The Rescue - Nicholas Sparks [121]
He closed his eyes hard, pushing back the tears.
“Mitch was everything I’ve ever wanted to be. . . .”
Taylor stepped back from the microphone, his head bowed, then made his way back into the crowd. The minister finished with the service, and people filed by the coffin, where a picture of Mitch had been placed. In the photo he was smiling broadly, standing over the grill in his backyard. Like the picture of Taylor’s father, it captured the very essence of who he was.
Afterward Taylor drove alone back to Melissa’s house.
It was crowded at the house as people came by after the funeral to offer Melissa their condolences. Unlike the day before—a gathering of close friends and family—this time everyone who’d been at the service was there, including some Melissa barely knew.
Judy and Melissa’s mother tended to the busywork of feeding the masses; because it was so packed inside, Denise wandered into the backyard to watch Kyle and the other children who’d also attended the funeral. Mainly nephews and nieces, they were young and, like Kyle, unable to fully understand everything that was going on. Dressed in formal clothes, they were running around, playing with each other as if the situation were nothing more than a family reunion.
Denise had needed to get out of the house. The grief could be stifling at times, even to her. After hugging Melissa and sharing a few words of sympathy, she had left Melissa to the care of her family and Mitch’s. She knew that Melissa would have the support she needed today; Melissa’s parents intended to stay for a week. While her mother would be there to listen and hold her, Melissa’s father could begin with the numbing paperwork that always followed an event like this.
Denise stood from her chair and walked to the edge of the pool, her arms crossed, when Judy saw her through the kitchen window. She opened the sliding glass door and started toward her.
Denise heard her approaching and glanced over her shoulder, smiling warily.
Judy laid a gentle hand on her back. “How’re you holding up?” she asked.
Denise shook her head. “I should be asking you that. You knew Mitch a lot longer than I did.”
“I know. But you look like you need a friend right now.”
Denise uncrossed her arms and glanced toward the house. People could be seen in every room.
“I’m okay. Just thinking about Mitch. And Melissa.”
“And Taylor?”
Despite the fact that it was over between them, she couldn’t lie.
“Him too.”
Two hours later the crowd was finally thinning. Most of the distant friends had come and gone; a few members of the family had flights to catch and had left as well.
Melissa was sitting with her immediate family in the living room; her boys had changed their clothes and had gone outside, to the front yard. Taylor was standing in Mitch’s den alone when Denise approached him.
Taylor saw her, then returned his attention to the walls of the den. The shelves were filled with books, trophies the boys had won in soccer and Little League baseball, pictures of Mitch’s family. In one corner was a rolltop desk, the cover pulled shut.
“Your words at the service were beautiful,” Denise said. “I know Melissa was really touched by what you said.”
Taylor simply nodded without responding. Denise ran her hand through her hair.
“I’m really sorry, Taylor. I just wanted you to know that if you need to talk, you know where I am.”
“I don’t need anyone,” he whispered, his voice ragged. With that he turned from her and walked away.
What neither of them knew was that Judy had witnessed the whole thing.
Chapter 26
Taylor bolted upright in bed, his heart pounding, his mouth dry. For a moment he was inside the burning warehouse again, adrenaline surging through his system. He couldn’t breathe, and his eyes stung with pain. Flames were everywhere,