The Guest List Read Online Free PDF Page A

At least he thought it was sweat. He knuckled his eyes, then glared at the man who’d called him to the phone before he stomped his way from the trailer to the rental car parked at the entrance to the building site.
    Donovan got into the car, turned on the ignition, and let the engine idle for a few minutes. His thoughts turned to Abby and Mallory. What would happen to them? he wondered. Would the courts want to put them in foster homes? “Over my goddamn dead body!”
    Rain beat down on the green-canvas tent. Donovan tried to listen to the minister’s words. He heard phrases like pillars of the community, caring individuals, and loving parents. He couldn’t help but wonder where the stoic-looking minister had gotten his information. Or did he have a generic script that he went by? Did he ever deviate from the flattering words? Donovan did his best to remember what the minister had said the day he buried Emma and their stillborn child, but he couldn’t remember a single word.
    He looked around, astonished at the turnout. All the guys from the construction company were there, probably because it was raining and there was no work. Everybody liked John,but Donovan knew in his heart the crew wouldn’t be there but for the rain. How strange they all looked in their suits and white shirts and ties. He probably looked strange to them, too.
    “Ashes to ashes …”
    Donovan cringed. Carol reached for his hand and squeezed it. Carol had been a rock these past three days, taking care of him, the girls, and handling all the funeral arrangements. He didn’t know what he would have done without her.
    It was almost over. He had to hang on. He couldn’t lose it with everyone watching. What he wanted more than anything was to run like hell and not look back. He clenched his jaw as he led the small procession past the two bronze Springfield caskets and dropped a single rose on top of each. Mallory followed behind him, but when it came time for her to put her roses on the caskets, she refused to part with them.
    “Put them on the caskets, Mallory, like everybody else,” Donovan said between his teeth. He wanted to smack her. She must have sensed his anger because she screwed up her face into the prelude to a tantrum.
    Carol stepped between them. “I’ll take care of this, Donovan,” she said, pointedly, then bent down to Mallory’s level. He didn’t hear what she said, but whatever it was, it worked because next thing he knew Mallory was putting her flowers with everyone else’s.
    “What’s in the boxes, Uncle Donovan?” Abby asked as she laid her roses on top of the caskets.
    It only just occurred to him that he hadn’t done a very good job of explaining things to her, to either of the girls for that matter. Way to go, Mitchell, he thought.
    Abby tugged on the hem of his suit jacket. “What’s in the boxes?”
    “Ashes,” he blurted as he grappled for the right answer. That’s what the minister had said. Ashes to ashes … But it didn’t make any sense. The bones remained intact for hundredsof years before they turned to— Not even ashes, he thought. Dust. The bones turned to dust.
    “Dust to dust …”
    He wasn’t sure how long he’d been standing there staring at the caskets, but when he looked up, all the mourners were heading back to their cars.
    Holding Mallory’s hand, Carol joined him and put her free arm through his. “Come on. It’s time to go.”
    “No, I can’t do this,” he said suddenly. “I can’t put John in the ground. It’s … John didn’t want to be buried. He wanted to be cremated. I just now remembered.” He gave Abby over to Carol and ran to find the funeral director. Rain sluiced over him. Within seconds he was drenched to the skin. “Wait!” he shouted. “I changed my mind. I want to have …” He forced himself to calm down. “I’ve decided to have the bodies cremated instead of buried. I don’t care what it costs, just tack it on to the bill.”
    “Twenty-one straight