headaches if you became dehydrated.” Daniel let go of Carly and she noticed for the first time who Daniel had been talking to.
“ Daddy” Carly cried and ran to her father. She hadn’t seen him when she first walked in because he had been behind Daniel. Carly realized she had been wrong, seeing her dad had a new onslaught of tears streaming down her face. He held her as he had when she was little and had been hurt. He stood there rocking gently back and forth in a manner that was very similar to the way Carly was rocking on the floor when she found Jenna. Daniel had to swallow hard and look away to get the lump in his throat to go away.
When Daniel had called him, Carly’s dad felt horror at what had happened to Jenna but couldn’t help but feel relief that Carly was safe. He felt guilty over that, but as a father he hadn’t been able to help it. Jenna had been as much a part of their family as Carly had been to the Wayne family. He and Nancy, Carly’s mom, had loved Jenna.
“ Thank you for taking care of her.” Carly’s dad said to Daniel as he guided Carly to the door.
“ Ed, let me know if she needs anything.” Daniel’s voice was thick with tears. Carly stopped, turned to Daniel and gave him another hug. Daniel held on tightly and kissed her forehead. “Call me if you need anything,” he said softly.
Her dad had taken Carly home where her mom was waiting. He had called to let her know that they were on their way and she had pulled herself together so she could take care of her daughter.
In the last two days, Carly’s parents had been there for her. Making sure she ate and slept and they were there to hold her when she cried. While they couldn’t get her to eat much, she did a lot of sleeping and crying.
Det. Stone, and his partner, Det. Wright, had come by, but Carly had been sleeping both times. The second time, they said they understood that she was not ready to talk, but they needed to get as much information as possible since there were so few clues to go on. They left without seeing her, but with a promise from Carly’s dad that she would call as soon as she woke up. She did. They were scheduled to meet the day after the funeral.
And here they were, the day of the funeral. It should be raining and storming. It shouldn’t be sunny and beautiful, it just seemed wrong.
Carly rode with her parents to the church that the Wayne’s had gone to since their oldest, Harmon, was a newborn. The church was where Jenna had been baptized and had planned to one day get married. Instead, they were having her funeral.
Carly and her parents sat in the pew directly behind the Wayne’s. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room by the time the funeral was over. They had pictures of Jenna all along the front of the church. Several of them included Carly and Jenna’s family. Several of them, Carly herself had taken. The Wayne family had endured many photo shoots during Carly’s time in college as she worked toward one day being a famous photographer. The Wayne’s were definitely grateful for all the pictures now that there would be no more taken of Jenna.
Jenna’s brothers, Daniel, Harmon and Carter were pall bearers along with a cousin and two friends of Jenna’s and Carly’s from high school, Anthony and Trent.
At the end of the funeral, Carly went up to Jenna’s parents, Lucille and Eric Wayne. They all held each other tightly and cried. Carly hugged each one of the brothers but none of them said anything, there was no need.
That night the storms came. Carly couldn’t help but think that the whole world was now mourning the loss of Jenna.
He had gotten there early. He wanted a little time to himself in the store to try to feel Jenna. She was still there, or at least he could still feel her energy everywhere. He gave a little, self-mocking laugh at that thought. Had anyone said that they could feel the energy of a dead woman, he would have thought they were nuts! But now he knew, now that he had