“I see.I take it your mama will be upset with whatever it is that brought you here alone?”Mary Elizabeth asked.
Hadley struggled to breathe and shifted her gaze to the woman beside her.“Oh, you know Mama.”
“Well, just remember, if you need an escape, my house is always open.”
An escape.Yeah, she needed an escape.But the sooner she left Carolina Cove, the better.
Mary Elizabeth Shipleyheld tight to Hadley’s arm, painfully aware of her goddaughter’s quivering form.
Across the room, she locked gazes with her husband and gave him a slight shake of her head, indicating her suspicions had been right.She’d told Adam for a while now that she just knew something was wrong where Hadley was concerned.And Hadley showing up to Miss Georgia’s funeral alone and quaking in her heels was proof positive something was amiss—not that Mary Elizabeth wanted to be right about this.
“Oh,” Hadley said, the word a tearful gasp.
“Your grandmother is still the most beautiful woman in the room,” Mary Elizabeth said softly, patting Haddie’s hand.
“She is, isn’t she?”
The raw emotion in Haddie’s voice brought fresh tears to Mary Elizabeth’s eyes, and she hurried to blink them back.Ms.Georgia had been such a mainstay in her life, but today was about Hadley and Cheryl’s loss, not hers.“Georgia is someone we all hope to embody at her age.Do you know she volunteered at the center and then had lunch with her friends up until the day she passed?Georgia lived, right up until the very end.We can only pray to be so blessed.”
Hadley nodded and extracted herself to search in her purse for a tissue.
“Here you go,” Mary Elizabeth said, pulling one of the many tissues she’d tucked up her sleeve.
A laugh bubbled out of Hadley’s chest at the sight, and Mary Elizabeth smiled at the sound, glad she could offer a bit of amusement at such a time.
“Thank you.”
Mary Elizabeth watched as Hadley dabbed at her eyes, and once she’d collected herself, they began their trek toward the front of the line once again.The thick crowd made it difficult to move more than a step or two without someone blocking their way.
Finally they made it and Hadley smiled at her mother and stepped forward to hug her.Standing so close, Mary Elizabeth heard Cheryl whisper, “You’re late.”
Mary Elizabeth frowned at her best friend, but Cheryl purposely ignored the pointed look to back off and not be so critical.“Hadley’s here now.That’s all that matters.”
“Hadley, it’s so good to see you,” Mr.DeCamp said, standing near Cheryl and the next to make his condolences.“Though I hate that it’s under these circumstances.”
Hadley nodded and greeted the longtime family friend before she took position beside her mother to receive the mourners.
“I wish someone would turn down that ridiculous music,” Cheryl said.
“Oh, that’s Georgia’s favorite.”The older woman who’d spoken leaned in to give Hadley a hug before moving on to Cheryl.“Georgialovedgoing on those Caribbean cruises.Told us all about them.”
The woman was dressed in nurse’s scrubs, and Mary Elizabeth watched as Cheryl practically wrinkled her nose right then and there with the woman looking on.No doubt Cheryl expected everyone to be “funeral” dressed no matter the circumstances rather than prioritizing the fact the woman had undoubtedly waited quite a while before heading to work or coming from a long shift just to pay her respects.
“I’m sure.Thank you for coming,” Cheryl managed to say to the woman when it was her turn.She extended her hand despite the woman taking a step forward to hug Cheryl like she had Hadley.
An awkward few seconds passed before the woman shook Cheryl’s hand and continued on her way.
Hadley’s father walked up and kissed his daughter’s cheek before placing a supportive hand at his wife’s waist.Mary Elizabeth watched Jerry make the gesture with a tug of pity.
Cheryl was a good person, but she was very set in wanting things to be done her way.Today was a difficult day, one Georgia had made more trying due to her individualistic choices and secret last requests, knowing full well the tizzy they’d send her only daughter into.But that was the type of relationship they’d had.One filled with equal shares of love and quarrels.
Leaving the small family to their duties, Mary Elizabeth turned away and made her way over to the back of the funeral home where the other Babes stood talking.
“How’s Cheryl holding up?”Tessa asked, her dangly earrings swinging beneath her short-cropped, salt-and-pepper hair.
“As well as expected, I guess,” Mary Elizabeth said.
“Oh, I just noticed Haddie finally arrived,” Adaline said, peering over her twin’s shoulder.“My.She’s lost weight since I saw her last.”