Chapter 27
Lauren
The weather cooperated the following Saturday when the services and burial were being held for Lorraine.
It wasn’t a hot summer day, but it was nice enough that I didn’t need a coat or jacket over the navy-blue dress I’d chosen to wear to the cemetery.
There wasn’t going to be a drawn-out funeral service.
All Cole and Asher wanted was the right words spoken and their mother put to rest the way she deserved beneath the beautiful stone marker they’d gotten crafted for their mom.
It had only been a week since Lorraine’s body had been found, but the gossip was all over town about how Cole’s father had killed their mother.
Cole ignored it.
He’d told me that he didn’t really care if people gossiped about his father, and I believed him.
Cole had zero issues with going into town these days.
He was extremely cordial and friendly toward the people he liked and who liked him back.
He’d gotten extremely good at ignoring the folks who weren’t quite as pleasant.
I had no doubt Cole was perfectly capable of letting the rumors about his father roll off his back without a second thought.
Asher and Cole had asked the local pastor to do a short service and blessing before their mother was buried because Lorraine had been a devout Christian.
I saw Millie and Asher having a conversation near what I assumed was Asher’s vehicle when Cole pulled into the cemetery.
I was slightly nervous because I’d never met Asher in person, and it wasn’t exactly an ideal situation to see him for the first time.
Although, if this hadn’t come up, it might have been a lot longer before I’d seen Asher’s face.
Now that Cole and I had arrived, everyone was here.
Cole had told me that Asher had decided to invite Millie because she’d been friends with Lorraine and because she’d been willing to let Asher search on her property.
He’d also told me that he thought Asher’s reasoning was complete and utter bullshit.
Cole seemed to think that Asher had wanted Millie to come simply because his brother was starting to care about his aunt.
I was guessing that Asher had allowed me to be present because Cole told him that he wanted me here.
I could see the beautiful, ornate casket that Asher had chosen sitting next to the gravesite in the distance.
Cole parked next to Asher.
“Did Millie actually come here with Asher?” I asked in a surprised voice.
“Yeah. Shocking, right?” Cole joked. “I offered to pick her up, but Asher insisted on doing it himself.”
“It’s really nice that he invited her,” I said as I watched Cole get out of the vehicle.
He looked incredibly handsome in a gray suit and a subdued tie.
Before I could get my door completely open, Cole was on the passenger side of his truck. He opened the door and wrapped his arms around me. I put my hands on his shoulders, and he literally lifted me to the ground.
Considering that he had a large truck, it was probably the most graceful way to get my feet on the ground when I was wearing a dress and heels.
“Thanks,” I said as I smoothed my dress down nervously.
“Don’t be nervous,” Cole said with amusement in his voice. “Asher isn’t always well-trained, but he doesn’t bite.”
Asher and I had met a few times when I was a kid because he’d known my brother.
But those meetings had been extremely brief.
Cole had already warned me that Asher liked his space, so I was already aware that hugging Cole’s brother wasn’t an option.
“Lauren!” Millie exclaimed as we approached them. “You look so pretty.”
Like me, Millie had donned a dress for the occasion. Hers was a deep, muted green.
Both Asher and Cole had requested that we not wear black because this wasn’t really a sad occasion in their eyes.
They’d done their mourning for their mom a long time ago.
I kissed Millie’s cheek. “You look gorgeous,” I told her quietly.
“No introductions needed for me,” Asher said in a low, solemn baritone. “Thanks for coming, Lauren.”
I turned my head, and my gaze locked with Asher’s.
I wasn’t surprised to see that he was just as handsome as his brother.
He was just a little bit taller than Cole, but their features were so similar that it was very apparent that they were brothers.
He was wearing a gray suit just like Cole.
To my surprise, Asher actually extended his hand.
Call it instinct or intuition, but I sensed it wasn’t easy for Asher to reach out like that, especially to someone he didn’t know.
I lifted my hand slowly and steadily, wanting to make this as painless as possible for Asher. My grip on his hand was gentle, and I pulled back at the first polite opportunity.
“I’m glad we’re finally getting a chance to meet,” I said to Asher with a smile.
“It should have happened sooner,” he said with regret in his voice. “Cole probably told you that I’m not exactly social.”
I nodded, not quite sure what to say.
There was something about Asher that intimidated me in a way that Cole never had.
There was a darkness that seemed to surround him that I couldn’t quite figure out, but it was way different from Cole’s aura.
Not the kind of darkness that was creepy.
It was more like…
Sadness?
Pain?
Loneliness?
Regret?
Or possibly all of those rolled into one?
There was something about him that made me want to hug him, even though I knew that action wouldn’t be accepted well.
My thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the pastor, and after a short discussion with the man, we all headed toward the gravesite.
We’d no more than made it to the site when three more vehicles pulled into the parking lot.
I gaped because I recognized every one of them.
No one spoke as those vehicles parked and three couples slowly made their way toward us.
Kaleb and Anna.
Tanner and Hannah.
Devon and Reese.
They were all dressed in attire similar to ours, and every one of them planted a kiss on Millie’s cheek before they stood silently behind us.
“We’re family,” Kaleb grumbled as he looked at Asher.
“She was our aunt,” Tanner added.
“Family supports each other no matter what,” Devon said as he shot Asher a very stubborn we’re-here-and-we’re-not-going-anywhere expression.
Millie was beaming at her family.
Cole was grinning.
And Asher…he simply lifted his chin in acknowledgment before he asked drily, “Is everyone here now?”
“Yep,” Kaleb said. “We’re all here.”
The pastor smiled as he opened his Bible. “Excellent. Let’s proceed.”
Tears filled my eyes as the short service progressed.
This family that I was standing among had been through so much.
Millie’s sons hadn’t been invited, but they’d stubbornly invited themselves because they thought it was their place to be here for their cousins and the aunt they’d barely known.
In their eyes, family was family.
Being a Remington meant something to the people who were here.
It meant loyalty to their family, no matter what kind of trial that family was going through.
Asher would never admit it, but his family showing up for him and his mother had meant something to him.
I’d seen a quick flash of gratitude in those dark eyes of his before he’d been able to hide it.
I was starting to believe that it wasn’t that Asher didn’t want to be part of the Remington family.
He just had no idea how to make that happen.
The family that Cole and Asher had been raised in had been so dysfunctional that they had no idea how to belong to a normal family.
Cole was learning, but Asher was so averse to mingling with people that it probably felt impossible for him to be part of the family that wanted to accept him.
Cole had squeezed my hand tightly when he’d seen his cousins arriving, so I knew he’d been touched that his family had cared enough to be here.
“Why are you crying?” Cole asked as he leaned down and whispered in my ear.
I reached up and swiped a tear from my cheek.
How did I explain how I felt right now?
I wasn’t sad.
My heart was actually hopeful.
Hopeful that at some point in the future this family would be together in the way they were always meant to be together.
Hopeful that Cole and Asher would someday heal completely from the trauma of their past.
Every single day, I fell more in love with Cole Remington.
I wanted him to be happy more than I wanted anything else in the world.
I couldn’t heal all of the wounds of his childhood, but I could try my best to make sure that he always felt loved and appreciated.
Being with him was definitely the best thing that had ever happened to me.
The man definitely made me feel adored.
Wanted.
Accepted.
For a woman who had always felt like an unattractive geek, those feelings were intoxicating.
Cole Remington was the soulmate I’d never believed in until I met him.
“I’m fine,” I whispered back to him, knowing he was waiting for my answer.
He quirked a brow.
I shot him an enormous smile because it was the only way he was going to leave this alone until the service was over.
“That smile and those dimples get me every time,” he grumbled.
I knew that.
He’d told me that at least a million times.
How could Cole not be my soulmate?
Only the man I was meant to love would actually be mesmerized by my dimples.
I let out a long sigh as the service concluded, hoping that Lorraine could somehow see how well her boys had grown up.
Something told me that she’d be very proud of the sons she’d loved so much.