CHAPTERTWELVE

The same detectives that showed up at her door months earlier when Judith shot Peter, Detective McCall and Detective Lewis, oversaw the case. They were professional and empathetic. Not once did they give her the impression that they doubted her or the events. She couldn’t expound on what occurred when Judith got shot. She had no recollection of it. One second, she stood there expecting to die. The next, David stood in front of her shielding her in his arms.

She learned that before his death, Gavin contacted David insisting he put a tracker app on Lanie’s phone. He didn’t give David any specific details, but David realized if Gavin contacted him and made such a request that he had reason. He insisted that he would not reach out to Lanie and urged David to check out any unusual locations she visited as indicated by the app . One being his house. David asked if either of them were in danger, and Gavin claimed they weren’t and that his worries were unfounded and unnecessary, but he worried about her. He had to know that someone besides him watched out for her.

Detective Lewis informed them that Gavin’s mother requested to have the body transferred to South Carolina for cremation. There would be a memorial service. Lanie wanted to attend. Not that she truly wanted to, no one wants that. But she loved him, and she wanted to pay her last respects.

David introduced the idea. She wondered if she ever would have. Her thoughts and emotions were inconsistent. She worried over doing anything and over doing nothing.

“I’ll take you up there. If it’s what you want,” David offered.

She did. And she needed him to do it with her. “I do. Please.”

They didn’t go to the visitation the evening prior to the memorial service. So, she had yet to meet his family. And she didn’t know if she would. She didn’t know if she could. They probably only knew of her from the police reports. They might blame her for his death. At times she blamed herself.

The memorial service was hard. Extremely hard. They did a slideshow of pictures of Gavin as a baby, a young boy, teenager, and as the man she knew and loved. She broke down and silently sobbed. David put his arm around her shoulders.

Patty Mitchell, Gavin’s mother who Lanie recognized from photos, defeated any hope Lanie had of exiting the service without notice. Instead of following the family members outside as they exited the chapel, she stopped and acknowledged Lanie. “You are just as he described.” She extended her hand and waved Lanie to join her in the aisle. “I knew you’d come. I’ve been waiting for you.”

Once they were outside, Patty embraced her. She held her long and tight. Lanie started crying again. And Patty hugged her closer. “After everything you’ve been through, I know it is a lot to ask, but please come to the house. We have plenty of food. And the atmosphere will be… gentler.”

David eventually departed the church and came to her rescue. Not that she required it, but it comforted her to have him beside her. To have his support. And he selflessly gave it, regardless of how awkward he must have felt.

“Please bring her by the house. I appreciate you both coming all the way here,” Patty urged. “The address is 7490 Elm St.” A few people approached and gave their condolences.

David and Lanie strolled toward their rental car. “Do you want me to take you to the house?” David asked.

“I’m not sure. It feels weird being here. I don’t want to upset anyone. And it must be strange for you too.”

“I’m happy to do this, Lanie. You loved him and he loved you. He wasn’t perfect. None of us are. But he saved your life. Which in turn, saves mine.”

“I don’t think I can though. Can we just go to the hotel? Fly out tonight?” she suggested.

David stepped in front of her. Taking her hands in his, he answered, “No. We can’t. You will regret it.”

“How can you stick by me through all of this,” she mumbled.

“Because I love you. Always have. Always will,” he promised. And she loved him. Gavin brought the two of them back together. He breathed life into her again. She would never forget him. She would never stop loving him.

“Do you really believe we can ever move passed this”

“Yes. We already are.”

And that entailed going and celebrating Gavin’s life with his family. She owed her happiness to him.

The modest, ranch style home looked exactly as Gavin described it. She could envision him as a boy skateboarding down the driveway or running across the front lawn. There were a lot of parked cars and David had to drive back up the street to find a spot.

Gavin’s three sisters were as different as night and day. He didn’t exaggerate. They were all as appreciating of Lanie’s presence and as sincere as Patty. They were all beautiful.

Carmen, the sister two years younger than him, had his dark hair and contrasting blue eyes. Hers were lighter than his. She seemed refined and reserved with her minimal makeup and her elegant black slacks and jacket. A hugger like her mother, but otherwise she gave little visible insight to her emotional state and said little.

The second sister, five years younger than him, Becky, had a choppy, fashionable haircut. She wore bright, red lipstick. Obviously, color-treated, she had bright, auburn hair and light brown eyes. Not a shy one, she bombarded Lanie with question after question. Not one about his escort career or his involvement with the Long’s. She wanted to know if he still enjoyed corny comedy movies. Did he still play guitar?

Remembering him sitting with his guitar and plucking the strings to her music requests choked her up. David came and sat beside her. He took her hand in his. He recognized her struggle. And she struggled. Breaking down in front of his family and close friends would be inappropriate and plain odd. She had her ex-husband beside her. She and Gavin weren’t a couple at the time of his demise. And that’s without even introducing the murder of him and Peter at the hands of the unstable Judith.

A younger version of Gavin and Carmen, except for the eyebrow and nose piercing and the bright pink hair, approached. Lanie knew who she was before she introduced herself. Gavin’s youngest and similarly spirted sister, Tori. She told Lanie about the phone conversations she had with her brother and how he gushed about Lanie and how perfect she was for him.

They all treated her as if she were part of the family. It felt wrong. She left him. If they had been together still, maybe he would still be alive.

Tags: Sheri Lynn Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net