Page 40 of Elevating Eve

When at last the priest announced it was time for Jonathan to give his eulogy, his legs felt almost too weak to stand.

“It’s okay,” Eve whispered as he wiped his suddenly clammy hands on his slacks. “Remember, everyone’s already on your side.”

Bolstered by her words, he managed to rise to his feet and button his jacket. Holding his spine straight and his head high, he walked up to the lectern. He could do this. Not for all the people out there, but for himself.

He needed to say goodbye.

“Thank you everyone for being here to support our family today.” He cleared his throat, wishing he had a glass of water. “My father was...he was...” He swallowed, trying to force the lump in his throat down again, but this time it wouldn’t go away. Christ, he was going to start crying up here and completely fail this whole fucking thing, disappointing everyone.

But when he looked out at the gathered crowd, he didn’t see a single angry or disappointed face. Alice leaned against Dillon, her husband, watching Jonathan with the same stoic expression she’d worn since he arrived in California. For as long as he could remember, she didn’t like to show too much negative emotion when other people could see. Even so, she clutched a tissue in one hand.

Maisie, who had been crying for the last half hour, continued to wipe at her nose and eyes with the endless stream of tissues Sean provided for her. She watched him with shining eyes, grief and hope making up equal parts of her expression.

Then there was Eve. Her beautiful eyes held nothing but support and her unwavering belief that he could do this.

It was his mom’s expression that affected him most of all, though. She, too, had been crying for most of the service. But now she looked at him with so much pride that it strengthened his weakened body, resolved his mind.

Pulling the embroidered handkerchief from his pocket, he pressed it against his eyes one at a time, gathering his tears. And then he started to speak.

“My father was the funniest, most laid-back man I’ve ever known. I have no idea how I happened, because I’m pretty sure I came out ofMom’s uterus wearing a suit.” A chuckle rolled through the pews, and his mother smiled for a moment. “But that never bothered Dad. He didn’t tell me to relax, or act more like he did at my age, or that I’d give myself an ulcer before I turned twenty-five.” He paused, then admitted, “Okay, maybe he said the ulcer part.” More laughter.

“But my point is, he never tried to change me.Never.Even when I made some rather unorthodox choices these last ten years, he always embraced exactly who I am. Do you have any idea how lucky that makes me?” He looked over at his sisters, meeting each of their gazes in turn. “How lucky it makes all three of us?

“No matter what we did, we always had someone to go to for support and advice. Someone who wouldn’t judge us or condemn us or tell us we were out of our minds. If one of us told him we wanted to reach for the stars, he asked how he could help build the spaceship every single time.”

Alice’s stony exterior finally cracked, and she buried her face against Dillon’s shoulder, whole body shaking with her tears.

“Losing my dad has left a hole in me I can’t even begin to fill. Perhaps if we’d known it was coming—if we had time to...to say goodbye.” He wiped fresh tears from his eyes as he fought to regain his voice. “But I keep reminding myself that I had over thirty-eight years for this man to teach me. For him to love me and show me how to love others. For him to make me laugh when I got too serious. Not everyone gets that.”

He looked at Eve, who lost her dad at such a young age. Then at Aiden and Rafe, whose parents wanted nothing to do with them anymore. At Olivia, who ran away from her abusive home at eighteen and never looked back. He didn’t know much about Addison’s story yet, but he knew enough to know her childhood hadn’t been a bed of roses either, though she’d recently connected with her biological dad for the first time.

“My dad was the most wonderful man I’ve ever known, and I’ll miss him every single day for the rest of my life. But I’m also going to use everything he taught me to make that life the best one I possibly can.” He met Maisie’s eyes again, and then Alice’s. “I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, Dad would want that for us. He’d want to know that he leftbehind a legacy of joy. Of acceptance and peace and love. We can give him that.”

He looked out over the whole congregation. “We all can. When you leave this place today, try to remember something Orson Hale taught you. Remember a time he cheered you up with a ridiculous story when you were having a bad day. Or remember a time he showed up for you, even if maybe no one else did. And try to put that kind of energy out into the world. It’ll be a better place because of it.”

CHAPTER 14

Eve

Sitting alone at a table near the back of the event hall, Eve did her best to be invisible. Not that she disliked any of the people here at the luncheon. Jonathan’s family had welcomed her as one of their own without question, especially his mom and sisters. And, of course, she already knew the people who had arrived from the Manor, to varying degrees.

No, she hid in the corner because the more she heard about Orson Hale, the more he reminded her of her own dad. After so many years, she thought she’d completely worked through her grief. But hearing story after story that could just as easily have been told at her dad’s funeral made it abundantly clear she was wrong.

She’d go back out there in a few minutes, after a short break.

For at least the tenth time since that morning, she went over Jonathan’s eulogy in her mind. She didn’t think she’d ever heard anything more beautiful in her life.

Eve had no choice but to admit it, to herself at least. She fell just a little bit in love with him while he stood behind that podium, revealing his fractured heart to the other hurting people around him.

A tall man, broad shouldered man who appeared to be in his sixties or early seventies walked up to her table. He dropped into the chair nextto her without waiting for an invitation. “I hear you’re dating my nephew,” he said, not bothering to introduce himself first.

Oh, for fuck’s sake. She only wanted a few minutes to herself. Was that too much to ask?

Summoning up the dregs of her dwindling energy supplies, she held out her hand. “I’m Eve. You must be Orson’s brother.” The man bore a remarkable resemblance to the pictures of Jonathan’s father she’d seen the last few days. He’d also been one of the pallbearers, standing just behind Jonathan.

“Warren Hale.” He shook her hand only once before letting go.

She remembered Alice making some offhand comment about her Uncle Warren—how he threw a hissy fit about where the funeral would be held. Fuck, she wished Jonathan or one of his sisters was here to carry on the bulk of the conversation. It had been stupid to try to slip off on her own. “I’m so sorry for your loss,” she said awkwardly, “From everything I’ve heard, it sounds like Orson was an incredible man.”

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