The trail made for an easy hike down to the river, but I struggled with every step. My feet had grown concrete blocks, and just when I thought I couldn’t go another step, I saw the chaplain. He saw me at the same time, gave me a small smile, and waved. He’d picked a nice spot with the river as a backdrop, and he stood beside a large rock, almost like it was a podium. As expected, we were the only two around.
“Hey, Chaplain. Sorry I kept you waiting.” I forced myself to take the last few steps. Once I got it over with, it would be done. Over. I could sweep the whole thing under the rug and forget about it.
“It’s fine, Garth. I’ve just been enjoying the bounty of God’s workmanship.”
I forced myself to return his smile. The chaplain had drunk way too much of the Kool-Aid in Sunday school as a child.
“How much longer would you like to wait for the rest? Don’t worry about me, because I’ve got the whole afternoon open.”
The chaplain and I might have lived on opposite ends of the spectrum, but he was an all right kind of guy. Despite being a little out of touch with reality. “You might as well do your thing because I’m the only one coming.”
The chaplain indicated just over my shoulder. “Either fisherman have started wearing formal wear to pull trout out of the river, or you’ve got company.”
My sigh cut short as soon as I saw who it was. “What the hell are you two doing here? This is a funeral, not a wedding.”
“Good to see you too, Black,” Jesse replied, helping Rowen over a few rocks in the trail. “How are you doing?”
“I’m f**king on top of the world. Can’t you tell?”
“I’m not sure that f**k’s allowed at a funeral, Black.” Rowen shot me a wink as she and Jesse came up beside me.
“Why not? Clay was that word’s number one fan. The profanity and the act.” The chaplain looked off into the distance.“How in the hell did you two know what was going on today?” I couldn’t decide if I was pissed or relieved they’d shown up. I definitely felt a bit of both. I’d seen Jesse and Rowen a couple of days ago, pretty much right after they got in from Seattle, but I hadn’t mentioned a thing to either one of them about the funeral.
“You called in sick today,” Jesse answered, nudging me. “You’ve never called in sick before. Not even the day after . . . after . . .”
“The day after the fire,” Rowen interjected. Jesse thanked her with a smile.
“You mean the day after Clay was burnt to such a crisp nothing was left of him?” Jesse’s eyebrows lifted. Rowen’s came together. I wasn’t trying to upset two of my only friends. It just went against my nature not to. Truthfully, having them with me made the whole thing less daunting. We were nothing more than a few friends hanging down on the riverbank, saying good-bye to a person I wasn’t sure even deserved it.
Rowen said, “You want to take out your anger at us today, fine. Do it. You get a free pass. Today and today only. Tomorrow you’d better find somewhere else to channel your anger.”
I waited a moment for her to go into more detail, but none came. “Or else?”
She arched an eyebrow. “Or else.”
“I sure have missed your veiled threats, Miss Sterling-soon-to-be-Walker.”
“Yeah, yeah. And we’ve missed your unparalleled goodness, too.”
Jesse tried to keep from smiling, but that was about as easy for him to do as it was me to keep smiling.
“So I get that me calling in sick today alerted the dogs to what I had planned, but how in the hell did you know where to find me?” Montana had as many wide open spaces as there were stars in the sky. “Did you go and install a GPS tracker on me or something?”
Jesse stared into the sky while Rowen’s eyes locked onto mine. “No. We followed you,” she answered with a shrug.
I shook my head. If I hadn’t been so preoccupied with trying and failing to spin a brodie in the middle of the road and tear out of town and never look back, I might have noticed Old Bessie tailing me. That truck was such an atrocity it was impossible to miss. “You two are a couple of regular ninjas, aren’t you?”
“Hi-yah,” Rowen deadpanned, thumping the side of her hand into my stomach.
“And look at you, Walker. Dressed up all fancy in a suit. It almost looks like you’re heading to your own funeral.” I elbowed his ribs, making him elbow me right back. “Hold up. Aren’t you the whipped chump getting married this summer? I suppose that explains why you look like you’re heading to your own funeral.” I chuckled, ignoring Rowen’s impressive glare.
“Two words, Black,” she said, all tough sounding. “Or. Else.” Lifting her fist, she circled it around.
That, of course, only made me laugh. “I sure am glad I have you two here for moral support. I’ve never felt so uplifted and surrounded by warm fuzzies in my life.”
“We love you too, buddy.” Jesse slung his arm around Rowen’s neck, the other around mine, and pulled us together for some sick version of a group hug. I was protesting with an exaggerated groan when I heard a few others coming down the trail. It probably shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did.
Mr. and Mrs. Walker, followed by their three daughters, made their way toward us. Neil had a solemn expression, Rose had a small smile, and the girls all looked a bit red-eyed. Go figure. Three Walker girls who’d barely even met Clay had been crying, but his own son had yet to shed a single tear. I told myself the only reason they were able to muster up a few tears for him was because they didn’t know Clay like I did.