“We were just leaving,” Colton announced. “We’re burying Tommy this afternoon at three. Trinity Cemetery, if you’re so inclined to join us. It’s just family.”
Clara nodded. “Thank you. I’m sure my folks will want to be there. David took the children back to the ranch with the exception of the baby, so I won’t be able to attend.”
“It won’t be a long service, nor all that formal. You can bring the child if you want to be there.”
Clara looked to Emma and gave a slight nod. “Thank you.”
Colton moved from the bedside and took hold of Rosie. “We’ll see you tomorrow, Emma.”
“I love you, Emma,” Rosie said, giving her yet another kiss.
“I love you, Rosie. Don’t forget to put the flowers in water.”
“I won’t.”
Emma watched them leave. She wished so much that she might leave this place too. A sigh escaped her lips.
“You sound tired.”
“Weary of this place.” Emma looked to her sister. “Hopefully, I’ll be able to leave soon.”
“Will you come back to the ranch or go to Cheyenne with Father and Lucille? I know they want you to be with them.”
“Neither. I won’t be up to travel for a while, so I’ll go stay at the Benton house as I had figured to do after marrying Tommy. Rosie is adamant that I come and let her nurse me.”
“Is that really appropriate?”
“Why wouldn’t it be? I did marry Tommy. We might have had no chance to live as man and wife, but I’m still legally a Benton.”
“Yes, but it’ll be just you and Rosie and ... Colton.”
Emma chuckled and felt the pull across her stomach. She pressed her hand against the pain. “And a staff of ten who live on the premises. So if you’re worried about any improprieties,I assure you there is never a private moment in that house. Besides, Colton has no interest in me.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure. I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”
Emma shook her head. “He studies everyone in great detail. Colton is an observer of everything and everyone.” Yet even as she said it, Emma couldn’t help but remember the way he’d looked at her just moments earlier. She’d had the strangest feeling that he wanted to say so much more than he had.
Colton stared down at the open grave and felt a sense of emptiness. Was that all there was left to a soul after death? A hole in the ground? A wooden box? A handful of mourners to say prayers and sing hymns?
His mother would have said that there was all of eternity and that if Colton wanted to spend it in happiness and love, then he needed to make peace with God. As a child, Colton had accepted her words as truth. He had prayed many prayers at her prompting. But his father held no respect for such things, and because of that Colton had put them aside as childish. Even though his mother continued in her beliefs, Colton felt no such need.
There was something about death, however, that caused a man to reflect upon such things. He had never expected to bury any of his brothers, much less Tommy. Colton had been too busy working at his father’s side to get very close to Ernest and Walter. In fact, their father had insisted on putting Colton in a position of authority over them, making it clear that they were subordinate to him. It was hard to have a brotherly relationship with someone you were encouraged to see more as an employee than a sibling. But Tommy was different. When Colton was firmly established and trained,Tommy was still young enough that they could interact as brothers. Tommy often sought Colton out for advice when he’d been young. Young and impetuous. And now he was young and dead. It tore at Colton’s heart like nothing else could.
“‘O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?’” the pastor read from First Corinthians.
Colton wanted to walk away. This man didn’t know Tommy. If he had, he would never have been able to speak those words. The sting of death was a searing pain. The grave would swallow his brother, and Tommy would be no more. The pastor spoke on of Christ having victory over death. For those who could accept that as truth, Colton supposed there might be comfort, but there was no comfort for him. That gentle, fun-loving young man was taken from them. No amount of religiosity could bring him back. The loss tightened a band around Colton’s heart and brought tears to his eyes. Even Rosie questioned Tommy’s eternity.
Rosie, gowned in black, stood beside him crying softly. The loss she felt was as deep as his own. Colton put his arm around her. What were they to do without Tommy to lighten their days? Colton held Rosie tight. He couldn’t help but wonder what would become of her. He did what he could to be there for her, but he was always caught up in business. Just as their father had been.
Father had had little to do with Rosie. First, because he didn’t know how to deal with the fact that she wasn’t perfect. Second, because she was a female, only furthering her imperfection in the eyes of Lawrence Benton. The only woman Father had ever gotten along with had been Mother.
Then there was the fact that Father was loud and boisterous, especially when he was angry, which was often. But even in his contentment, Father could be deafening. He frightened Rosie. But knowing this, Tommy always made a game of it.Father was the dragon and Rosie the princess. Her brothers were knights pledged to keep her safe. Colton thought it all ridiculous, but it comforted Rosie as a child and kept them from enduring her tears.
“‘For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return,’” the minister recited, then nodded to the casket handlers. The two men immediately lowered the simple box into the ground. Although there was plenty of money for an elaborate coffin and lavish funeral, Colton had seen no sense in spending the money. Tommy was beyond caring.
Rosie startled at the scene and grabbed Colton’s arm. After attending their aunt and father’s funerals, Rosie knew what to expect, but still it upset her.
“It’s all right, Rosie. This is how it must be.”
