Page 4 of Seductive Nights

Margo waited. She wasn't sure if she could handle anything else right now, anyway.

Soon, her youngest sister, Josseline, stepped outside, pulled another of the teal chairs from across the deck, and sat down on the other side of Carley. She sipped her coffee, ran her hands through her long, dark hair, and let out a deep breath.

Margo glanced at her youngest sister. Her demeanor seemed off. They'd had family members pass before, and she'd never behaved like this.

"What's going on with you, Josseline?"

Her sister turned her head to stare at her. Her eyebrows shot up in her hairline. "What do you mean what's going on?"

"I mean, what's going on? Yesterday I got the feeling you were irritated about being at the hospital. Today you seem... I don't know, put out."

Josseline shook her head. "I'm not put out. We all handle stress differently, Margo. I know that you've got a lot on your plate right now, and you don't even know what I've got on mine. So what do you want? You want me to be crying and sobbing and wailing?"

Margo's shoulders tensed. "No, I don't want that."

Carley, leaned over and patted her hand. "Let's not argue. We need each other right now more than ever."

"I know." Margo let out a deep breath, took another sip of her coffee, and continued to stare at her flowers. A bee buzzed from flower to flower. She watched it for a few moments, mesmerized by the beauty of it all. The birds and the bees. It seemed so simple.

She stared at her purple cone flowers and the bee that was even now pollinating them. And she thought of Logan. Those were his favorites. A thought popped into her head.

" I think I'm gonna cut some of those purple cone flowers and take them to the flower shop and have them make an arrangement for Logan's casket. Those were his favorite flowers, and I think it's poignant that they would be coming from our garden."

Carley nodded and softly said, "That's a good idea, Margo."

Josseline said nothing, which irritated Margo, but she redirected her thoughts around how many flowers she would need to cut and how soon she would need to get them to the flower shop after she cut them. Then her thoughts jumped to what time their appointment was at the funeral home, and quite frankly, all the things began to once again circle around in her head.

Her younger sister, Holly, stepped out on the deck. Cup of coffee in hand and the coffee pot in the other to refill anyone who needed one. Without saying a word, she just went from sister to sister and refilled their cups. She stepped back inside, returned quickly, pulled up a chair, and sat on the other side of Margo. "Did you sleep, Margo?"

"About four hours I guess."

"Okay, well, that's better than three hours, right?"

Margo chuckled, "Right?"

Holly continued. "Okay, so today we have to be at the funeral home at ten. Have you decided on cremation or burial?"

Margo closed her eyes for a moment. No, she hadn't decided on that at all. She let out a deep breath. "Logan had told me he wanted to be cremated." Margo tilted her head to the left. "It was weird and sudden. Out of the blue, after he was admitted, he told me to cremate him.”

"Okay, well, that's good, I guess. We'll tell the funeral home that. I think we have the option of having a viewing and funeral with him right away with a viewing, and then they cremate him later, or I think it takes a week or two for the cremation and then we can have a memorial service with his ashes present. Do you know what you want?"

She let out a deep breath. "No, I don't know, but I think because we are so well known in town, we should probably have a traditional showing and then cremation. I couldn't bear to sit around for a week or two waiting for him to be cremated before going through a memorial service. At this point, I feel exhausted, and I just want to get it over with." She took a deep breath. "Does that sound harsh?"

Carley shook her head. “It doesn't sound harsh. At this point, you have to do what you think is right and what's right for you. Logan isn't here for any of it.”

Josseline said nothing. She lifted her cup to her lips and sipped her coffee.

Margo sipped some more and then stood. Josseline's attitude was really getting on her nerves, and she didn't need to be arguing with her sisters right now. They were her support system.

"I'm gonna go take a shower and get dressed, and then we can eat some breakfast, and from there, we'll start the day. Will you all be with me today, or are some of you staying back?" She purposely looked at Josseline, who smiled sweetly and said, "We'll all be with you today, Margo."

She nodded once and stepped through the kitchen door. The cool air felt chilling but so welcome. She set her nearly empty cup of coffee on the counter and made her way down the hallway to her bedroom.

As soon as she entered, she stared across the room at Logan's closet. They had separate closets. When they'd built this house, that was a must. Each of them had to have their own closet. She thought now about having to clean that out. What is she to do with all of his clothes and belongings? His golf clubs, his baseball glove, his baseball bats, and his stupid hobby of making fishing bobbers and lures. God, she hated the time he spent down in the basement making his stupid fishing stuff. But it was something he loved. And then, in the last few years, when he had gotten it in his head to be THE real estate agent in Florida and started doing more traveling, his fishing bobber and lure business sort of sat in decline. Not that he'd had a strong business, but he had a few area fishermen who paid for most of the supplies he needed for his hobby. Maybe one of them would want to take over. She'd have to see if she could find their names.

She started the water in her shower and pulled her clothes from her closet. What was appropriate? Did she have to wear all black? They didn't really do that anymore, did they? She certainly wasn't living in a time where they had to wear black for a year afterward. She'd wear black at the funeral. Letting out a deeply held breath, she opted for subdued.

Stepping into the warm spray of water, she closed her eyes and let the water clean away all of the ickiness from the past few days. She sent up a prayer that this could be a cleansing of sorts. A fresh start. Afterward, she dried her hair and wondered if she should get it cut. It hung down to her bra strap. She'd always left it long because Logan loved it. But damn, it was hot in Florida. There were so many days when she thought about just chopping it off but then reasoned with it long, she could pull it up easily.

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