped Conor with his. Hayden could count on one hand how many funerals he’d attended in his lifetime: five. Both sets of grandparents and his wife’s. He felt odd knowing the number off the top of his head, and the feeling was compounded when he looked at Conor. He was nine, and this was his second within a year.
The McKenna family walked to the high school, where Crow’s services would be held. It was the only place in town big enough to accommodate the masses of mourners coming. Every law enforcement agency in the state sent at least one delegate, if not more. Crow had friends on every force and in every emergency service industry, as evidenced by the coast guard ship docked at the pier, blocking everyone’s view of the harbor.
Local people walked to the service, leaving parking for out-of-towners. Hayden had offered his land up for overflow parking, which the Crafty Cathys appreciated. The CC Club handled everything, with Colt’s and Devorah’s permission. The club, for all the gossip they spread, knew how to get things done.
Since Crow’s passing, his home had been a revolving door of people coming and going throughout the day; the phone rang off the hook, and food deliveries arrived almost every hour. People came to pay their respects and leave cards, and, with the sheer number of bouquets on every free surface of the house, they made the inside look and smell like a florist’s shop.
Standing on the outside—Hayden.
He hadn’t seen Devorah since the night her father passed away, and they’d barely spoken. He’d chalked it up to her not having a moment of peace. It was easier to think that than the alternative. When he saw Colt, he’d told Hayden that Devy had locked herself in her room, that she barely came out to eat, and that Maren wasn’t going to school.
Hayden worried about Maren and hoped her lack of attendance over the past week wouldn’t be something Chad could use against Devorah. The last thing she needed was to give her ex any ammunition to use in their divorce.
Of course, with Crow gone, who knew if she would even stay in Oyster Bay?
That thought plagued him. Hayden was serious when he’d told Dev that he and Conor would move to Chicago if she and Maren went back. Devy probably thought he was joking, and maybe at the time he was. No one knew Crow would have a massive heart attack and die, though, and Hayden didn’t want to lose Devy. Not when his high school crush had finally turned into reality.
Staff at the high school had converted the gymnasium into an auditorium of sorts with a podium at one end, numerous white chairs facing it, and the bleachers pulled out. The first ten rows of chairs had been reserved for friends and family. Those people had received a special notice, hand delivered by someone from the CC Club, letting them know they’d sit with family.