Kristina and Cody worked together to prepare the nicest funeral Garden City had ever seen. Samantha was ushered to her final resting place with a warmer welcome than she"d ever received while alive, which was a shame, but Cody had arrived too late to do anything more for her.
Finally alone, having just returned from the graveside, he stood at his pulpit overlooking the church. The Ladies" Altar Guild had ordered red mums from down south—which had arrived by overnight train—and a bouquet of white roses for the burial. The flowers had surrounded the simple pine box in which Samantha lay waiting to be interred, washed and dressed in her favorite blue satin, her long blond hair attractively styled, but her face gray and slack.
Cody had preached over the stranger—using information he"d been p
