Together, they led Heavenly from her old bedroom. At the front door, she turned and cast one final glance around the family room. Then she squeezed her eyes shut and pulled the door closed behind her.
The walk to the car was both somber and silent. She retrieved Abel’s urn, clutching it to her chest. The breeze kicked up as they walked side by side, past the brick house nearly swallowed by vegetation, to a large, barren tree flanked by a crumbling, sun-faded barn.
“What’s special about this tree?” Seth coaxed.
“The summer after Mom left, Dad was still able to work the farm. I’d make him lunch every day and bring it out to this tree. We’d sit on an old blanket under the shade.” Heavenly’s voice quivered before she broke down beneath the weight of her memories.
Seth wanted to lift the burden of the urn and spill Abel’s ashes on her behalf. Beck’s clenched fist said he felt the same. But they couldn’t take this from her. She needed to let her father go in her way. So they supported her, Beck rubbing slow circles across her stiff shoulders while Seth softly cupped her nape.
“When I was a kid, he used to push me on the rope swing he hung from one of these big branches. Mom never had time, but Dad was always there for me. When Butter died giving birth to her calf, I ran here. He held me while I cried.”
“Abel was a good, loving father.” Beck gave her shoulder a squeeze.
“He wasn’t just my dad. He was my best friend and confidant. My whole world.” Heavy sobs overtook her again. With tears streaming down her face, she turned to them. “You really think I should leave him in this dead, empty place?”
“If you remember the special times you shared here, Abel does, too. So what if the leaves are gone and home isn’t the way you remember? The memories are still imprinted here.” Beck slapped a hand on the rough bark of the tree. “And here.”
Emotions thickened Seth’s throat as he placed a palm over her heart. “Because every precious moment you spent with your dad will echo in the soil until the end of time.”
Heavenly nodded. “I never thought of it that way.”
Slowly, she unscrewed the top and lifted it from the urn, then knelt at the base of the tree. “Daddy, I love you for all the times you told me I could be anything I wanted as long as I was true to myself.” She tilted the canister and sprinkled out a bit of the gray powder before inching over. “I love you for always having faith in me.” She left another small pile and sidled right again. “I love you for all your smiles, even when you had to put up with me during puberty. You stocked the house for my monthly chocolate binges. I love you for that, too.”
Her voice was soft but reverent. Her resilience made Seth so damn proud.
“I love you for teaching me that life isn’t always fair and that I won’t always get what I want.”
She’d had plenty of proof of that in her short life. If she chose them, he and Beck would do their damnedest to give her everything she’d ever dreamed of.
Heavenly continued around the base of the tree, eulogizing her father from the depths of her soul. When she reached the spot where she’d started, she emptied the rest of the ashes and bowed her head. “I love you…until all the stars fall from the sky.”
As Seth moved in to hold her, Beck did the same. Together, they knelt beside her and surrounded her in their embrace.
After a solemn moment, she stood and turned to them with a grateful smile. “Having you two here gave me the strength I needed and made this so special.” Her throat seemed to close with emotion as she mouthed, “I couldn’t have done it without you two.”
Seth brushed a kiss against her wet cheek. “There’s nowhere on earth we’d rather be than with you.”