Page 45 of Raging Inferno

Her mother’s brows narrowed and then raised as recognition dawned. “I remember you. You’re the sweet little girl they called Pep.”

“I am.”

With a sob, Margy’s mother pulled her in for a hug. “Margy adored you.” Her voice was watery, causing Presley’s eyes to fill. She hadn’t been able to cry since Gwen’s funeral and despised her weakness now. It seemed to be all she could do since returning to her hometown.

“I adored her too.”

When it was time to move along, Presley glanced at the blown-up photo propped atop the casket and had to do a double-take. Much like Charmaine and Tamera, she never would’verecognized Margy. Gone were the long brown locks that had been her trademark. Instead, her hair was short, white-blonde, and straight, cut into an asymmetrical design.

She must’ve stared at it too long because Dominic put his hand against the small of her back to urge her forward. They moved on to let others greet Margy’s parents.

They walked past a woman wearing a black pantsuit with a hat and veil. She wiped her eyes with a handkerchief. “I should be up there, acknowledging the mourners.”

“Excuse me?” Presley asked as she started to pass.

“I’m Janice.” She held out a hand that Presley shook. “How did you know Margy?”

“From high school.”

Janice nodded. “I’m glad to meet some of her older friends. She never talked about those days. I found her yearbooks. Her pictures were all over the pages. She was a cheerleader and seemed popular, but I couldn’t get her to tell me anything. She never wanted to talk about it.”

That was unexpected. “You were friends?”

“Were, being the operative word, friends, being the misnomer. Margy and I dated for three years.”

Presley tried not to let the surprise show on her face. She never would’ve guessed Margy was gay. She’d always had one boyfriend after another. Maybe she’d been compensating for her true feelings.

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

Janice nodded. “I’m overwhelmed with grief and overcome with regret. I’d cursed her and wished her dead, but when it happened, it devastated me.”

“You parted badly?”

Janice emitted a humorless chuckle. “You could say that. Out of the blue, she broke up with me a few weeks ago. We’d been so happy and talking about marriage for a long time. Wehad plans for a trip to Barbados in a couple of months. I wanted to have our wedding on the beach. Her announcement came out of nowhere, blindsiding me. There was someone else, I was sure of it, but she insisted there wasn’t. I refused to believe she didn’t love me. I thought she’d come to her senses, but then she died.” She covered her mouth as a sob escaped her lips.

“I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you.”

Someone called Janice’s name, and she excused herself. Presley followed Dominic to empty seats near the back row.

“Did she say she dated Margy?”

“She did,” Presley confirmed.

“Huh.”

The room soon filled, and the lights dimmed. Curtains opened to reveal a screen, and images of Margy’s life soon appeared before them, starting when she was an infant. As she aged, there were several shots of the Cheerios, including Gwen. Presley’s heart squeezed.

“Hey, that’s you,” Dominic whispered when a group photo of the cheerleaders appeared with her doing the splits in front of them, all smiles and full of hopes and dreams. More pictures blinked across the screen, showing the different stages in Margy’s life.

The muffled sobs from her mother were heartbreaking, as were the speeches that followed. Presley was emotionally worn out by the time it was time to drive to the cemetery.

“Do you expect Jessie or one of the other women to attend?”

“I would hope so, but no, I don’t think they’ll come.”

The winding road through the cemetery was narrow. Parking meant you would be blocked in by the other mourners, so she instructed Dominic to a less-used lane with enough room for other vehicles to go maneuver around them.

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