Page 39 of Elevating Eve

Frowning, Jonathan admitted, “I don’t understand.”

“It didn’t need to be this perfect, beautiful speech. I wasn’t being graded, and I wasn’t some politician trying to win people over to my side. Everyone was already on my side.” Reaching up, she straightened his hair, putting it back to the way he liked it. He really needed to stop running his hands through it so often. “Once I realized that, I knew all I needed to do was say what would be helpful to me.”

“But how am I supposed to know what that is?” he asked, fucking up his hair before he realized what he was doing.

Her sad little smile as she fixed his hair again soothed the pain in his chest the tiniest bit. “It might be something different for you. But for me, it helped to talk about all the best times I ever had with my dad. Forcing myself to say it out loud helped me remember how lucky I was to have him in the first place.” She shrugged, an almost apologetic look in her dark eyes. “And I guess it kind of tricked my brain into forgetting what a fucking wreck I was. Long enough to get through the funeral anyway.”

Now here he was, shaking hands and hugging people as they filed solemnly into the church, saying, “Thank you,” over and over again as they offered their condolences. And in the back of his mind, he ran through the best memories he had of his father, like his own personal home video montage.

When a large group of people from the Manor appeared at the open double doors, he almost lost his resolve. If Eve hadn’t put her hand in his at that moment, drawing him out of his racing thoughts, he may well have broken down. Instead, he steeled his nerves and approached his closest friends in the world.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, hearing how utterly grateful and bewildered he sounded. He held his hand out to Leo, his oldest friend, who hauled him into a hug instead.

“What kind of question is that,” Leo said in his ear, letting Jonathan lean on him until he got himself under enough control to pull away. “We all wanted to be here for you.”

“But the Manor?—”

“Will survive if we close it down for a couple days and reschedule a few people,” Rafe interrupted in his deep, gruff voice.

Camden hurried to add, “All the guests understood.” For once, his fuckboy grin was nowhere to be found.

Blinking back tears, Jonathan hugged Aiden next, and then Olivia. “You’re supposed to be in Bali.” The two still hadn’t taken a proper vacation since they got married over a year ago. “I can’t believe you left your honeymoon for this.”

“You’re a hell of a lot more important to us than a fucking trip,” Aiden said, the threat of tears already heavy in his voice.

“And you know how much we all loved your dad,” Mason said, the usual icy intensity of his deep blue eyes replaced by a compassion rarely seen in the man. For only the second time in over twenty-five years of friendship, Mason hugged him. “We’re all here for you, literally anything you need. That’s a promise.”

Jonathan had to wipe away tears as Mason pulled away, and Zach handed him a handkerchief before he could retrieve one from his own pocket. A bright orange poppy had been embroidered into one corner, a lavender and white columbine into the corner opposite. The state flowers of California and Colorado, he realized with a start.

When he tried to hand the handkerchief back after dabbing at his eyes, Zach waved him away. “Keep it. I made it for you.”

At Jonathan’s surprised look, Remy pulled another handkerchief from his pocket, holding it out so he could see the red and orange hibiscus flowers artfully arranged around one corner. “He got bored with calligraphy and took up embroidery last winter. Our house looks like an old lady lives there.”

Before he knew it was coming, Jonathan huffed out a short laugh. His eyes widened at the sound. How was laughter even possible on a day like today?

Zach hurried forward and flung his arms around Jonathan, not giving him the chance to fall too deeply down that rabbit hole. “I’m so,so sorry,” Zach said as Jonathan hugged the man’s slender shoulders. “You need anything at all, you call me first, okay? You had my back when I needed it most, and now I have yours, no matter what.”

For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why it astounded him that they’d all come. He turned that over in his mind as he accepted hugs and condolences from Remy, Sophie, Rafe, Nell, Addison, and Camden in turn.

The group shuffled off to find seats, Camden stopping to whisper something in Eve’s ear on his way by. Eve moved up beside him after they were gone, slipping her hand into his.

“What did he say to you?” Jonathan asked.

She gave his hand a little squeeze. “He said, ‘Jonathan is like my brother. Thank you for being with him through all this.’”

Tears welled in Jonathan’s eyes yet again, and he blinked them away.

“Remember, you’re not alone,” she said softly, leaning her head against his shoulder. “Not like I was. We’re all here for you, no matter what.”

Knowing all the people he cared about most in this world were right here in this church carried him through the rest of the arrivals.

When it came time for everyone to take their seats, Eve tried to sit with the Manor group near the back of the church. “I think it would be more appropriate,” she whispered as she attempted to pull away.

He didn’t let go of her hand. “Please sit with me,” he said, letting his fear show on his face for only a moment. “I don’t think I can do this alone.”

Her eyes melted, and she nodded without hesitation. They took their seats in the front row, between his mom and Alice. Neither of the women looked surprised to see Eve at his side.

Most of the funeral passed in a blur, the priest reading several bible verses that he only half paid attention to. Despite being raised by moderately religious parents, Jonathan was agnostic at best—not against the idea of a God per se, just not convinced either. His mother had been the one who wanted a proper religious funeral, in the Episcopal church his parents attended since moving to this corner of California in their early twenties.

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