Rogue (Bad Blooded Rebel Series) Read Free Page B

asked.
    “For everything. For helping arrange
Daddy’s funeral when I was incoherent, for taking care of me, for staying with
me every night so I could sleep…just everything. I’m very grateful for you,
Ryder Matthews.”
    He smiled a sad smile at me. “Thank you
for letting me do all of those things. I am glad you let me help out.”
    I moved in close and hugged him tightly
around his torso. “I’m glad you wanted to.” We stayed like that for a few
moments before the back door opened again and Beau and Danni rushed inside out
of the cold air. “Hey Danni,” I said, stepping away from Ryder and hugging her.
    “Hey Ev, how are you holding up?” she
asked.
    I shrugged. “As well as can be expected,
I guess.” As she took off her coat, I stepped over to Beau. “Thank you for
coming, Beau. I know you didn’t know my dad, but-”
    “No, I didn’t unfortunately. However, I
do know you and I am so sorry to see you go through this. I know how much this
hurts you…we’ve all been through it before. If there is anything you need,
anything at all, you can ask us, okay?” he said.
    Tears pricked at my eyes. What did I do
to deserve such a wonderful group of friends as these guys? I leaned in and
gave him a hug. “Thank you Beau. So much,” I said, sniffing. I pulled away and
wiped his suit where my makeup had left a stain. “Oh, I’m sorry.”
    He smiled and waved his hand. “Don’t
worry about it.”
    Ryder took my hand and squeezed. “Are
you ready to see him one last time?”
    I took a deep breath and nodded. “I’m
ready,” I lied. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to my dad at all, but I really
didn’t have a choice. He was already gone. Ryder’s hand never left mine as we
walked down the hall toward the main room.
    When we reached the doors, a man I think
I remembered from planning the service gave his condolences and handed me a
program before we walked into the chapel. When we did, I gasped in shock.
    The chapel was filled to the nines with
flowers…there had to be over a thousand flowers here of every variety. There
were beautiful framed pictures of Daddy in different stages of his life set up
on portrait stands all over the room. I looked to the right and I saw Daddy’s
old Army uniform hanging on a bust next to his casket and it looked like it had
been cleaned and pressed with the utmost care. When my eyes settled on his
casket, I began to cry hard.
    I wasn’t only crying tears over seeing
my wonderful, loving father lying there, but over the casket itself. It was
breathtaking. It was a lush mahogany casket that was trimmed in what looked
like solid gold, and it had a soft satin ivory colored interior. One thing I
did know for sure through all of this was that Daddy’s life insurance didn’t
cover any of what I was looking at. I couldn’t stop the tears from falling as I
looked up at Ryder. “Did…did you do all of this?”
    Ryder shrugged his shoulders. “It’s no
big deal.”
    “It’s a v-v-very big deal,” I
choked out, barely able to speak.
    He looked at me sheepishly. “I hope you
aren’t upset but I just wanted the man you loved and worshipped growing up to
have a proper send off. Are you mad?”
    I shook my head and fell into his chest.
“No, I’m not mad. This is so beautiful, Ryder. I can’t believe you did all of
this for him. You are amazing,” I cried, and he wrapped his arms around me
tightly.
    We took our seats up front as more and
more people started to file into the chapel. The service was beautiful and
everything was perfect down to the last detail. Ryder even got the music right,
choosing my dad’s all time favorite song, “Fire and Rain” by James Taylor, to
be played as we left the chapel and headed to the gravesite. Ryder held onto me
tightly as my dad was lowered into the ground, rubbing my arms quickly to not
only keep me warm but to keep me from losing it as I watched my dad slip away
from me.
     
     
     
    An hour later, we were back at my house
and