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His
heart twisted for her. The lump in his throat wouldn’t budge, but
he wouldn't cry, not today. Trying to swallow past the roadblock in
his throat, he held her closer. Soothing her with his voice. He
didn’t know what he was saying to her. He murmured anything that
would help, and eventually her sobs grew quieter.
    They stayed
like that, sat in the middle of her driveway with her face pushed
into his chest. He would stay like this, rubbing her back and
holding her until Cora was ready to move. She took a deep breath
and looked at him. Her face was tear streaked, her dry lips were
pulled into a tight line.
    “ Are you ready
to go in?” She nodded and he helped her to stand as they continued
walking towards her house.
    Cora pushed
her face into his shoulder, refusing to look at the hearse and
cars. He had a tighter grip on her arm as they approached her front
door. She couldn’t fall again. The jar on his broken arm had hurt
enough the first time.
    He was finding
it difficult to walk into the house, knowing every little detail
would remind him of Laura. He wanted to see Laura's warm smile, to
look at the way her nutmeg messy hair bopped when she laughed. He
couldn't imagine how Cora was feeling. Personally, he felt like his
heart shattered painfully in his chest.
    Keeping Cora's
hand in his, he practically pulled her through the front door and
resumed his position holding her up. Hushed voices filtered from
within the kitchen. He walked slowly, keeping Cora at his side. She
didn't lift her head. Instead, she allowed her hair to fall over
her face, shielding her from the harsh reality of today. He opened
the door and all the talking ceased.
    Tabitha was
standing at the sink, looking out of the window into the back
garden. The shield of trees let very little light in on the already
dark day. Clay was leaning against the far wall with his head down.
Ember and Eli sat at the kitchen table. Ember immediately stood,
giving her chair to him. He nodded his thanks and helped Cora to
sit in the chair. He hadn’t noticed until this experience that the
simplest of things like sitting, breathing and eating became a task
due to the grief that seemed to push all common sense
aside.
    Jack looked
pleadingly at Ember who shook her head. His question to her, was
there something, anything he could do to make this go away? He knew that the
answer would always be- a shake of the head. He couldn’t help
living with that bit of hope that he could take some of Cora’s pain
from her. Allow her a little light.
    Jack watched
with his heart in his mouth as Eli moved his hand tentatively
across the table in Cora’s direction. He didn’t know how she was
going to react. Cora hadn’t really spoken to Tabitha over the past
couple of days. She’d remained closed off. Now that Eli was
reaching out to her, he didn’t know how she would react.
    Cora glanced
at Eli’s hand. Looked at what it offered, and then very slowly
moved her hand across to hold his. He gave Eli a grateful nod. It
was a step, one he could take comfort from.
    “ Where's
Ayden?” he whispered to Ember.
    “ He is in the
front room.”
    He couldn’t
think of a reply to this response. Everyone remained in the
kitchen, trapped in their own silent nightmare. The undertakers
moved around them like they weren't even there. Part of their profession , Jack
thought. The men did it well. He moved to Cora and placed his hand
on her shoulder. A short man with thinning silver hair came into
the kitchen and cleared his throat. “It is time.”
    Jack felt bats
attack his stomach as everyone rose and made their way out of the
kitchen. He slid his arm around Cora’s thin waist, and again, he
had to practically lift her out of the chair. They walked in
silence to the front door and stepped out into the sun.
    Jack guided
Cora to the first black car and waited. She whimpered, her body
sagging against his as she glimpsed the light wood of the coffin
peek through the open front door. Her face