Loving Her (Mitchell Family #9)(15)

“What if we had a funeral? I can occupy the kids with the preparations. We can invite mine and Colt’s moms and John. I think it would be good for Noah to know that we are all there for him and all of you.”

Van played with her coffee cup, but continued to cry. “That would be really nice.”

Two teary eyed girls came down and clung to Van’s arms. Their sniffles filled the room and even Ty looked sad over it. He leaned down and faced them. “Aunt Miranda wants to have a celebration of Sam’s life. Do you think you can help her make it happen?”

They both nodded.

He rubbed Christian’s arm. “I know you loved Sam. We all did. She was pretty great, wasn’t she?”

They nodded, but Christian finally spoke. “She was real good. I wish she didn’t die.”

Addy hid her face in her mother’s arm. I could hear her sniffling and knew that neither of them fully understood what death was.

“Sam is in Heaven now.”

“I want her to come home.” Addy pouted.

“When you go to Heaven you can’t come back here. I know it sucks, but she’s happy and she’s a puppy again.”

“Is her fur still soft? Will someone pet her at night?” Christian wanted to know such simple answers. I wished that I could take away that emptiness she was feeling.

“I think she’s probably gettin’ pet by all kinds of angels, don’t you, Uncle Ty?”

“Oh yeah. They’re probably giving her whole steaks to eat, out of golden dishes.”

Van sighed as we kept comforting the girls. They were going to be the easy ones to get through this trying time. Noah, who was older, understood the real meaning of death. He knew she wasn’t coming back, and whether he believed that dogs went to Heaven was irrelevant. He was still burying his best friend. It wasn’t going to hurt any less. “Would you like to make Sam something for the funeral?”

Addy nodded and Christian pulled out a chair and sat down. “I want to decorate her collar and make it pretty.”

“Me too.” Addy sat in the chair next to her sister.

Van got up. “I’ll go get their craft boxes.”

Ty stood up and patted me on the shoulder, whispering in my ear, “I’m going to try and get Noah to let us wrap her up and take her body outside. You okay in here with them?”

I nodded and smiled. “Of course.”

He kissed me on the head and walked out of the kitchen, leaving me there with two heartbroken, very sweet little girls.

We hadn’t come here to Kentucky to be sad, but I wouldn’t miss being there for my family, not when they needed us as much as we needed them.





Chapter 9


Tyler


My first inkling was to get Colt calmed down enough to get the dog out of the house before she started smelling. She was cold and stiff, and her eyes were starting to look awful. Noah continued petting the dog as I walked in the room and knelt down at the foot of the bed so that I could be close to him.

Both he and his dad looked up at me. “She’s dead, Uncle Ty. Sam’s dead.”

Man, it really broke my heart hearing that kid say it like he did. Colt shook his head and said nothing, not that I expected him to. As a guy, you wanted to be tough, especially around your kids, but I knew for a fact that it was tearing him up inside.

“I know, little dude. I’m really sorry. It sucks when someone you love dies.”

“Yeah,” he sniffled, and I could tell that he was trying real hard not to cry in front his dad or me. “She was a good girl.”

“Izzy’s downstairs, and she said she like to help you find the perfect spot to bury Sam, if you want her to.”

He nodded. “I reckon it’s a good idea.”

I almost laughed, hearing him talk like his father.

“Get your clothes changed and head on out,” Colt ordered.

Noah stood up and looked over at his father. “Be gentle with her, Dad. Just ‘cause she’s gone don’t mean we can’t take good care of her.”

Colt didn’t argue with his son, although I was sure he wasn’t going to bring the dog’s body any harm. “You got it, kid. Go on now.”

Noah left the room reluctantly, looking back one last time at his companion.

I waited until we were alone to touch Colt’s shoulder. “She was a good one.”

He stared at her. “Yeah. That she was. It’s a damn shame this shit happened in Noah’s bed. He ain’t never goin’ to forget it.”

“Colt, she was old. It was bound to happen somewhere. Let’s get her covered up and carry her outside. The kids will find a spot and I’ll help you dig out the hole.”

“I’ll use the Bobcat. If you want to help you can help me drive it over from the main barn where I keep the equipment.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Instead of wrapping her body in trash bags, which is what I would have done, Colt wrapped her in a sheet with cartoon characters all over it. We carried her out to the front porch and headed out to get the Bobcat.

We spotted the kids on the way and they showed us where they wanted to bury the dog. I watched Colt clenching his jaw and knew the day was going to be especially hard on him.

I shot Miranda a message, letting her know where the kids had wandered to, right before climbing onto the Bobcat and following Colt back to the spot.