Page 88 of Deviant

As I open his message and read it, my knees buckle, causing me to sit back on the bench in utter shock.

Aidan: My mom died last night. Can you come over? I need you.

And this time, when my tears fall, they don’t fall for me. Nor for my dad. They fall for Emily—and for the daughter I stole from her.

Funerals are supposed to be a depressing and somber affair, but this one… let’s just say that Emily would have hated it.

Not only was it a rush job, since everyone’s mind is already on the Harvest Festival tomorrow, but her husband brought his pregnant girlfriend to it, no less.

Ugh.

Elias Larsen Senior is nothing like his son.

Elias is cool and collected, whereas his father is loud and obnoxious.

Every time he yawned and rolled his eyes during the church service, I had to sit over my hands just to keep me from getting up from my pew to slap him for being so disrespectful.

Aidan didn’t look one bit put off by it, but from the look in Elias’s dark eyes, I knew he was seconds away from grabbing his father by the lapel and throwing him out of the church. I’m not sure where he found such restraint.

Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.

Yep. That’s how we all end up. But Emily deserved a better sendoff than the one she got.

After Emily’s coffin is lowered to the earth and everyone has paid their last respects by throwing flowers on top of it, I stay back at the cemetery for a little while longer, not eager to have to deal with the wake back at the Larsen home.

I’m sure Senior will also be there, considering his demeanor while leaving the funeral. He had his arm draped over Aidan’s shoulder and talked in hushed tones as they returned to the car.

In all honesty, I could do with a break from him too.

It didn’t sit well with me how aloof he acted throughout his mom’s funeral.

I mean, Emily has been sick for a long time, so we knew this day would eventually arrive. However, Aidan’s lack of emotion rubbed me the wrong way.

But then again, I guess everyone grieves differently.

With that thought in mind, I place a white rose on Emily’s tomb, her body finally lying peacefully beneath. I say a littleprayer, thankful for her to be released from the pain she endured for so long.

“I guess your days alone are over, Nora. I’m sorry that it had to be your mother to keep you company. I was kind of hoping that I’d beat her to the punch.”

I take a deep breath and say my parting goodbyes to a woman who deserved so much more from this life than what she got.

“It’s not fair,” I mumble, disheartened.

“You say that shit a lot.” I hear a low-timbre voice beside me.

My whole body goes ramrod straight, watching Elias lean down to grab a handful of dirt, letting the granules slowly slip from his fingers back onto the soil.

“I thought you had left with the others,” is my lame response.

“Aidan can handle the vultures for a while. I needed a minute.”

I nod, perfectly in tune with his reasoning.

It’s only when he stands back up that I feel brave enough to speak. “I’m sorry if I haven’t said this before, but I’m truly sorry for your loss.”

“Are you, now?” he says, his face a blank canvas, completely void of emotion. Except for his eyes—those dark depths scream misery and pain.

“Yes. I adored your mom. She was always kind to me.”

---